“I can’t believe what I’m reading. All across the Web, reporters are saying that at Apple’s press event next week, the company will unveil an $800 Mac to appeal to those looking to spend less on an Apple computer,” Don Reisinger writes. “Anyone who has followed Apple since its inception knows that the very idea that Apple could actually compete on the same level as its competitors on price is a shocker.”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve done a fair bit of following Apple and, Don, we’re not at all shocked:
• Apple does it again: New Macbook Pros much cheaper than Dell – October 25, 2006
• Fortune compares Mac vs. Dell: ‘you’ll get more for your money with Apple’ – September 11, 2006
• AP: Time to think different, Apple Mac beats Dell on price, software compatibility, and more – August 23, 2006
• Thurrott pits Apple Mac Pro vs. similarly configured Dell, figures out the Mac is less expensive – August 18, 2006
• Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
• Apple Mac Pro with/ 20” Cinema Display less expensive than Dell Precision 690 sans monitor – August 10, 2006
• Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
• Apple Macintosh simply does more and costs less than Windows PCs – February 14, 2006
• Apple Macs are less expensive than Dell PCs – April 24, 2005
• Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Okay, we just threw that last one in to drive home the point that you get much more with an OS-unlimited Mac than you do with a similarly-equipped OS-limited PC.
Reisinger has the temerity to continue, “For years, the company has wanted to be considered a boutique vendor that doesn’t submit to price leadership to sell units.”
MacDailyNews Take: Well, now, that’s actually true. Apple chooses not compete on the low end for a reason. Their shareholders expect healthy margins and Apple does not want to sully their reputation for quality:
We can’t ship junk. There are thresholds we can’t cross because of who we are. The difference is, we don’t offer stripped-down, lousy products. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, August 7, 2007
Comparing sticker prices is a meaningless, and rather deceitful, exercise. It’s an – ahem – cheap trick waged on the ignorant by PC makers that Apple simply refuses to perform. Instead, compare similar spec’d systems, factor in the bullet points below, and see if the Windows PC offers more value as a Mac:
• Which operating systems the machine can run: Macs are OS-unlimited, Dell et al. are OS-limited: no Mac OS X for you)
• Which software the machine can run: Macs can run all the world’s software, Dell et al. cannot: no iLife, Final Cut, etc. for you)
• How much the machine costs you over time: Anti-virus subscriptions, support, repairs, wasted time, frustration, annual wipe and reinstall Windows, etc.: no fun for you)
Windows PCs offer more headaches, yes; more value, no. Remember, most Mac users have made a conscious technology choice (at one time or another, they’ve usually been stuck with Windows at work and/or school) and are therefore better informed than most Windows PC users (who have never or hardly used a modern Mac). Even if Macs really did cost double, we’d gladly pay it while considering it a steal – because we know better.
Resinger continues, finally warming up, “Now, I’m a firm believer that Apple should start lowering its prices to appeal to more consumers and take the fight to Hewlett-Packard and Dell, but if Apple’s plan next week is to offer cheaper Macs, I can’t help but wonder if this is Apple’s new strategy going forward. I think it is.”
“Will it work? I can guarantee that it will. But what will it do to Apple’s image? As long as the company continues providing high-quality products that easily eclipse the competition, I don’t think it will have anything to worry about on that front either,” Resingger writes. “Apple’s decision to offer a cheaper Mac is a smart one. But it goes beyond a cheaper product. In reality, Apple is now a changed company that will compete on price. And it’s because of that that its competitors should be scared.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It all sounds great, but, again, you’ll still have the same ignorant, short-sighted consumers who shop only on sticker price and Apple, even with an $800 MacBook, would not be competing with PC schlockmeisters selling stripped-down junk for $500 (or less). It’s good that Apple is looking to lower prices, if indeed that’s what they plan on doing, and, we agree with Reisinger, it’d certainly help to narrow the gap between the lowest priced PCs and lowest priced Macs, but let’s not get carried away.
Don’t forget, Apple introduced Mac mini, the most affordable Mac ever, which started at just US$499 back in January, 2005 and it didn’t exactly set the world on fire, although it may have helped entice a significant portion of new-to-Mac buyers, who ultimately decided on a different, faster, more full-featured, and higher-priced Mac model after being attracted by that shiny, low sticker price.
Also, let’s not forget that Apple is doing rather nicely with current pricing; grabbing share, maintaining the PC industry’s highest customer satisfaction, and vastly outgrowing the PC industry as a whole.
And this $800 rumor is going to come back and bite us all in the ass when they come out to be $899 or something…
I sympathize with your observation, Macintosh. But all of a sudden there seems to be a “flight to quality” in this more-than-a-little-beleaguered market. Let us all hope it continues!
“Apple does not want to sully their reputation for quality”
Ummm, you might wanna change that to quantity….
@You Mom Bluray:
It works either way… They have a reputation for quality, so they don’t want to sully it.
Remember, most Mac users have made a conscious technology choice (at one time or another, they’ve usually been stuck with Windows at work and/or school) and are therefore better informed than most Windows PC users (who have never or hardly used a modern Mac).
Well I said something to this effect on a post here a few days back and it got deleted. BAD MDN!
I said something like this about my observations of the PC/Mac market:
Mac’s get a mindshare in college, where kids who came from Windows PC homes want to try something different. But unfortunatly most have to use Windows PC when they get to a workplace, then have to buy a Windows PC for work at home. Then their kids at home learn to use Windows because it’s there and mom and dad use them.
When the kids grow up and go to college, they learn Mac’s are better and some (like myself) continue to use them throughout their life because their income is not reliant upon having to use Windows at a workplace. However most switch to Windows because it’s what they have to use at work. The cycle continues I said.
Now what is wrong in stating the obvious?
Apple needs to break the Windows monopoly and this is how Windows maintains it’s monopoly.
To break Microsoft is to break into corporations with a better computer, a flexible computer, a more secure computer, a total cost per machine and paying attention to what corporations need. Price adjustments for volume purchases and stuff like that.
Apple STILL doesn’t have a spreadsheet program. (Appleworks is gone)
Apple isn’t paying attention to the HUGE opportunity provided to it because of the BLOATWARE and hardware lock (DirectX9) that is Windows Vista requiring a substancial costly hardware upgrade.
Apple can RULE THE WORLD, but is still terrified of Microsoft.
Microsoft is terrified of Google.
Hello?
Hello?
I know that on specs Apple is better. People just can’t afford the higher price tag of a Mac. The only way to dominate the market is to have an affordable Mac, regardless of specs.
I think the Mini is a great example of Apple shipping a high quality product at a low price… and they have been doing it for a while.
@Raving MacHead
If Apple doesn’t have a spraadsheet, what the fsck is Numbers?
If it walks like and duck and squawks like a duck…
=:~)
Don’t bother reading this article. The “author” is looking for hits to justify his existence.
The comments are pure Pee Sea FUD-laced drivel.
“Apple STILL doesn’t have a spreadsheet program.”
Psst. Stop hitting your head on solid concrete.
“And this $800 rumor is going to come back and bite us all in the ass when they come out to be $899 or something…”
Thank you! I’ve been saying the exact same thing now for days. The whining idiots will be out in force next Tuesday wondering why Apple didn’t release the $800 MacBook they had been promised. They won’t have the intelligence to know that Apple has never promised any such thing.
> We can’t ship junk. There are thresholds we can’t cross because of who we are. The difference is, we don’t offer stripped-down, lousy products.
That quote from Steve Jobs IS the impact he has had on Apple since his return, and the effect that saved Apple from being bought out or going out of business.
During the years when he was not at Apple, Apple did ship many stripped-down and sometimes intentionally cripple Mac models. Unfortunately, they still sold them with a relatively high price tag.
guys, trying to point out where he is wrong to Raving MacHead is like asking a religious fundamentalist to think. give up already.
My Bad, Apple does have a spreadsheet.
There was that LONG period between Appleworks (free) and Numbers.
I switched to NeoOffice on my IntelMac then and forgot all about Numbers.
Guess Apple made a mistake not having something ready when they discontinued Appleworks.
A critical mistake like that just cost the company a lot of money, and if Apple played a part in corporations, would have lost major market share.
Ohoo back to updating my Vista install, overheating my MPB!
A secure computing from OSX? That’s non sense. Their operatng system is full of holes and vulnerabilities than Windows and Linux combine. Only IDIOTS will dump Windows and go for a Mac or Linux. I recoomend everyone either upgrade their existing computer to Windows Vista or wait for Windows 7. Why bother switching to another operating system while Windows has it all. I love Windows!!!!
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“There was that LONG period between Appleworks (free) and Numbers.”
Eight days. A real eternity. You just enjoy making shit up. Like your political blather and conspiracy theories. BTW, it took 17 seconds to find the information.
“Numbers 1.0 was announced on August 7, 2007.
As of August 15, 2007, AppleWorks has reached end-of-life status, and is no longer being sold.”
(source: wikipedia)
Keep ’em coming, Raving Head.
“Joy of Tech” has lost his marbles.
I run OS X, Vista and XP (and Linux coming soon) all at the same time using Fusion 2.0.
I don’t game, I don’t need Vista’s “Aero” effects neither. Upgraded PC’s need more RAM for Vista, at least a dual core AND a DirectX9 video card. Plus the full Vista costs $250-$300.
By the time one adds up the RAM, video card and Vista, they could buy a PC with all that and more already included.
OS X’s “spaces” makes it so easy to switch between full screen windows of each OS as well.
Note: You need a lot of RAM (4GB) and a large hard drive.
Vista TAKES FOREVER TO UPDATE!! AHHHHH!!
MDN’s article stated: “factor in the bullet points below, and see if the Windows PC offers more value as a Mac:
• Which operating systems the machine can run: Macs are OS-unlimited, Dell et al. are OS-limited: no Mac OS X for you)
• Which software the machine can run: Macs can run all the world’s software, Dell et al. cannot: no iLife, Final Cut, etc. for you)
• How much the machine costs you over time: Anti-virus subscriptions, support, repairs, wasted time, frustration, annual wipe and reinstall Windows, etc.: no fun for you)
Windows PCs offer more headaches, yes; more value, no.”
Apple needs to put all those points in a nutshell and put that nutshell in an ad. Here’s my suggestion:
Visual: a scale (like that held by statues of Justice). The left pan holds a large pile of beans. The right scale holds an apple of slightly smaller size. But the right pan hangs lower than the left one.
Caption: “Weighed and Found Worthy.”
This makes the point that the sticker price (which is all that bean counters look at) differs from the bottom line. (But the ad shouldn’t EXPLAIN that point–it should flatter readers by treating them as smart enough to figure it out on their own.)
“I love Windows!!!!”
As much as you love spell check?
OS X is a lot like you. They’re both tools.
I miss the $499.00 mini. I know many people who can’t do the 600.00, so they go to a PC. Usually a cast off from someone they know. I have donated many older Macs over the years, but there are more in need than I can meet. A truly $500.00 Mac should have been continued.
@ Raving MacHead
Remember, college kiddies grow up to be IT decision makers.
That’s how Unix became dominant over other proprietary OS’s in the server space. College kids of the 70’s & early 80’s were weaned on Unix, and in the late 80’s and early 90’s became the decision makers.
In the 90’s, Microsoft copied that move, leading to dominance today.
Apple is now doing the same.
I predict that by 2020, Microsoft will be less relevant in the IT world than IBM is today.
-guy who write this article
i agree with your point that macs are more reliable, support more operating systems, and are cheaper in the long run and when you consider speculations, i think the way you write makes you seem cocky. Macs DO have some problems. When i use some third party software such as games, my computer DOES heat up like crazy. Some applications unexpectedly quit sometimes (although this is fixed). Macs aren’t infallible, but the tone in which you write makes it seem like they are. Try to sound more balanced, you’ll get much more readers.
PS to my weighed-and-found-worthy ad-idea: If several more large companies like Der Spiegel have announced that they are switching over to the Mac, there should be text beneath the caption explaining how their analysts conducted a thorough investigation of the costs and benefits of the PC vs. the Mac before making the switch.
“Remember, college kiddies grow up to be IT decision makers.”
And Apple has always been strong in colleges, weak in the real world.
“OS X is a lot like you. They’re both tools.”
HAW