Gaming Why are Macs really expensive?

[Seroczynski]

The build quality, extremely good battery life(which no laptop has so far), screen quality, OS X is actually pretty fast and stable(no weird bugs or lags) and the looks are actually appealing. Basically, if you buy a Mac, it'll last longer with you. There's literally nothing negative to say about the Mac's except for the fact that their prices are quite high, but it's worth it imo.

My co-worker just got the new Lenovo laptop, last about 12 hours. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say the lifespan of Macbooks has been matched and even improved by other brands.

The negative is that the price does not match the hardware value. My GF just bought the latest iMac model, which comes with hardware manufactured late 2013. Kinda says it all.

 

[omegasoul6]

Yes, exactly. iTunes is just an absolute pain to use. I wish Apple just stuck with transferring files back and forth through Windows Explorer. Much simpler, and none of this sync nonsense.

I've got a iPhone 5S and while I don't care about iTunes, I've gotta say that the fact that they don't allow tethering with wifi instead of LTE is ridiculous considering my Galaxy S2 does it with no issues.

It's so unbelievably backwards it hurts.

 

[Kafke]

While you are right that being a closed ecosystem allows Apple to fine tune software for their hardware better than others, I still don't see why I have to pay a large premium for a Mac when I could buy a Windows/Linux computer or even build one that performs the same or better and looks great for far less.

As a person who has built many computers I like the ability to upgrade the internal components as needed without having to worry about OEM compatibility issues. Over the years the amount of components that I have had fail on me is very small.

As for the iPhone one of the biggest gripes about it is the fact that I can't just hook it up to a computer and transfer music to it without having to go through iTunes. I had enough troubles with iTunes when I used to have an iPod, which are too lengthy to mention.

As I said, for what you're getting it's not overpriced. If you think so, go find me better specs, better build quality, for a cheaper price. Ain't gonna happen. If you're concerned about customizability, then yea, mac isn't really what you want. Though the Mac Pros certainly can be opened up and upgraded if you like. But it's safe to say NO laptop can really be opened up/built by hand. So that's not really a strike against apple.

As for the iPhone, I'm not one to argue that it's better. I have my gripes with it and I'm leaning android as of now.

Mac isn't the end all be all for computing, but to blindly say they suck and are overpriced is incredibly ignorant. They come with pros/cons like any other electronic.

As for iTunes, I have to agree. But music software as a whole is painfully behind the times, not just iTunes. The best alternative I've found is a windows program called Media Monkey. Though, I don't really have any problems with iTunes, despite it being a bit clunky. It's much better than Windows Media Player (to give a direct comparison).

 

[Seroczynski]

As I said, for what you're getting it's not overpriced. If you think so, go find me better specs, better build quality, for a cheaper price. Ain't gonna happen. If you're concerned about customizability, then yea, mac isn't really what you want. Though the Mac Pros certainly can be opened up and upgraded if you like. But it's safe to say NO laptop can really be opened up/built by hand. So that's not really a strike against apple.

The hardware used by Apple in their iMacs and Macbooks is not the latest in hardware technology, and for graphics they always use mobile variants. Seeing as the newer and advanced technologies which are often purchased by computer enthusiasts do not have to be enclosed in such a tight space the result is that they are in fact cheaper as well. And as I've said before, I find their build quality solid.

Still have to say Apple products are overpriced if you look at the hardware you get in return. Had to build in a SSD on my own in the new 20,5" iMac my GF got last month since the 1600 Euro machine did come with a 5400 RPM HDD, I mean, 5400 RPM in a desktop for that price and you call people like me ignorant? Not to mention it did not come with a dedicated GPU and only 8GB of RAM.

 

[darren42]

But it's safe to say NO laptop can really be opened up/built by hand. So that's not really a strike against apple.

While most of the components in a laptop can't be replaced without totally replacing the main board or completely disassembling the laptop, there are a few things that you can upgrade. I have replaced/upgraded the hard drive, ram and wireless card in laptops before.

 

[JoostinOnline]

As I said, for what you're getting it's not overpriced. If you think so, go find me better specs, better build quality, for a cheaper price. Ain't gonna happen.

Build a computer. Besides, I've found $500 laptops that are nicer than $1200 Macs.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Exclusivity. The only way to get OS X (legally anyway) is to buy a Mac. They own the OS X market, so they can charge whatever they want within reasonable limits.
Windows PCs however have many different manufacturers competing for the most attractive price which drives prices down.
Brand plays a big part too of course.

 

[osm70]

While you are right that being a closed ecosystem allows Apple to fine tune software for their hardware better than others, I still don't see why I have to pay a large premium for a Mac when I could buy a Windows/Linux computer or even build one that performs the same or better and looks great for far less.

As a person who has built many computers I like the ability to upgrade the internal components as needed without having to worry about OEM compatibility issues. Over the years the amount of components that I have had fail on me is very small.

As for the iPhone one of the biggest gripes about it is the fact that I can't just hook it up to a computer and transfer music to it without having to go through iTunes. I had enough troubles with iTunes when I used to have an iPod, which are too lengthy to mention.

Yes, exactly. iTunes is just an absolute pain to use. I wish Apple just stuck with transferring files back and forth through Windows Explorer. Much simpler, and none of this sync nonsense.

I have iPhone 4S. I installed application called PwnTunes and I can transfer anything via USB in Windows Explorer.

 

[JoostinOnline]

Exclusivity. The only way to get OS X (legally anyway) is to buy a Mac.

Or know someone who owns a Mac. And of course there are not so legal ways to get it.

 

[ilman]

As I said, for what you're getting it's not overpriced. If you think so, go find me better specs, better build quality, for a cheaper price.

Easy...
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX305/

 

[omegasoul6]

Easy...
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX305/

And it has USB ports without buying a $60 adapter!

 

[codezer0]

If you're serious about asking, and not necessarily trying to troll for reasons, there's quite a bit involved.

A lot of it on the manufacturing end, is that Apple specifies for a more thorough quality testing process than most others when they have to outsource their manufacturing from other clients. Simply, to uphold their contract with Apple, companies like Foxconn and the like are required to uphold a more stringent quality control. Now, we know that there are defective Macs and iPhones just as there are defective Dells and Samsung Galaxy phones, but Apple takes its reputation at least a bit more seriously than most. In all seriousness, there has been (rare) reported instances where if a customer of an iPhone appealed to Apple if Sprint refused to (legally) unlock their iPhones and express their fear of having to use an insecure and/or unauthorized method, Apple was usually more willing to step up and assist them.

The other thing is that Apple does a lot of their own R&D. Maybe not 100%, but they make a point to do a lot of it.

As such, they have a pretty strong control over the hardware and software of the computers they put their name on. It's very much like the control that Nintendo had back in the days of the 8-bit NES and Famicom. And gotta pay those R&D guys at some point.

The other is that they rather price themselves on making a "premium" product. Even back when they were still using PPC chips, wayy back with the G4, there was the potential for a big market for the G4 Cube, but rather than drop the price to meet that market, Apple chose to discontinue it.

I can only speak anecdotally on this, but because of this, there is a larger subjective value, and a considerable resale value to Apple devices for much of this very reason. While I was still in college, it was just around the time that the campus was cycling new hardware for both their PC's and Macs. I managed to get in touch with some people that were in on the side of deploying this hardware, and they expressed that they pretty much expect to have 1 in 5 of every Dell order as DOA, and have to spend extra to handle the RMA process because Dell is like that. But when it came to Apple, all of their original order still worked. And because of this, they basically had to raffle off their older Macs to make way for the new generation systems they were getting in.

 

[Monado_III]

Or know someone who owns a Mac. And of course there are not so legal ways to get it.

I tried to get OS X the first way, but out of the quadrillion people at my school who use Macs, no one, not even my best friend who is pretty tech savvy (and an Apple fanboy), was willing to share a copy with me. So I went with the not so legal way.

 

[Kafke]

iMac my GF got last month

As I mentioned a few times, I'm not fond of the iMacs. All-in-1 PCs usually suck. iMacs aren't an exception.

While most of the components in a laptop can't be replaced without totally replacing the main board or completely disassembling the laptop, there are a few things that you can upgrade. I have replaced/upgraded the hard drive, ram and wireless card in laptops before.

Yup. So saying Macs aren't upgradable is a stupid argument, since most laptops aren't.

Easy...
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX305/

That also has worse specs, a lower build quality, lower battery life, and a thicker build than my Mac. It's also not much cheaper. That's just proving my point.

And it has USB ports without buying a $60 adapter!

Sarcasm? I don't carry around anything with my laptop, not a power cable nor an adapter. 2 ports is more than enough. My old non-mac had 3.

I like how no one has proven me wrong yet. I've given a few cons for macs as well, but if you'd like a few more: There's no backwards compatibility, not even with older mac software, meaning the amount of stuff available is small (like linux). This is compounded by the fact that OS X can only be ran on macs, and you have to develop mac software on a mac, meaning that the pickings are slimmer. There's the issue of Apple not selling budget computers, meaning it's an expensive barrier to entry (which is what held me off for so long from buying a mac). There's a weird push for thunderbolt, which I don't think anyone has ever actually used. No HDMI port is a bummer, but the newer models will have USB-C which does indeed support display output.

And for the record, I think the new Macbook (with the single USB-C port) is dumb. It's a push for the future of wireless tech, but most people aren't ready for it yet. Try again in 8-10 years apple.

 

[Monado_III]

As I mentioned a few times, I'm not fond of the iMacs. All-in-1 PCs usually suck. iMacs aren't an exception.



Yup. So saying Macs aren't upgradable is a stupid argument, since most laptops aren't.



That also has worse specs, a lower build quality, lower battery life, and a thicker build than my Mac. It's also not much cheaper. That's just proving my point.



Sarcasm? I don't carry around anything with my laptop, not a power cable nor an adapter. 2 ports is more than enough. My old non-mac had 3.

thicker doesn't mean lighter, which I find far more important than size, my laptop that I'm typing on right now is/feels lighter than most MacBook Airs, which don't include an optical drive unlike my laptop. (I'm not sure if it actually is lighter as my laptop is supposed to be heavier but I had several people hold both laptops at the same time and they all said mine was lighter.) The laptop I'm using was essentially a cheaper macbook pro when it was released in 2011, it was $300 cheaper, over a pound lighter and the only real downside was a 0.2ghz slower cpu.

Speak for yourself, I'm almost always using more than 2 ports.

 

[omegasoul6]

Sarcasm? I don't carry around anything with my laptop, not a power cable nor an adapter. 2 ports is more than enough. My old non-mac had 3.

I like how no one has proven me wrong yet. I've given a few cons for macs as well, but if you'd like a few more: There's no backwards compatibility, not even with older mac software, meaning the amount of stuff available is small (like linux). This is compounded by the fact that OS X can only be ran on macs, and you have to develop mac software on a mac, meaning that the pickings are slimmer. There's the issue of Apple not selling budget computers, meaning it's an expensive barrier to entry (which is what held me off for so long from buying a mac). There's a weird push for thunderbolt, which I don't think anyone has ever actually used. No HDMI port is a bummer, but the newer models will have USB-C which does indeed support display output.

And for the record, I think the new Macbook (with the single USB-C port) is dumb. It's a push for the future of wireless tech, but most people aren't ready for it yet. Try again in 8-10 years apple.

I was talking about the new Macbook, you need to buy a $60 adapter to be able to use any other type of USB with it.

 

[Kafke]

I was talking about the new Macbook, you need to buy a $60 adapter to be able to use any other type of USB with it.

Doesn't the same go for any USB-C device though? Either way, I agree that the new Macbook (with one port) is kinda shit. It's a push towards the future though. And it's worth noting that it's only one model in the lineup.

 

[loco365]

Easy...
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX305/

Asus has great products. I'm planning to get a laptop from their Republic of Gamers series when I get a job. The specs outdo that of an Alienware and it's not a Mac. I can't stand Macs for their outrageous pricing and just how strict the company is as a whole. If you're not representing their brand properly or not putting the product in the places they require it, you can get into a lot of shit. If you want examples I can provide them on request. I won't support such a dictatorship company.

 

[omegasoul6]

Doesn't the same go for any USB-C device though?

Yes.

 

[darren42]

I have iPhone 4S. I installed application called PwnTunes and I can transfer anything via USB in Windows Explorer.

While I can install alternative software to load stuff onto an iPhone at home, I can't do that on my work computer. With my android phone I don't have to worry about having to install any additional programs to transfer files to it.

Yup. So saying Macs aren't upgradable is a stupid argument, since most laptops aren't.

The upgradable part is mainly in regards to desktop computers.

With mac laptops these days they seem to be producing more models where you can't even upgrade the ram as it is soldered directly to the main board.