“Apple is making applesauce out of the old canard that Macs are a lot more expensive than Windows computers,” Peter Lewis reports for Fortune.
“Now that Macintoshes use the same Intel processors found in higher-end Windows machines, and can even run Windows XP and Windows applications, the old ‘you can’t compare apples and oranges’ argument shrivels. In August, when it unveiled its new Mac Pro computers, Apple boasted that the high-end desktop machine actually cost nearly a thousand dollars less than a comparably equipped Dell Precision workstation,” Lewis reports. “One can quibble with the fairness of the comparison, but no matter how you sliced it, the Dell machine was hundreds of bucks more expensive than the Mac Pro.”
“Will the same hold true for Dell’s consumer computers? It certainly looks that way, with a new $999 price point for a 17-inch iMac. Sure, you can get a PC and monitor for less money, but not with anything close to the power and multimedia features and software and ease of use of the iMac,” Lewis reports.
“At the high end, the new Intel Core 2 Duo 24-inch iMac introduced last week is theoretically a consumer machine, although I suspect it will catch the attention of many graphic designers and other digital media mavens,” Lewis reports. “So let’s put ‘apples and oranges’ to the test, and compare the new 24-inch iMac to a Dell XPS 410 media PC.”
Lewis configured the two machines as closely as he could and found that the iMac is $70 more expensive than the XPS 410. “Is the Mac arguably $70 more valuable? It depends on how much value you place on the iMac’s appealing space-saving, one-piece design, on the more advanced and more secure operating system, and on the broad collection of Apple software that comes with the machine,” Lewis reports. “In my view, the extra $70 represents one of the best bargains in the PC world… There have always been lots of reasons to buy a Macintosh computer, but now there is no longer a reason not to buy one.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Thurrott: Should I buy an Apple iMac 20-inch, a Dell or a HP PC? – September 11, 2006
Crave at CNET: Apple’s gorgeous 24-inch iMac should tempt you to switch – September 07, 2006
Mossberg: Apple makes ‘best desktop computer on the market’ iMac even more attractive – September 07, 2006
Apple iMac line gets 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo processors; pricing starts at $999; new 24-inch model – September 06, 2006
Thurrott pits Apple Mac Pro vs. similarly configured Dell, figures out the Mac is less expensive – August 18, 2006
Microsoft Windows five times more expensive for users than Apple’s Mac OS X – August 15, 2006
Apple Mac Pro with/ 20” Cinema Display less expensive than Dell Precision 690 sans monitor – August 10, 2006
Digital Trends Review: Apple iMac 17-inch Core Duo ‘silent, beautiful, very fast and reliable’ – July 12, 2006
Seattle Times: Apple iMac is ‘so beautiful with its simple, yet elegant design’ – July 08, 2006
Mossberg: Apple’s new MacBook surprisingly inexpensive, offers vastly superior Mac OS X – June 08, 2006
Wired names best media center: Apple 20-inch iMac with Front Row – June 08, 2006
Review: Apple’s new iMac Core Duo ‘an outstanding feat of engineering, a high-precision instrument’ – February 16, 2006
Apple iMac the finest, most reliable, stable, elegant and intuitive personal computer available – February 14, 2006
Review: Apple 20-inch iMac Core Duo 2.0GHz – February 06, 2006
BusinessWeek: Apple’s new iMac Core Duo is an iMac on Steroids – February 02, 2006
Thurrott: ‘I highly recommend Apple’s new Intel-based iMac’ – January 31, 2006
Thurrott: ‘Nothing on Windows approaches the quality of Apple’s iLife ’06’ – January 31, 2006
Computerworld: Apple’s MacBook Pro ‘fast, really fast – looks like a real winner’ – January 28, 2006
InfoWorld: Apple perfects the desktop personal computer with new iMac Core Duo – January 25, 2006
PC Magazine review gives Apple iMac Intel Core Duo 4.5 out of 5 stars – January 20, 2006
Mossberg: New Intel-based iMac the best consumer desktop with the best OS and best software bundle – January 18, 2006
Apple does the thinking for its customers and starts them out with a powerful baseline model. There’s plenty of expansion available from there in all the directions that really matter.
Yeah baby, you got it right.
Leo
Macs have always been competitively priced, but now that the components are more similar, people can easily see the truth of this.
I think it’s funny how every tech writer used to say Macs were too expensive and now that they have Intel chips, they’re suddenly cheaper (even though the price points have actually gone up slightly).
This is exciting. A magazine that CFOs and CEOs read telling them tthat you get more for your money with Apple. IT departments of companies larger than 100 people: take that!
how is the display a draw? The iMac has built in iSight and a smaller desk footprint. But at least he got the conclusion right. He seems pretty objective.
I have a feeling that this comparison forgot to take the built in iSight into account, if that is the case then that $70 more expensive is destroyed and the mac is probably cheaper.
They said Apple did a similar comparison with a $200 difference in favor of the iMac. CNN should have gone third-party with that extra RAM!
“There have always been lots of reasons to buy a Macintosh computer, but now there is no longer a reason not to buy one.”
Never were truer words spoken. Can this become MDN’s new motto?
MW: Duh.
But wait… isn’t the XPS 410 what Thurrott was thinking of buying? Is there anyway for us to send him this link?
The expansion offerd by a Mac is in your own capabilites, not the machine’s bits and pieces!
I swear to God- a friend of mine, Financial Analyst, just called me this morn., apparently had seen the Fortune article (out in print now? maybe he saw online), left message-
“OK, I guess it’s time to get a new computer, gonna be Mac this time, every magazine I read says ‘Mac’, so give me a call and tell me what to buy.
What’s really great is that Apple is only getting started. They are able to offer products like the $999 iMac and the $1099 MacBook now – imagine the things they’ll be able to offer as Mac marketshare expands greatly along with their buying power with respect to their suppliers.
Usually Right:
I’m getting the same response from windown people around me.
At a certain point, the herd mentality is gonna kick in. We bought Macs because we made an informed decision. People are gonna start buying Macs because everyone else is doing it. It’s all good anyway you buy it.
that should be “Windows” but windown, whatever….
Great article. But I disagree with his comment that TWO gigabytes of memory should be standard on PCs. Well, maybe in the Windows world. But that’s a nit. I thought the comparison was fair.
Mac4lfe,
I prefer “windblown” LOL.
Well it’s nice to say in a seemingly disinterested tone to a hard-Windows friend, that…
“you might like to just try a Mac, you can run Windoze on it as well, I mean… that’s two computers in one…isn’t it… and look at all that free software… it just might be worth having a little think…”
Smug smile, ho ho!! They will come around to it… eventually… there is no alternative…
Between:
– all the new Mac TV ads (not to mention the slightly older iPod TV ads)
– the new print ad booklet which started appearing last week in numerous prominent magazined (including Entertainment Weekly)
– all the huge iPod billboards everywhere
– all the print articles and reviews
– all the good word-of-mouth that’s been generated over the past year or so
Apple is FINALLY getting in-your-face about their superior products.
MW: certain. I am certain this Apple juggernaut is getting harder and harder to stop.
Noticed the difference in market capitalisation between DELL and AAPL recently? I know it doesn’t really matter, but it’s fun: Apple is now worth 25% more than Dell. It’s just possible that the people (like MDN) who predicted that Apple would pull steadily ahead in market cap might be correct…
“It’s just possible that the people (like MDN) who predicted that Apple would pull steadily ahead in market cap might be correct…”
And also funny how the moron who calls himself SELL SELL SELL has been plenty quiet lately.
I believe, though I have no hard information on the subject, that Apple is getting superior pricing from Intel. Dell and the other box assemblers are putting a serious hurt on Intel by going with AMD on the high end. But it comes at a time when Intel has overcome and reversed AMD’s performance lead, with the former kicking the latter’s nether cheeks in benchmark after benchmark. When Apple wins, Intel wins and Intel has always been willing to take short term pain – low balling its price to Apple — for long term gain. Intel wins by helping to make Apple a winner. This is a great example of a win/win game.