waffle

One of the hottest topics in technology is precisely this: “Why are Macs so expensive?”

Here’s your answer: Considering what you get, I don’t see Macs as expensive. Apple makes a dime on needless display adaptors, power adapters priced as though they had a creamy nougat center encrusted in diamonds and gold, memory and other BTO options and nickel-and-diming you with things like QuickTime Pro. This is the well-known truth. The computers themselves however are generally well-thought out, well-performing and very competitively priced.

I’m a developer. I want fast compiles - compiling is a very processor-intensive task. The lowest-end laptop Apple makes is the MacBook - I could without a doubt buy the very cheapest version they currently market and get stuff done, and it’d probably be lots faster than on a much higher-end model I bought nary eighteen months ago. How much would I get done on the cheapest laptop Dell would sell me? How much faster would it be?

“But”, says common sense, “the cheapest laptop Dell markets costs half as much. Clearly Dell’s got the upper hand. This isn’t fair.” Sure, it’s not fair. But is comparing a $500 laptop to a $1100 laptop and saying that you get more for the money with Dell fair? No, it’s bullshit. You get crap with Dell, because that’s what kind of laptop they’ll put together and ship you for $500; crap. Dell makes a ton of cheap laptops, so they’ll be able to squeeze more or somewhat better features into it, but it’ll still undoubtedly stay crap.

The point is this: Apple’s lowest end laptop costs $1100. This doesn’t mean that they’re expensive per-se. This means that they don’t sell low-end laptops. If Apple did make a $500 laptop, it’d have similar components as the Dell, and it, too would be crap. Apple has, apparently, decided to not sell crap. The laptops that Dell make that are actually competitive with Apple’s current offerings at this level cost just north of Apple’s prices.

It’s only if your primary objective is wanting the lowest cost laptop that Dell comes out ahead. Some people like having the lowest cost laptop, some people need the lowest cost laptop, tons of people even get lots of actual work done with them. But what good is being cheap? Do you seriously think that laptop’s going to last you a long time? Do you seriously think you’ll get great service for $500? Do you, in all honesty, expect to be able to go two years without needing to buy a new laptop because your current laptop is holding you back?

There are ten kinds of people in the world.

And if you found yourself thinking about binary just now, you’re a dork.

The MacBook is lots cheaper than Dell. A Slashdot reader put together a comparable package (14″ instead of 13″ display, one memory module instead of two, wireless perhaps external modules instead of built-in).

The Dell landed at “$1466.00 or 1216.00 after instant rebate.” The Dell matches the base MacBook config, and the base MacBook costs $1099. While Dell’s warranty is one year pickup, Apple’s offering (costing $250, bringing it up to $1349 at $133 above the Dell) is a three year warranty. Even if it’s not a 100% check mate, I think it’s safe to say that whenever someone tells you that Dell’s machines are cheaper than Macs with comparable specs, they’re bullshitting you. My assessment was wrong; I refer to the updates.

Update: People have made good points: Dell offers cheaper computers where Apple offers nothing at all (thus, if you only need a cheap computer, Apple is perceptively more expensive because you have to spring for a computer with more features). Furthermore, it may also be true that Dell offers better support conditions and that Dells that are not built to match a spec like this have better value. I’m buying all these points, but from all I’ve read and experienced repeatedly over the years, support in the computer industry sucks, and in actual performance, Apple sucks the least. I also don’t see anyone singing the praises of Dell’s bundled software compared to Apple.

Update 2: Apparently, my math skills only escape me when there’s a possibility it could get embarrassing. $1099 + $250 is indeed $1349, and thus a lot of my point is lost. Having tried configuring the laptop myself, a basic laptop offering much the same in the way of CPU, RAM and HD (but not in the way of bundled software and port roster - no optical audio, no six-pin Firewire, no Gigabit Ethernet and so on) can be had for about as much as the MacBook if you’re springing for the Inspiron. However, configuring a Latitude D620 again (like the Slashdot poster did) with two exceptions, a/g dual band wireless support (which the MacBook offers but doesn’t advertise) and a 3-year “mobility”, “Dell Recommended” warranty deal, I ended up with $1483.

The message seems to be: If you want a Dell comparable to the MacBook in CPU, RAM and HD, spring for the Inspiron, but don’t expect it to measure up in other ways. For that, you want the roughly comparable Latitude, which is $134 more expensive. (I’d also like a word with Dell’s web usability team; I’m having a buffer overflow after all those widgets, buttons to “Choose” (yes, this time you actually do choose, well, no, not really) and fucking banner ads in the four page customization form. I’m wondering how Dell ever sells anything to anyone on a dial-up modem.)