The numbers will present themselves. Tons of blog posts and columns have been dedicated to the idea that Apple Macs are not only better but actually cheaper than your regular computers from Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo. Let’s cut to the chase and show you hard facts and real numbers.
Just go to the Apple website and order yourself a fully loaded Mac or MacBook. Here are the screen shots:
Upgrade your MacBook’s RAM from 1GB to 4GB: $850
The iMac’s RAM from 2GB to 4GB: $700
The MacPro RAM from 1GB to 16GB: $4,499 (it’s $699 from 1GB to 4GB)
Now, let’s go to the HP website and get our PC a memory upgrade.
The HP D4996T Ultimate Desktop series from 2GB to 4GB: $170
Note, all RAM upgrades are DDR2-667MHz dual channel SDRAM (PC5300). As a comparison, a 4GB (2GBx2) RAM purchase directly from the manufacturer’s website (Kingston, Corsair, Crucial) will only cost you $150.
So why is Apple charging almost $350 per GB or RAM when SRP is just about $50? That’s a 700% mark-up. maybe it’s hard to personally insert an extra RAM module there so Apple is actually charging for professional installation fee to add more memory to your new Mac.
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Apple RAM prices have always been high, for unclear reasons as Mac desktops are incredibly easy for users to add RAM to. In fact, I’ve added RAM to both Macs and PCs and have found Mac towers to be the easiest to upgrade. I’m not sure about iMacs but I quickly did a search and it seems easy enough.
So for users “in the know” I’d be careful about using your analyses to quantify prices.
Apple has always been expensive for RAM upgrades.
Why not buy the RAM separately and install yourself.. DUH ! no brainer for Mac users. Only place that could be tricky is with the laptop.
However Macs can be LESS expensive:
(1) they have better trade in value… keep one 2-3 years and it’s still worth 40-50% of the list price. Try that will a Dell or HP. Saves $$.
(2) Don’t need virus software, spyware, and all that crud. Saves $$ and headaches.
(3) Don’t need an extended warranty except maybe with a laptop- they get more abuse, but I’ve had 8 Mac desktops without ANY extended warranties. Never saw the shop either. Macs are built tough ! Saves $$ !
(4) Buy a computer like you buy a car, ask yourself what kind of ride you want? smooth and trouble free or bumpy? what kind of trade in you want? a good sum or pennies on the $? how many breakdowns can you tolerate?
The beauty of the Mac is it’s almost 100% TROUBLE FREE so the only limitation to your creativity is YOUR imagination… and iLife08 and iWork08 suites are really great and cheap- $69 !Try getting MS Office for $69 ! even the student copy is >$150.
Try Apple’s One to One program- 52 hours of PERSONAL training for $99 !! Saves you money and makes you VERY productive.
RAM costs are one minor issue.
David
I think you’re right about special handling. This upgrade may lead to inefficiencies in the shipping process as well. Apple has always charged much higher prices for RAM, even when units were produced stateside. At least the do-it-yourself process is quite easy with Apple’s hardware designs. BTW Crucial has 4GB, (2-2GB), new iMac’s & portables’ RAM for $100.
Your title implies a broader subject than just RAM.
I forgot to add Macs last longer. I upgrade my Mac every 5 years and they still run fine. They don’t become technologically obsolete as fast as other PCs - hence better trade value. The fact I can upgrade every 5+ years instead of every 3 or so saves me $$$.
And lastly, a Mac with 2 Gb of RAM is a lot of RAM. Windows machines esp running VISTA need more than a Mac running Leopard. If you need 4 or more Gb of RAM you’re a professional using your Mac to make a living (graphics, web design, animation, etc), your costs can be covered, and again there are cheaper ways to get the RAM.
apple has always charged a premium for ram and other options. the cost conscious consumer just orders the computer and gets ram/hard drives somewhere else. no secret here.
more switchers are seeing the value of a complete package with stunning software. not a stripped down gimmick rebate pc with substandard apps. increasingly the apple difference is the free premium software and robustness of a unix based osx.
as 2008 unfolds, pc’s will look even more like yesterdays technology. apple’s innovation will continue with integrated consumer devices, mobile web and great software. the differences will become even larger than last years. it will be a great 2008!
What am I missing? You don’t have to buy memory from Apple. You can buy it just like you buy the memory for a Dell.
What’s the diff? What’s the reason for writing this if you don’t know that much?
I can put $500 tires and $1,000 wheels on a Scion, but that doesn’t make the Scion expensive, it makes my choice of extras expensive.
However, it is true that you won’t find $500 Macs including monitors, keyboards, and a terabyte of memory. But that’s like saying you won’t find Fords at Chevy dealerships—they’re not in that market.
However, if you compare current Macs with current name brand Windows-based computers on a quality for quality, feature for feature basis, you’ll find that Macs are competitively priced with the exception of servers, where they Mac servers are far cheaper than Windows-based servers (due to Microsoft’s licensing rules).
You could mention hard drives as well, I think Apple charges too much for those as well. But that is well known facts as previously stated. And any current Mac owner will give you the simple hint to buy your own RAM and HD. The manual you get in the box will show you how to install it :).
But those aside, I think that when adding up all you get in the box, buying a PC with equal hardware and software will indeed cost quite allot more. Or maybe PC users are to used to stealing their software from pirate sites, to even consider the bundled software as part of the price?
I think it’s because Apple uses a special apple sauce in all their RAM. It makes the screen ultra-lickable.
Re above apologists: which part of “$170 from original HP” compared to “$700 from original Apple” is hard for you to grasp?
1. “Macs don’t need much memory; 2GB on a Mac is plenty.”
And thank God for that! When you consider that 2GB from Apple costs about the same as 4GB from HP.
2. “Easy to install own RAM on Macs.”
As compared to what, flying a rocket ship? RAM installs exactly the same way in a PC. Duh.
3. “Can buy third party RAM and install it yourself.”
Right. So all those reports blaming wonky RAM for Leopard’s wonky performance is wrong, then. Leopard really is wonky on its own. Thanks for the clarification.
4. “Macs hold better trade in value.”
Really? Tried selling a G5 Mac lately?
5. “Don’t need extended warranty.”
Right. Because Macs hardly break. Except for the wonky screen problems on new iMacs and MacBooks, and frequent hard disk failures, and warped cases, they’re just about perfect.
6. “Macs last longer.”
So do Celeron PCs, if you’re not into multimedia creation. In fact, most users don’t need much beyond 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM to run Windows XP or Linux.
I guess there’s an Apple sucker-er born every minute. No wonder Apple can keep fleecing ‘em for so long.