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0 pointsexe342y ago0 comments

> Anything even remotely within Macbook vicinity costs the same as a Macbook anyway.

The opposite ("macs are overpriced") is something I've never been able to understand. Back in 2013 when I bought my current laptop, the mac book air was the thinnest, lightest, longest battery life, nicest keyboard, and a bunch of superlatives I don't remember, and it was somewhat over £1000. The closest non-mac "ultrabooks" I could find in shops at the time cost the same, and felt like cheap rubbish. And this laptop just refuses to die, and handles my workload just fine after all these years. I'm dreading the day I have to replace it.

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AnthonyMouse2y ago

> The opposite ("macs are overpriced") is something I've never been able to understand.

It's simple: People without much money have basic needs and want a ~$600 laptop but Apple doesn't sell one.

It doesn't matter if the $1000 Macbook has better battery life than a $1000 Dell because they don't have a $1000 budget.

sib2y ago

That's different from being "overpriced."

Overpriced would be "costs more than it should for what it is," not "costs what it should but is more product than I can afford."

AnthonyMouse2y ago

> Overpriced would be "costs more than it should for what it is," not "costs what it should but is more product than I can afford."

But it's also that, because their bottom configurations are weird/crippled.

It's hard to find a PC laptop with a 4k screen for much less than $1000, but then the $1000 machine has 12 cores and 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Apple's $1000 laptop has 8 cores and 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, i.e. overpriced.

Okay, but DDR5 is ~$3/GB and NVMe SSDs are ~$0.10/GB, so really that's only a value difference of like $100 and you could just upgrade it. Except that Apple charges $25/GB for DDR5 and $1.28/GB for storage and then solders everything, so you'd actually have to pay an extra $800. Except that the Macbook Air isn't available with 32GB of RAM, or more than 8 cores, so then you need the Pro, which is even more.

1 more reply

exe34OP2y ago

I probably can't justify the expense myself anymore - last time I had a hefty student discount. But this doesn't make them overpriced, it just makes me poor.

hollandheese2y ago

No, it's I need a 2 TB SSD in my machine. That costs $100 for a PC laptop, and $600 for the Mac. I need at least 16GB of memory, that's $300 for the Mac, and $60 for the PC.

It's the fact that Apple is grifting everyone who needs more than the base specs.

bombcar2y ago

Apple does partially cover that market, but only via refurbished.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/FGN63LL/A/refurbished-133...

The thing that's really sad is that the build quality on sub $1k laptops is just such shite

AnthonyMouse2y ago

> Apple does partially cover that market, but only via refurbished.

That's not the same thing. If you're budget conscious then you presumably need to keep it for a long time, but now you've got a used battery and a machine that will fall out of support sooner.

> The thing that's really sad is that the build quality on sub $1k laptops is just such shite

The secret to this one might be refurbished Framework laptops. Sure, you've got a used battery, but now it's easy to replace and costs $50 instead of $250.

2 more replies

eropple2y ago

I'm not sure those people are the intended Macbook audience, though. How many of those people wouldn't be roughly as productive using an iPad or something? I've found myself doing almost all my non-development, non-media stuff on an iPad Air as of late and the environmental constraints have been really helpful for focus.

(My iPad Air was $599 new, and I use a shockingly pleasant $30 case-and-keyboard combination for typing--no, it's not a mechanical keyboard, but c'mon.)

windowsrookie2y ago

I have tried several different iPads over the years and I have never found them to be useful in any way. A laptop is superior in every situation for me.

Also the M1 MacBook Air was on sale many times for $700. That's less than $100 more than your iPad Air + keyboard.

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lupire2y ago

iPad has a tiny screen and a tiny keyboard. It's not a laptop.

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itsoktocry2y ago

>nicest keyboard

When have MacBooks ever had the nicest keyboard? They have pretty good keyboards, but I have 10 year old ThinkPads with keyboards that I prefer.

aembleton2y ago

Keyboard feel is very subjective. Different people like different things about keyboards.

exe34OP2y ago

Are thinkpads considered "ultra mobile" (or whatever the buzzword is nowadays)? I thought they were more hefty? The thin/lightweight laptops from back then had crappy clickety keyboards.

mhb2y ago

Of course they were heftier, but "nicest keyboard" and "nicest keyboard given ridiculous thickness constraints" are a world apart. No idea what you mean about crappy Thinkpad keyboards. The old Thinkpad keyboards are widely acknowledged to have been great.

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AnthonyMouse2y ago

> The opposite ("macs are overpriced") is something I've never been able to understand.

It's simple: People without much money have basic needs and want a ~$600 laptop but Apple doesn't sell one.

It doesn't matter if the $1000 Macbook has better battery life than a $1000 Dell because they don't have a $1000 budget.

sib2y ago

That's different from being "overpriced."

Overpriced would be "costs more than it should for what it is," not "costs what it should but is more product than I can afford."

AnthonyMouse2y ago

> Overpriced would be "costs more than it should for what it is," not "costs what it should but is more product than I can afford."

But it's also that, because their bottom configurations are weird/crippled.

1 more reply

exe34OP2y ago

I probably can't justify the expense myself anymore - last time I had a hefty student discount. But this doesn't make them overpriced, it just makes me poor.

hollandheese2y ago

No, it's I need a 2 TB SSD in my machine. That costs $100 for a PC laptop, and $600 for the Mac. I need at least 16GB of memory, that's $300 for the Mac, and $60 for the PC.

It's the fact that Apple is grifting everyone who needs more than the base specs.

bombcar2y ago

Apple does partially cover that market, but only via refurbished.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/FGN63LL/A/refurbished-133...

The thing that's really sad is that the build quality on sub $1k laptops is just such shite

AnthonyMouse2y ago

> Apple does partially cover that market, but only via refurbished.

That's not the same thing. If you're budget conscious then you presumably need to keep it for a long time, but now you've got a used battery and a machine that will fall out of support sooner.

> The thing that's really sad is that the build quality on sub $1k laptops is just such shite

The secret to this one might be refurbished Framework laptops. Sure, you've got a used battery, but now it's easy to replace and costs $50 instead of $250.

2 more replies

eropple2y ago

(My iPad Air was $599 new, and I use a shockingly pleasant $30 case-and-keyboard combination for typing--no, it's not a mechanical keyboard, but c'mon.)

windowsrookie2y ago

I have tried several different iPads over the years and I have never found them to be useful in any way. A laptop is superior in every situation for me.

Also the M1 MacBook Air was on sale many times for $700. That's less than $100 more than your iPad Air + keyboard.

1 more reply

lupire2y ago

iPad has a tiny screen and a tiny keyboard. It's not a laptop.

1 more reply

itsoktocry2y ago

>nicest keyboard

When have MacBooks ever had the nicest keyboard? They have pretty good keyboards, but I have 10 year old ThinkPads with keyboards that I prefer.

aembleton2y ago

Keyboard feel is very subjective. Different people like different things about keyboards.

exe34OP2y ago

Are thinkpads considered "ultra mobile" (or whatever the buzzword is nowadays)? I thought they were more hefty? The thin/lightweight laptops from back then had crappy clickety keyboards.

mhb2y ago

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse