Why your Apple computers are so expensive?

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QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
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Explain to me what OSX offers the world that Windows doesn't. At least with Linux(or things like FreeBSD) etc I can create and compile my own version of the OS, not to mention I could literally put it on almost any piece of hardware that exists. Comparing laptops should come down strictly to what you need in terms of hardware and what you can afford. Aesthetics are for morons with to much money to burn. Same reason people paid a premium to get neat neon lights in their cases 10 years ago, they're morons.

edit- just saw your edit and now we're just going at each other for no reason and I apologize. at least you know my opinion on backlit keyboards rofl.

The magsafe thing is pretty sweet and like I've said in this thread already I really do like Apples trackpad.

OSX offers Logic Audio for music production, I know about 6 producers and every single one uses a Mac, and only a Mac. OSX might be useless to you, and might not offer anything to the average person. I'm getting into production so a MacBook will be my only choice if I want to take it seriously. I dual boot Win 7 & OSX on my Hackintosh box. And I can honestly say there are things about both I love that the other doesn't offer. I find myself in OSX more than Windows simply because I'm old school and love doing shit in Terminal, nothing like power, and CMD just doesn't offer any power to me *shrug*
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
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Name one laptop that does not come whored out with adware where you got to spend hrs reinstalling if you got a OEM disk, no, most cheap ass laptops got a "recovery" disk which means more same ole shit. Name one laptop that actually works sitting it on lap or bed...most laptops got vents all under it you need to elevate or worse get one of those stupid laptop coolers. Name one laptop that you can go to local store and exchange and troubleshoot by knowledgeable people not some HS dropout. You get what you pay for. Everyone knows this.

Just cause you can't afford a MBP don't whine about those who can.
 
Oct 4, 2004
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Yeah, I've heard Logic Studio really is one heck of a great piece of software and one of the few Mac-only applications good enough to win someone over (from Windows/Linux).

Which I find odd because there has go to be something in the Windows world that can compete with that. I'm not in that line of work so I don't know of equivalent competitor products. I know I heard the same thing about Final Cut Pro a decade ago but I believe Final Cut Pro isn't really the unchallenged behemoth it once was.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,976
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Yeah, I've heard Logic Studio really is one heck of a great piece of software and one of the few Mac-only applications good enough to win someone over (from Windows/Linux).

Which I find odd because there has go to be something in the Windows world that can compete with that. I'm not in that line of work so I don't know of equivalent competitor products. I know I heard the same thing about Final Cut Pro a decade ago but I believe Final Cut Pro isn't really the unchallenged behemoth it once was.

Windows has Pro Tools, which is good but not on Logic's level. And unless you want to spend a huge amount of money, FCP is the best NLE software hands down. Vegas & Premiere would be the 2 closest Windows programs on the market, and they both suck balls compared to FCP. Also Serato's software for DJ's seems to run a lot smoother on OSX. So astetics aside Macbooks do offer some great software and a few compelling reasons to buy one. If I had the money I'd definitely own one, but I'm poor so no MBP for me.
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
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Windows has Pro Tools, which is good but not on Logic's level. And unless you want to spend a huge amount of money, FCP is the best NLE software hands down. Vegas & Premiere would be the 2 closest Windows programs on the market, and they both suck balls compared to FCP. Also Serato's software for DJ's seems to run a lot smoother on OSX. So astetics aside Macbooks do offer some great software and a few compelling reasons to buy one. If I had the money I'd definitely own one, but I'm poor so no MBP for me.

pro tools is one of the bitchiest software packages i've ever had to setup. i don't know if it's gotten any better in the last few years, but it used to be extremely specific on what hardware it would and wouldn't run on.
 
Feb 19, 2001
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The build of a MacBook pro (even my 2008 one, non unibody) is better than my Dell Inspiron by far.

You are paying premium for several things like the build quality, good service, and generally good reliability.

I'm not saying I can do more on my Mac than my PC, but I feel more productive on my PC actually. I do have a lot of similar software suites like Adobe Lightroom, MS Office, and Adobe CS5. Mac Office blows balls, and obviously PC Office 2007/2010 is the only way to go. iWork does look nice though. I use Keynote just to have cool transitions. Heh.

I think for the price you're paying, yeah, you can easily build a "better" speced laptop or computer from Dell, HP, etc. Apple is like Sony. You're paying more. Except my gf's two Sony laptops are all plastic chassis. They feel like shit compared to my MBP. If anything the new MBPs demolish almost everything else out there. Unibody aluminum extrusion? The less gaps you have, the less squeaks your laptop makes.

I used a Dell Inspiron through college and a Latitude at work now, and they're both absolute trash. I've had more failures on both laptops than anything else. Granted most of them are HD failures, but I suspect the cage itself isn't built very well. I think I torture my MBP enough too or maybe I just got lucky with the hard drive on it.

Is an Apple product worth it? I don't know. You do get a little more on some things, and overall quality is nice.

As for battery life, OS X is just insanely good at battery life. I know Apple likes to tweak things to save battery power. Sometimes it might mean your CPU steps down A LOT (I'm betting there's aggressive power settings for OSX) and so that's probably why the lifetime is so good. The same goes with the iPhone and while you could say the lack of true multitasking is an issue (come on, evne Android doesn't have true multitasking either), I find that I can get battery MORE life out of the iPhone than my Droid that constantly syncs left and right.

Bottom line is I think Apple ships products that work for a good number of people out of the box. You don't need to do too much to get good functionality. People like to sling mud at them because they claim they can dive in and spend hours and make their PCs uber customized... and their Android phones look like a futuristic device. That's great and all, but sometimes, when people want stuff out of the box that works well for most purposes.... well Apple delivers.
 

theflyingpig

Banned
Mar 9, 2008
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lol. I love these threads. All of the PC loving fools come skipping along, one after the other, like a parade of mentally retarded clowns flinging their ignorance around like monkeys throwing shit. What is most entertaining are the fools who actually try to compare their silly little PCs with Macbooks and Macbook Pros. lol. "Mine was cheaper!!", yes, yes it was. I can tell. Your shitty trackpad. Your cheap, creaking plastic case. Your dull, lifeless screen. Your inferior keyboard. And most of all, your uninspired, uncreative, piece of shit design. Having a Macbook pro is like walking down the street with a beautiful woman on your arm. Having a PC is like walking behind a fat, pancake stack shaped fattie on a fat-scooter. Everyone knows this.
 

theflyingpig

Banned
Mar 9, 2008
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Have you actually sat down and used the trackpad for an extended period of time? It is bar none the best part of any mac laptop. I will never go back to a shitty windows trackpad.

Absolutely. Touching the Apple trackpad is like gently running your fingers on the silky smooth skin of a model. A PC trackpad? It's like sliding your fingers around the greasy panniculus of some Walmart Hag. Everyone knows this.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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Bottom line is I think Apple ships products that work for a good number of people out of the box. You don't need to do too much to get good functionality. People like to sling mud at them because they claim they can dive in and spend hours and make their PCs uber customized... and their Android phones look like a futuristic device. That's great and all, but sometimes, when people want stuff out of the box that works well for most purposes.... well Apple delivers.

How does a Windows PC not work right out of the box? In what way does any mac work better, by default? The fact that people can customize their PC's is a BONUS, not a requirement to make them work.

You have to ask yourself, why would a software company purposefully choose to make software exclusively for Apple when that market is such a minority? Show me a company that does that and has an unmatched product for Windows, and I'll show you a stupid company. A real business would go where the money is at, and there is no actual reason why they can't develop for Windows aside from clear fanboyism.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,976
1,178
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How does a Windows PC not work right out of the box? In what way does any mac work better, by default? The fact that people can customize their PC's is a BONUS, not a requirement to make them work.

You have to ask yourself, why would a software company purposefully choose to make software exclusively for Apple when that market is such a minority? Show me a company that does that and has an unmatched product for Windows, and I'll show you a stupid company. A real business would go where the money is at, and there is no actual reason why they can't develop for Windows aside from clear fanboyism.

You buy a PC you gotta spend an hour removing bullshit 3rd party software, most of which aren't anything more than a demo version any ways. Technically the computer works with all that on there, but it's a pain in the ass to use with all the crapware installed. And if you don't uninstall the shit right away you'll be getting all kinds of pop up notifications than you need to buy the shit after 30 days have passed. You buy a Macbook and you get zero of that crap. As for your 2nd point, Mac's are better at certain things, period. Go into any real music studio you won't see a Windows box, unless it's there for them to play video games when they're bored. To totally write off OSX and call any companies that make software only for OSX as stupid is... well pretty stupid. Mac's cater to a nitch market, and do so quite successfully.
 
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Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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You buy a PC you gotta spend hours removing bullshit 3rd party software, most of which isn't anything more than a demo. Technically it works, but it's a pain in the ass to use with all the crapware installed, and if you don't uninstall it right away. You'll be getting all kinds of pop up notifications than you need to buy the shit after 30 days have passed.

Never had that problem, and I'm on a Dell.

As for your 2nd point, Mac's are better at certain things, period. Go into any real music studio you won't see a Windows box, unless it's there for them to play video games when they're bored. To totally write off OSX and call any companies that make software only for OSX as stupid is... pretty stupid in itself.

You didn't address my point at all. If the companies wrote the software for Windows they would make 20x more profit. Apple computers do not inherently do ANYTHING better, never have. It's just a matter of certain companies refusing to work with the better brand because of some ridiculous irrational snubness.
 
Feb 19, 2001
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Two inches is enough to make people cry uncle?

I like how some of the Mac users in here judge their laptop not on utility but on silly things like the fucking screen hinges.

It's something I appreciate. My hinge was flimsy like 6 months in with my Dell. I later found out it was broken and I replaced it years later.

I'm just glad I don't worry about trivial crap and the body of my MBP (not unibody) isn't making squeaks at least and doesn't feel like crap. The unibody build only makes it even more amazing.

Weight and form factor are definitely a key. Back then most 15" laptops were 1.5"+ Heck, unless you bought into the XPS series in 2008, Dell has 1.5" thick laptops well over 6-7 lbs.

I think it's nice someone can make a 1" thick 15" laptop and make it last 7 hrs. Even my 2008 Macbook Pro speced at 5 hrs was amazing. The Lenovos and Dells back then could NEVER top that. I know part of it is due to Mac OS X's excellent power savings, but hey... it helps.
 

Mr. Pedantic

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2010
5,027
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Never had that problem, and I'm on a Dell.
It was a big problem on my HP notebook, every time I rebooted or woke up from Hibernate I would get messages from HP's own security manager about how my laptop wasn't secure enough because I'd uninstalled the trial McAfee AV, even though I'd already installed Avast, how the security manager needed to be registered, etc. etc. There was so much crap with interlinked dependencies on my laptop that eventually I decided to just reformat and reinstall. It meant I lost the use of my webcam since I haven't ever bothered to find the software that HP used to drive it, but I'm not a big webcam user anyway.
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
13,312
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lol. I love these threads. All of the PC loving fools come skipping along, one after the other, like a parade of mentally retarded clowns flinging their ignorance around like monkeys throwing shit. What is most entertaining are the fools who actually try to compare their silly little PCs with Macbooks and Macbook Pros. lol. "Mine was cheaper!!", yes, yes it was. I can tell. Your shitty trackpad. Your cheap, creaking plastic case. Your dull, lifeless screen. Your inferior keyboard. And most of all, your uninspired, uncreative, piece of shit design. Having a Macbook pro is like walking down the street with a beautiful woman on your arm. Having a PC is like walking behind a fat, pancake stack shaped fattie on a fat-scooter. Everyone knows this.

One would think that staring at basically the SAME DESIGN APPLE HAS USED FOR THE MBP FOR FUCKING YEARS as dull and uninspired. I'm constantly seeing new creative designs from other vendors, but Apple keeps the same boring shit year after year with minor changes here that people like you shit yourselves over.

To the dude who brought up Logic Studio, I don't know a whole lot about this kind of software and what not, but aren't there quite a few alternatives?
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
13,312
1
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Absolutely. Touching the Apple trackpad is like gently running your fingers on the silky smooth skin of a model. A PC trackpad? It's like sliding your fingers around the greasy panniculus of some Walmart Hag. Everyone knows this.

While I really enjoy the MBP trackpad, I don't like the feel of it on my finger as much as my Lenovo.
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
13,312
1
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You buy a PC you gotta spend an hour removing bullshit 3rd party software, most of which aren't anything more than a demo version any ways. Technically the computer works with all that on there, but it's a pain in the ass to use with all the crapware installed. And if you don't uninstall the shit right away you'll be getting all kinds of pop up notifications than you need to buy the shit after 30 days have passed. You buy a Macbook and you get zero of that crap. As for your 2nd point, Mac's are better at certain things, period. Go into any real music studio you won't see a Windows box, unless it's there for them to play video games when they're bored. To totally write off OSX and call any companies that make software only for OSX as stupid is... well pretty stupid. Mac's cater to a nitch market, and do so quite successfully.

Well it's not that you won't see a Windows box because it can't do what OSX does. You'd be well pretty stupid to say it can't. I don't know a whole lot about music production software, but I know enough to know that anything you can do on OSX you can do on a Windows box. The software and tools are there, the reason you will see Apple in those places is the same reason you see Apple in places where people do graphic design. If you think that's because you can do something on OSX that you can't do on Windows you're a moron. Apple hasn't been anything special in that department since they've switched to Intel. Lets not forget the whole trendy factor and usually musicians are stuck up douche bags so it fits.

(not all Apple owners are stuck up douche bags, I just happen to notice most musicians/actors are stuck up douche bags and they generally rock Apple products.)
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
9,739
0
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How does a Windows PC not work right out of the box? In what way does any mac work better, by default? The fact that people can customize their PC's is a BONUS, not a requirement to make them work.

You have to ask yourself, why would a software company purposefully choose to make software exclusively for Apple when that market is such a minority? Show me a company that does that and has an unmatched product for Windows, and I'll show you a stupid company. A real business would go where the money is at, and there is no actual reason why they can't develop for Windows aside from clear fanboyism.

closed hardware most likely means it's a lot easier to develop for os x. not having to worry about playing the driver game like you do on windows. one of the big examples i can think of is pro tools, as i mentioned before. if you didn't have the perfect mix of hardware it would be buggy as hell and it's a pretty big software package.

the os x indie software scene is worlds better than the pc. people develop for use, not for how many buttons they can stick into their program. they actually pay attention to UI and usability. they actually embrace their indie software devs with things like macheist. windows 7 brought me back to using a pc, but i do miss the software choices i had on the mac. you don't see programs like tweetie, acorn or fetch. i have yet to find a decent twitter client that doesn't use air, and although paint.net and filezilla are okay, they just aren't as nice as their counterparts.

(not all Apple owners are stuck up douche bags, I just happen to notice most musicians/actors are stuck up douche bags and they generally rock Apple products.)

that sounds like product envy to me! i used to be you and malak, spewing anti-apple hate everywhere i went. then i actually tried one, and got hooked almost instantly. i still have nothing but love for os x, even if their hardware standards are slipping as they move away from computers and towards gadgets, but when it came time to replace my macbook pro i went for a cheaper dell and i've been kicking myself ever since.
 
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Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
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No they are definitely deciding factors for people. Trust me. The dude wouldn't of even have brought it up if it wasn't.

It is not a deciding feature for me. It is a bonus when all other features/price/etc. are equal. So I suppose in the case where two systems are the exact same spec/price and one has a backlit keyboard while the other does not then yes, I would DECIDE to take the one with the 'free' backlit keyboard.
 

jTanked

Senior member
May 28, 2009
204
0
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Because asking each of them (the OEMs) to figure out the best settings for each of their varied and multivariate systems and then find a way to include those settings on an actual recovery disk that doesn't install a ton of bloatware, so that when users have to re-install the OS they can reliably turn to that instead of a bog-standard 7 disk and dealing with their own drivers would be an excercise in futility?

Apple makes the MacBook, MacBook Pro (13, 15, 17) and MacBook Air. Of those, they have 3 GPUs (9400m, 320m, 330m), and 7 CPUs (Core 2 Duo: 1.86, 2.13, 2.4, 2.66. Core i5: 2.4, 2.53 and Core i7 2.66). They all use the same wireless card, ethernet controller, firewire controller, SD card reader, and optical drives.

The hardware pool that they are dealing with is a fraction of the size of probably even 1 model line from Dell (who has, at last count, 6? Inspiron, Studio, XPS, Vostro, Latitude, and Dimension).

You forgot the Duo 3.04 which is what I have in my 15" MBP. The dual vid cards is pretty sweet too.

I love the aluminum case. I love the keys. I love the trackpad. I don't love the heat. (Don't use it on your lap when wearing shorts!) I don't love the price, but a comparable lappy from anybody else would cost about the same.

Oh, and battery life on this is closer to 8 hours for me. I sat through an all day conference with this surfing the net and taking notes before having to worry about charging.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
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One would think that staring at basically the SAME DESIGN APPLE HAS USED FOR THE MBP FOR FUCKING YEARS as dull and uninspired. I'm constantly seeing new creative designs from other vendors, but Apple keeps the same boring shit year after year with minor changes here that people like you shit yourselves over.

Of course unlike apple, all of the vendors seem to miss what makes a notebook design a good design.

It should have the following

1) A large easy to use trackpad (this seems to be really hard to grasp)
2) As thin and light as possible
3) As quiet as possible
4) Controls and ports as easy to access as possible.
5) Easy to clean

Apple meets all of these for me better then any notebook I have. My work buys new dell notebooks every year, I have yet to see one I like better than my macbook pro. Even if I was forced to use Windows I would want a macbook pro.