“While the public perception is that Macintosh users are a world apart from mainstream computing, the Mac and PC worlds appear to be drawing closer together as technology continues to converge. Even though Apple software sells to a much smaller user base than Windows products, Macintosh users generally face no shortage of business and productivity software options,” Jack M. Germain reports for MacNewsWorld.
Germain reports, “Macintosh software remains very viable for small business and enterprise users, according to Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio. This is especially the case for vertical applications targeting graphics, art, marketing and advertising professionals. ‘It also works just fine for general purpose office applications, though in the past, the price premium associated with Macintosh desktops and laptops was a gating factor in more widespread deployment,’ DiDio told MacNewsWorld.”
Germain reports, “Part of the reason for Apple software products’ staying power is that Macintosh computers have run mainstream Windows-based applications like Microsoft Office for years, she said. Perhaps a bigger reason for Apple’s viability is that both Macintosh systems and their software are extremely user-friendly. ‘This makes it easy for individual end users to self-manage their Macs,’ DiDio emphasized. ‘However, it should be noted that any organization that deploys a large contingent of Macs and the accompanying Mac OS software and applications is well advised to employ the services of a trained Macintosh IT professional.'”
Germain reports, “The recent deployment of an Intel processor that runs Windows applications, coupled with the release of Apple’s Boot Camp software, adds a new horizon to traditional Macintosh-only software. Apple’s Boot Camp installs Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system in a partition on the Mac hard drive. This gives Mac users the option of booting up either with OS X or Windows XP… Prospective customers will still pay a 15 percent to 20 percent premium compared to the average Intel/Windows-based PC or laptop, DiDio acknowledged, ‘but the price breaks are a start.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Ms. DiDio, please spec out comparable machines and show us where Apple customers “will still pay a 15 percent to 20 percent premium over an Intel/Windows-based PC or laptop.” We’re waiting. Plus, doing a shortsighted and rather simpleminded Mac vs. PC hardware-only comparison is just plain silly as it fails to factor in the Mac’s unique ability to run Mac OS X and Apple’s best-in-class Mac-only applications!
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews article:
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
This article would be great if it didn’t show up in a Mac oriented site. Talk about preaching to the choir.
A good story until the last piece of FUD,
Prospective customers will still pay a 15 percent to 20 percent premium compared to the average Intel/Windows-based PC or laptop, DiDio acknowledged, “but the price breaks are a start.”
It seems that every story that starts to recognise the Mac experience in a positive way ckufs it up with a single sentence or little paragraph, hoping that no one will notice.
How many times in the past two months has the price myth has its ass busted and still this crap is put on paper. Enough already you supposed IT wankers.
Apple should do an ad with loads of these written comments/articles, and just leave out the FUD.
Me,
The price myth has been busted for mid to high end machines, but for the type of computers that most corporations buy, Apple does not offer price competitive machines.
Apple simply does not enter the bargin bin pc business… Unfortunately, when a company buys 1000 machines, then generally go for the cheapest possible… These cheap computers are fine for the average corporatae employee because 8 out of 10 corporate employees don’t use their terminals for much more the Microsoft Office.
Now what would you do if you were a large corporation? Buy 1000 iMacs for $999 or buy 1000 Dell’s for $399?
sloan,
For my company, I bought 3000 Apple Certified Mac mini’s for $399 each to replace 3000 Dells. I kept the Dell monitors and keyboards and stripped the Dell boxes then sold the parts.
But, that’s just me, I have a brain.
The price premium myth has certainly been busted on the all-in-one front (iMac) and the premium front (MacBook pro and Mac Pro). It is still the case on the low-end desktop front (Mac Mini) and arguable on the consumer laptop front (MacBook).
I’ve long argued the need for what I call the Missing Mac – a headless, expandable Mac more capable than the Mini, but not as monstrous as the Pro. I’ve even offered two different design approaches. Apologies to those who have heard this before, but Apple shows no sign yet that it’s listening. (I’m hoping there’s that One More Thing in development.)
Early last year I put together a very capable Shuttle for much less than a not as capable Mini. I could easily do the same thing now.
Come on now – let’s not bash the poor woman too hard. She wrote a good article and it may be true that the “average” PC is 10% to 15% cheaper than the “average” Mac. Don’t forget all those loss leader systems that the PC builders sell for which there is no equivalent Mac. Those get counted too when you speak of the “average” PC.
To be fair, if you’re going to run Winblows in Parallels or Boot Camp you have to buy (or need to own) a licensed copy. That price (which would be included in purchasing a PC) is in effect a price premium.
Of course, TFA didn’t exactly spell that out clearly.
She’s factoring in the retail cost of Vista Ultimate into the Mac’s purchase price.
I loved watching Jack Germain on the McLaughlin Group.
People don’t buy Macs because they’ve been able to run Microsoft Office on it. I use Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, After Effects, Flash, Illustrator, and InDesign. I wouldn’t be caught dead useing these on a PC (even though I could), but I also use Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Motion and Shake (none of which run on PC). And for the apps that do… they are the same price as PC or less. So how is it costing me more to be using a Mac?
I am about to move my company from Dells to the Mac – two issues that I’m facing is the cost of Windows for those who will need to transition our products over a year period and the maintainance of the new Mac servers as we make the shift- Macintosh IT “professionls” are as rare as honest politicans
“Apple’s best-in-class Mac-only applications!”
Like iPhoto and iDVD. So useful for businesses.
As some others have pointed out, on the low end the price premium still exists, especially in notebooks since Apple doesn’t offer a sub-$1000 computer anymore. I’ll give you specs below, as I was just talking to my brother yesterday about this, and specced it out myself. I’ll give you a Toshiba example, but the HP example was the same. And before you start whining about all the software included on Macs, he doesn’t care about iLife, would never use it except maybe iTunes. It’s the computer he’s interetsed in, and here’s the difference:
Toshiba: Satellite M110/M115
Apple: MacBook
Toshiba: Core Duo 1.73GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB
MacBook: Core Duo 1.83 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache
Upgrade to XP Professional for the closest equivalent OS
Both: 1024MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM, 2×512 (he could get slower RAM cheaper, but this will be the same as in the MacBook)
Toshiba: 14.1″ Diagonal Widescreen XGA TruBrite™ display (1280×768)
MacBook: 13.3″ Widescreen, 1280 x 800 pixels
Both: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Both: 60GB Serial ATA, 5400rpm
Toshiba: Wireless a/b/g (upgraded to bring inline with Macbook)
Macbook: Wireless g (that’s what apple’s specs say, anyway)
Both: Bluetooth 2.0 (upgrade on Toshiba to bring it inline)
Toshiba: about 5.1 pounds
MacBook: about 5.2 pounds
They each come with a battery
Toshiba: Microsoft Works, includes Word
MacBook: we know what it comes with, but as I said, my brother doesn’t need or care about iLife.
Free Shipping on both
Toshiba: 8-10 days to ship
MacBook: 1-3 days to ship
Final Prices:
Toshiba, before instant rebates, $1154, real final price: $980.90
MacBook: $1199
Difference, if I do my stats right, 18%, or right in the range listed in the article.
Now before you all start whining, this is about as close a comparison as I could make. My brother was intrigued when I told him Macs could boot Windows and he wouldn’t have to buy anti-virus, etc. stuff (although he mostly uses free stuff anyway) but to say, at the low/consumer end that there is no price difference is simply not true. I agree it’s gone at the mid/high range, and I show my students that when we do a price comparison, but with the new MacBooks eliminating the low-end model, a cheap, consumer PC (not stripped down crap but equivalent to low-end Macbook) is definitely cheaper. Less so if you add in anti-virus software, etc, but still cheaper.
BTW, I own 5 Macs, back to a Wall Street PB and a Color Classic, so this isn’t trolling or flame, just a look at the facts.
MDN word of the day: believe, as in believe what you see, not what you want.
I understand your dilemma Al. I work for the University of Nebraska at a PBS television station. We have our own IT department separate from the University. My department (Graphics) is almost all Mac (we do have a few PC and SGI boxes). Our IT department has told in no uncertian terms that do not support Mac. So I’m responsible for all of our Mac IT. I’m just a “graphics guy”, and I’m actualy glad our IT department isn’t involved. You wouldn’t believe what we have to go through just to get our jobs done on the PC side. IT guys are scared of the Mac (because it makes a lot of their job obsolete). I truely beleive this is why a lot of IT guys are so Mac negative.
licensed copy of XP? I guess that’s one way to go.
If you feel you need to.
macs do still have somewhat of a price premium at the lower end – but hey, you get what you pay for, and i paid a small premium for a computer that’s been rock solid since it arrived from apple back in may.
Tommy Boy,
He always looks like he is about to fall out of his chair (that he barely fits into, anyway).
MacNewsWorld specializes in anti-Mac FUD. This was a damning with faint praise hit piece and that is pretty much all this site will run.
I hardly think this is Germond to the issue.
harpo64
That price difference will not cover the price of decent antivirus protection over the life of the laptop. All but the most geeky among us need good commercial AV software to protect Windows XP.
The Mac is a better laptop with a better OS, better bundled software and a lower TCO for 90% of the computer users out there.
If your brother is that big of a geek tell him to build his own laptop. It’s not that hard and the finished product is better quality than most Dells at half the price of that Toshiba.
Actually Big Al, the point is my brother is NOT a geek. he wants a laptop that can do the basics for the lowest price. he asked me, even knowing I was a mac user, to get some basic advice on what to look for. i did talk to him about the mac, told him if he went to a compusa he could look at both and with a lot of luck talk to salespeople who might be able to help. as i said in my post, he pretty much uses free stuff, although the hp he was looking at did have the anti-virus option (2 years $100), that’s how i started the mac discussion. Of course there’s no guarantee we won’t need anti-virus software at some point, but it’s ceratinly beena money-save so far and something i did mention to him.
No one cares about the DiDiot, she destroyed all credibility with her “reporting” on SCO vs IBM.
Hi Al,
If you need any help and in the UK, as I am, I might be able to help in person – I run a couple of Mac-based servers supporting an increasing number of Macs and a handful of PCs. If you’re outside the UK, I could offer some help via e-mail – I’ll leave it with you
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Wow, Macs can run as many apps as a Windows PC by BEING a Windows PC.
There’s a victory for all you fan-boys. you have been assimilated.