Quote:
Originally Posted by yesno
Apple's laptops and mobile devices and high-end workstations are roughly the same price as PCs with the same specs. Apart from the cost of SSDs and RAM, even an iMac is the same price or cheaper as a similar PC + monitor combo.
You can save thousands on a mid-range tower PC vs. the nearest Mac equivalent. The Mac Pro is a Xeon workstation and is most appropriate for design or scientific work. But it's a mistake the extrapolate from this to iPad or Macbook pricing, which is very good.
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MacBook pricing is pretty okay, particularly given the build quality. Comparably specced laptops tend to be around at least $200 less expensive but usually come with plastic casing, etc. The Mac Pro, however, carries around a $1,000 price premium or more compared to comparably specced gear. I've built some server/workstation class computers with Xeon's and FB-DIMM's so I know. I've never compared pricing between the cheapest Mac and the cheapest PC, much like I don't compare pricing between a 10" netbook and a 17" gaming laptop. As you said, that makes no sense. I usually try to compare a PC with similar components and Macs have always carried a price premium over those (albeit, the amount is oftentimes exaggerated).
Pricing for iPad is really good. My Atom-based Viliv X70 tablet cost me around $600 before shipping and taxes. Apple probably has a lower profit margin on iPads just so they'd have greater market penetration.