Bopajuice

MacPro said:

rogifan_new said:

MacPro said:

So not better built and designed products, superior operating systems, security, privacy, eco-system, higher customer satisfaction, in-house CPUs on the rise that look like they will dominate the industry thus higher margins ... I could go on, no a typical Wall Street analyst comment.

Bottom line is prices are going up. Whether someone can afford something isn’t dependent on whether that something is better or not. Sure some people’s buying decisions will be based on value. But for many others price alone matters. It’s not like people’s wages are skyrocketing or they have all this disposable income they didn’t before.

I'd simply go back to my earlier post; if a buyer saves up and buys a better product they are wise.  Rushing out and buying on price alone is never wise.

For some perspective.  Just so you know I buy PCs too.  At the lower end, if you price out a good, and I stress good, NUC set up you will find it is expensive, easily $1,100 and up.  People wanting Apple equipment usually know they are getting top of the line equipment or even if they don't know, they are.  The lower end PC equipment that appears to be cheap is.  They use motherboards that can't take much RAM or slow RAM, they use out of date Intel or AMD CPUs, god-awful GPUs and so on.  At the high end, if you actually take the time to do a BTO high-end Dell for example, as I just did, you are paying pretty much on par with Apple pricing, well over $2,000.  

So my conclusion here is Apple is not expensive compared to high-quality alternatives.  The issue you are focussing on is price, that most often edges up and true of so many things in life.  That said, after all these years Apple has for the most part always offered a lot more in any item at a similar or at a slightly increased price than whatever it is replacing and in some cases far more for the same price or less.  Let us not forget the jewel is the Apple operating systems which no one else has as well as the top of the line and now even bleeding edge hardware, e.g. Apple's new SoCs.

I don't know your age or how long you have used Apple products but I recall vividly buying dozens of Mac II FXs fully loaded and each one cost in excess of $12,000 and that doesn't include a $4,000 calibrated color monitor and a high-end graphics card on each Mac.  The top of the line Mac Pro's in 2013 and thereafter and the latest iMac Pro are well below that price point.

Better is relative. I am really surprised to read that Mac users are giving other Mac users advice on how to save money so they can continue to purchase overpriced Apple products. 

You can compare a low end spec'd NUC to the Mini and claim the NUC is inferior, but if you shop around you can find better equipped NUC's, compare ram and SSD prices, and put together a stellar machine for less than anything Apple offers. What's more as time goes on and things advance, you can replace most of the components as well. IF you really want to compare the two, consider what happens if you purchase a mini with non replaceable storage and the storage goes bad. If it happens to a NUC you put in a new SSD and move on. If it happens to Apple you are stuck. Sure you could go external but then what's the point of buying a compact desktop to begin with? A smart user would buy Apple care just in case, but then you have to factor that into the cost. 

I have been using Apple/Mac for a very long time. One thing you fail to point out was that Macs sold 30 years ago were purchased by a niche market of users. It was not a mass produced mainstream product. If you wanted to be in on something new and different it was going to cost you. It was like ordering a custom made suit as opposed to off the rack. If you truly are a long time user you will remember the constant arguments with PC users about being able to do the same thing on a Mac as you could a PC. During that period of time the stereotypical comment was "I don't use a Mac because their software is limited". That was true at some point, but as time went on Apple and their software began to catch up, yet the stereotypical comments continued even to this day. Perceptions, stereotypes, and brand loyalty seems to dictate purchases these days. Today the perception is Apple is superior and everything else is inferior. If you want to play you are going to have to pay. I think that line of thinking makes Apple products better in the minds of the loyal masses, but if you consider value it really exposes their shortsightedness.

Nowadays Apple is mainstream and their prices should reflect that. I see 10 year olds with iPhone XS Max's in their back pocket. The social landscape is littered with MBP users browsing Facebook and checking their emails. They don't need a Pro machine to do what they are doing, but to many it's more important to use Apple. Granted, for a true pro user spending a lot more to run a business makes sense. To my granddaughter or a college freshman not so much. 

I love Apple products but I feel the new mini being released with a 128gb of storage is insulting. To upgrade it will cost a lot more than the competition. I don't call that better. I call it brilliant marketing. 

I continue to live in an all Apple household, but as prices continue to increase, and you weigh what you get for the money, it is making me look over the fence to see if the grass looks the same or if it's any greener on the other side.