“Apple’s entry-level desktop is the 21.5-inch iMac. The $1,299 (USD) computer includes a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB RAM, a 1 TB hard disk, and Intel Iris Pro-powered graphics supporting 1920×1080 resolution,” Erik Eckel reports for TechRepublic.An HD camera is included within the all-in-one’s frame. Peripheral connectivity is supported via four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt ports, and a gigabit Ethernet port.”
“Finding an apples-to-apples comparison can prove to be difficult. Few Windows all-in-one business-grade computers measure up to the Apple in terms of display size or specifications. Dell, however, offers the OptiPlex 3011 all-in-one for $1,212.86, with promotional pricing lowering the cost to $849,” Eckel reports. ” It includes Windows 7 Professional and an Intel Core i5 CPU. However, only 4 GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive are included for that price. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, Dell’s configuration tools didn’t offer the ability to upgrade the machine to match the Apple iMac’s build. Sourcing a 1 TB drive and an additional 4 GB of RAM could add $99 for the drive (at Newegg) and $44 for RAM (at Crucial). The Dell’s equivalent hardware cost, then, becomes $992.”
“The price differential between the Dell and the Apple is $307, but unfortunately, there are still significant differences between the two systems. The Apple boasts a larger 21.5-inch display, integrated Bluetooth, and exponentially faster Thunderbolt connectivity,” Eckel reports. “Obviously, the cost to upgrade the Windows system to match the Apple iMac will result in the Windows system’s price exceeding that of the iMac. On top of that, Windows users are left with a machine that is likely out of warranty, possesses a smaller screen, has slower peripheral connectivity… and runs an OS that’s growing less popular by the day.”
Eckel reports, “Here’s hoping that, should you still not be convinced Apple computers’ total cost of ownership is much more competitive than Windows systems, the all-in-one Windows computer you buy is still on sale. Otherwise, you may find your firm paying hundreds of dollars more per unit for an inferior computer.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “GetMeOnTop” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Enterprise Desktop Alliance: Apple Macs cost a lot less than Windows PCs to manage – March 9, 2010
Apple’s Mac clearly fits the enterprise, whether Apple wants it or not – November 20, 2009
Enterprise should take a long hard look at Apple’s Mac OS X Snow Leopard – November 12, 2009
How Apple’s Mac once again became red hot in the enterprise; 80% of businesses now have Macs in use – October 22, 2009
Survey: 73% of businesses more likely to allow employees to use Macs within next 12 months – October 12, 2009
eWeek: Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard offers enhancements for Mac business user – September 02, 2009
Longtime Windows sufferer tries Mac, dumps Windows, switches business to Mac, sees productivity soar – April 22, 2009
Mike Huckabee praises Apple; dumps Windows PCs after 22-years, switches to Apple Mac (with video) – January 12, 2009
Boom! Largest automobile processing company in North America dumps Windows PCs for Apple Macs – July 16, 2007
Japan’s Aozora Bank dumps 2,300 Windows PCs for Apple Macs – April 03, 2006
Pfeiffer Consulting: Mac vs Windows: Total Cost of Ownership, Productivity and Return on Investment – March 30, 2006
Windows to Mac switchers: recommendations and Total Cost of Ownership analysis – September 29, 2005
Security expert sums up first month with Mac: ‘much safer, more secure, more productive than Wintel’ – June 02, 2005
This is what I always tell my Windows-suffering friends: Get the cheapest computer in the world – get a Mac.
I did the math on comparing a Dell to a comparable (at least on paper) iMac machine over five years ago. To get a Dell that good, it was over $4K.
OMG, I’m going to puke. That Windows PC sounds like a total piece of shit. I pity the poor fools who’ll put down their hard earned money on one if those limp machines. Plus the author didn’t mention the software that comes with a Mac, iLife, and now iWork as well. You don’t see PC’s shipping with MS Office for free, and if you need Outlook, they’ll need to get the Business version which sells for $240. Then, there’s still no iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band, etc. poor pathetic fools who don’t buy Apple.
They never include your time in the equation. Time to back-up is lengthy for my friends with windows. When I tell them I back up daily…they think I am nuts. Time machine is a great time and money saver.
Time Machine is amazing, and it comes free with every Mac. There are also nice backup solutions for PC, but because they’re third-party solutions, they’re not as tightly-integrated, and they cost $100 or more. I call it the “Windows tax”.
Greg’s tech tip for the day, search the web for Time Machine Editor. It allows you to perform TM backups beyond the one hour Apple allows through the control panel. I usually set mine to 8 hours, which gives me three backups a day.
Total cost of ownership is the concept that most winblows people just do not get. They are just fixated on getting the $399 PC, not realizing that after getting Office, AV and other programs, they have spent more than a Mac costs. And throw in the extra $300 when they get a virus that needs to be cleaned by the idiots at worst buy, a Mac seems downright cheap in comparison. The funny thing is if you get them to convert, they are always astonished and wonder why it took them so long. Go figure.
You are correct sir. Most people don’t run the numbers to determine TCO or the equivalent. I did it 2 years ago when I bought my first iMac and haven’t looked back. I did wonder why I didn’t convert sooner. (This reminds me of a conversation I just had with a friend who was looking at the new healthcare plans. While a bronze plan looks great due to the cheap initial outlay, the real value of the more expensive plans is realized once a minor healthcare event occurs and you’re stuck with the large deductible on the cheap plans).
Winblows people don’t understand that the largest proportion of their TCO by far is spent on providing employment to tech support dofusses.
Factor in the productivity loss due to waiting for Windows to boot up and other waiting time…. Mac is damn cheap!!
After installing an SSD from OWC into a clients MacBook Pro, boot time went down to about 8 seconds. Cool to see Photoshop boot in 2 seconds. And with 16 GB RAM with the SSD, the spinning beach ball has become an old memory.
I give Dell kudos for at least including Windows 7 Professional.
Can you imagine the Total Cost of Ownership if the damn thing came with Windows 8 Touch and feel me.
I’m a former PC guy, current Apple guy, and I was a little skeptical about this article. I went to Dell’s website and used their filters on the left to narrow down the closest system to the base iMac. I was able to configure a “NEW Inspiron 23″ with the 4th Gen Core i5 processor, 1TB HD, 8GB Ram, 23” touch screen, MS Office Home & Business, and Windows 8 for $1319. If you configure the lower models and add in features that come standard on higher models, the price will be higher many times, it makes more sense to just get a higher model. The same thing goes for configuring Apple systems. Now I can’t vouch for the reliability or support of that Dell system, but if we’re looking at it strictly from a technical specs point of view, I think it’s pretty comparable in price. I personally would still never buy one.
will the machine you speak of drive 3 1080p monitors out of the box? does it support 2 10Gbps concurrent data streams? can you upgrade the Operating System for $20.00 instead of $200.00? can you surf the web on it fearlessly?
Probably not, but the vast majority of consumers probably don’t even use a 2nd display regularly.
no, but the people who would be interested in that are likely not looking to buy this system.
no, but the models for upgrades have changed for both companies. Apple has a major OS every year now, whereas MS has one every few years. The amount of new features for the prices may be acceptable for those who care to upgrade on either platform. Let’s not forget that Apple is also quicker to bump your ability to run the latest OS faster than a PC. Original Mac Pros can’t run 10.8. If you have a Core Duo Mac you can’t run 10.7, so no iCloud and hopefully you have at least 10.6 or else no new iTunes so your new iOS product won’t work. iTunes 11 for Windows still runs on XP from 2001.
Maybe not surf web fearlessly, but let’s be honest, no one can surf web fearlessly (thanks to the NSA). I still keep Firefox and Chrome handy on my Mac because not every site plays nicely with Safari all of the time.
I wasn’t looking to start a Mac vs PC argument. I just wanted to point out that the author of the article was a bit misleading. The total “cost” is not as big as he made it out to be. Also, if you’re talking about a computer for “Business” use. If that happens to be corporate Business, then chances are they’re going to want full blown MS Office with Outlook, not just Apple’s iWork on a Mac. Is iWork suffice for a large segment of the consumer? yes. But in the real world, just because it technically and open and export to MS Office formats, doesn’t mean that it does so nicely all of the time.
That other factor in cost of ownership (beyond the INITIAL cost of ownership) is long-term cost. I still use an iMac released in late 2006, which I bought in early 2008 as an Apple-certified refurb for $849, as my primary Mac in 2013. It can only run up to Lion (it originally came with Tiger!), but that currently works fine with all the apps I need to use. And performance is still generally fine.
My next iMac may be the 2011 21.5-inch model, that I’ve seen on Apple’s refurb web page for $799. Unfortunately, they are usually sold out almost as soon they are listed.
Macs last as usable computers for a LONG time.
We had a 1998 model and finally stopped using in 2009 …… thing still running just software finally outdated ……
Readig thru all the posts, it’s amazing how long the pros and con list gets! Mac wins again by a huge landslide!
Most of the time with businesses, it comes down to cash flow. Sure the TCO is less on a Mac. But with most businesses, they don’t need all of that computing power. They need decently-spec’ed models at the lowest price, so they can have the most cash remaining in the bank as needed for other expenditures or for EOM or EOQ profits. However, if the user is in need of a more powerful unit, then a Mac May be in the running. I worked for a business where this was exactly the case. All units in the general office were Mac, as the CEO recognized the ease of use and the cost balanced for the power needed for the required tasks. However, he wouldn’t foot the bill to replace the workstations in all of the retail stores as they didn’t have the need for the added power, so the added expense wasn’t logical.
I think an interesting way to compare how the real world views total cost of ownership is to reivew the experiences of users that have started out as Windows users and changed to Mac and vice versa. It would be interesting to see how many of the switchers switched back and why.
I have owned and operated a few different small businesses over the past 20 years that used between 15 and 50 computers and all of these were windows based. I am not a tech guy but I try to at least keep up with the concepts. With my latest business I decided to try a total Mac approach. I was able to buy incredibly functional 2 year old iMacs (three years ago) that are still running strong, for under $700 each. We now have about 80 apples devices company wide including 15 mac minis, 7 iMacs, 20 iPads and about 40 iPhones. After doing this all I can say is “I want the multitudes of hours of my life back that I spent fighting with viruses and reboots on my Windows systems”.
I have related my experience to several other business owners and have gotten similar feedback. I wonder if anyone out there has had the reverse experience. I have not met anyone like that.
One difference that probably helps to explain the disparity of opinions here is that maybe if you have an IT guy available and your system is truly enterprise size, the apple solutions don’t scale as well. In my example this is not a consideration. All I can say though is that it seems if apple put just a little more effort into competing for the enterprise, I think they would be able to do something much better than what currently exists in the Windows world.
Last thought, Mac Minis that use your existing peripherals would be the way to go when converting from a windows shop. They are inexpensive (relatively) and seem to handle the monitors and hard drives and they always can run windows too if that is still important.
Just food for discussion, let the flames fly 🙂
Sounds reasonable to me. No flames warranted.
This is my story of purchasing an Apple Store refurbished iMac 24″ 3.06 GHz model about three and a half years ago.
I bought it with three years AppleCare for a total cost of about $1600. I upgraded the memory to 8 GB and it has been running nonstop 24/7 for that whole time serving torrents and running PLEX server for my Roku boxes. I only reboot to upgrade the OS when necessary. It now runs Snow Leopard. It’s my workhorse machine and is growing a bit long in the tooth because it struggled to run Mountain Lion when I tested it on an external drive. However, it currently runs exactly the same as it did when I bought it and seems like it could easily run another three years. If this iMac isn’t a trouble-free machine then nothing is.
I told my doctor, who was contemplating a Mac vs. PC purchase that time is money. Time dicking around with PCs (drivers, software, viruses, etc) is worth a lot of money. I told her that you don’t get the time waste on a Mac. Not to mention that everything is so much more beautiful on a mac, especially a retina mbp!
Well, PC people are dying to buy a Mac as their next computer, but never will, cause they would then admit they have been wrong for all theses years…
this must be targeted towards small or medium sized companies.
I’ve never been in a large company with Enterprise contracts who bought iMacs. We buy mac pros and macbook pros at my work when we need a mac.
I’ve got the best of both worlds. A building full of windows machines to keep me employed and trouble free computing on my macbook pro when I get home in the evenings.
Uncle Ballmer took real good care of me!
A strange comparison. While a larger screen can boost productivity, most of the items making up the price differential listed aren’t items that matter to your average business.
Also, there is no mention of the cost to administer the machines. The larger the organization, the bigger the issue.
Yes, there are tools out there, but the business tools that are most prevalent and effective reside on the Windows side of the scorecard.
I deal with both, and there aren’t many challenges on the Windows side these days. Mac Enterprise support is still too small of a corporate footprint.
In general, I agree with most of the posters here. But I do have to voice some reason to the echo chamber:
The only cost comparison that matters is the one that an individual buyer does to assess his needs. Most of us would agree that Apple comes out further ahead in lifetime value for the products it does offer, but there are definitely some products that Apple doesn’t offer, and there are some products that really can compete quite well against Apple FOR SPECIFIC USERS in lifetime value — and often are similar in capability, quality, or price.
Making blanket statements that Dell or MS or whatever is “always bad” and Apple is always a better value simply cannot be universally true.
Want proof? Jump into a discussion like this one and you’ll be laughed out of the room if you were to suggest an iMac:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1720372/physics-scientific-computing-workstation-build.html
I concur
From the Article:
“Furthermore, few business desktops are used without office productivity apps. Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote are natural choices for Apple businesses. Windows organizations naturally gravitate toward Microsoft Office. The Home and Business 2013 edition adds $219.99 (USD) for Windows companies, whereas Apple businesses…”
The article isn’t about value based on specific needs for specific users. It’s written in the scope of comparing $1300 general purpose Mac/PC business workstations, for general purpose business work.
Your point about comparing an iMac to a $7000 multicore Physics lab (GPU not needed) workstation doesn’t make sense to me. Nobody said an iMac would offer better value in that scenario, nor would a $1300 PC for that matter.
Explain to me why the comparison is relevant to the discussion at hand. Perhaps I’m missing something.
Most Mac users were, or are still, PC users in one way or the other. I switched to Mac personally in 2005 after my PC Toshiba laptop power supply died. I was ready for a new PC and I said to myself, “I’ve heard a lot of things about the Mac. Let’s give that a try!”. I did and I love it. I still use Mac at home, but they use PC at work still because of custom-designed software compatibility issues. I love the Mac at home. It’s easy to use. It just works. It’s elegant. No viruses or scanning software needed. The OS is UNIX-based. I don’t need to fiddle with extra settings (I never use Terminal). You truly get what you pay for.
I bought a second hand 2008 24″ iMac 2.8GHz in 2010 for EUR550,-
I still use it everyday and I love it! I was wondering what I was able to get for it on eBay and the first bid was… 550,-!
A 2008 Mac is still a hefty machine, especially the 2.8 GHz!
Until the new MacBook Pros come out, I spend most of the day writing on a 2006 MacBook 2.2 GHz. I can’t kill the thing. It is loosing some little bits around the edges, but still pulls its weight. I have my big iron back at home for major lifting.
I’m a board member at the local PC user group. I used to be a board member at another city’s Mac user group. (The Mac user group where I currently reside sent under due to poor management).
I never bash Microsoft users out IRL, only around Mac centric locations, unless a specific situation warrants it. I still run some stuff on Windows XP, and maybe Windows 7 when XP goes pumpkin next April Fools Day. (Great timing). I enjoy teaching Windows users how to do everything except Windows (which is considerable) and even toss them some Windows maintenance and security tips.
We the computer owners and users are still a lucky minority of humans residing on planet Earth. Be glad you’ve got something functional. If you can choose what hardware and software you have, choose what fits your intended tasks. For some industries that means Windows only. (Example: Accounting software on Mac is marginal). But for most purposes, Mac does the job brilliantly. And I consistently point out, when folks are interested, that Macs ALWAYS win the ROI (return on investment) and TCO (total cost of ownership) competitions to the point where they are almost always LESS EXPENSIVE than comparable Windows PCs. That hasn’t changed since I went pro on Macs in 1991.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_cost_of_ownership
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_on_investment
Of course I’d never recommend buying RAM directly from Apple because of the incredible markup! (See related Joy of Tech cartoon from this week!) And so forth. But overall, I advise a Mac.
And not many people require Microsoft Office these days. I haven’t had it in well over a decade. And yet my friends come to me to deal with old and odd file formats, including Office, so they can turn it into a compatible format. I easily do that for them, WITHOUT having Office. For example, LibreOffice is terrific these days and deals with a pile of Office formats just fine.
And if you want to run Windows apps:
– WINE is free and runs quite a lot of Windows apps really well.
– Crossover is free (via X11/XQuartz) and adds functionality to WINE.
– Apple provides Bootcamp for those who want to boot into Windows. You provide Windows.
– Parallels and VMWare can be bought for ~$50 is you shop around, both run Windows beautifully in virtualization as long as you have the RAM to run them. You provide Windows.
And of course, OS X is HELLA-easier to use than Windows. Whenever I do both in one day, it is an incredible relief to be free of stupid, user-hostile Windows and return to incredibly sane and user-friendly Mac.
Finishing my diatribe: The one big obvious exception to considering Mac is if you want to geek out on hardware. If you want to DIY build a computer, which can be great fun, you’re not going to get a Mac for that purpose. Even then, I highly recommend skipping Windows. Go get Linux (for free!) and geek out some more. /diatribe
I should also add that part of TCO (total cost of ownership) is dealing with malware. You add extra cost to buying a Windows box by paying for anti-malware software AND updating it every day AND having it constantly running in the background. On Macs, you still don’t. . . .Well, unless you’ve got a novice or a ‘LUSER’ who downloads and installs every piece of scrap crap they find on the Internet. Then I’d worry and install something like Intego’s VirusBarrier, which is excellent.
Yeah, and in terms of TCO, the initial purchase price is just the tip of the iceberg.
But let’s also not forget that Windows is an entire ecosystem … ’nuff said?