Apple Event 30th October

[thom_horne (Thomas Horne)]

@nickh

I hate the prices of the new MacBook range, and would seriously struggle to justify the almost £2000 for the 15" model these days.

For anyone who isn’t after an Apple product, there are loads of cheaper (and better specced) options out there.

Yeah, £799 for the new Mac mini when it’s $799 in America has really put me off.

Does anyone think nigh on eight hundred pounds for the basic spec is decent value!

[nickh]

I guess you have to look at it in isolation, and compare it to the other prices for a Mac.

For the spec… It’s pretty good.

The dollars to pounds thing is criminal though.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

Value is very subjective as it’s a personal judgement.

If you’re just looking at specs then you can probably get more for less. But if your buying into the Apple ecosystem then you’re paying for that integration.

Also to be fair to Apple they do use quality components. Their flash performance is ridiculously fast and they generally stick with thunderbolt on all their ports rather than having some that are just USB C.

[phildawson (Sorry, I will have to escalate this.)]

@nickh

Edit - iPad Pro starts at £769, £150 more than the entry price for the previous 10.5" iPad Pro.

The previous entry 12.9" was £769, I was expecting them to take that to £799 not £200 more.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6863588

^ Roll on black friday.

1TB / Cellular for £1,869 anyone?

[danbeddows (Dan)]

I’ve said this before, but there’s often overlooked value in Apple products other than headline specs/features.

@danbeddows

Yeah people hardly ever factor in things like:

Actually good support. Not shipping my Mac off or having to fight for obvious defects.
Free software included (like Pages/Numbers/Keynote). Rather than paying £100+ for office + free annual major OS updates.
Resell value . I sold my 4 year old Mac for £800 after buying it for £1400. Cost of Computer: £600 for 4 years.
Build quality. No creaky low quality plastics.
Battery Life . I have had so many Windows laptops and had such a tiny amount of battery life. Manufactors include HP, Acer, Dell + Samsung. Never had more than 3 hours of actual real life use. Vs never less than 10 hours with my Mac.

[chistery]

Have you added Sales Tax to that US figure?

[thom_horne (Thomas Horne)]

@chistery

Have you added Sales Tax to that US figure?

I forgot that was a thing being that tax for us is mostly included in the price.

I’m assuming each state has a percentage set up that gets added onto the price upon purchase?

[lumisota]

@thom_horne

I’m assuming each state has a percentage set up that gets added onto the price upon purchase?

Yes, they vary quite widely – some have no sales tax, others charge 8%.

Building our 20% VAT rate into the 799 USD conversion means that Apple are pocketing an extra £45.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

I’m finding it harder and harder to justify the premium although I do think your points are fair.

I’d argue that good support and quality are what you’re paying the premium for in the first place and high resale value to an extent goes hand in hand with the high sticker price.

As for the other things:

• the Free Software has zero value to me (YMMV) and I’d argue has generally way less value these days then it once did when it was really standout
• OS updates are table stakes and Windows provides longer support (no Mojave for my Mini )
• In the same price range you can get far better battery life on Windows machines

It also annoys me that they generally don’t keep their machines updated and don’t lower their price. You really do have to buy on release to get the best value.

[ianlyon]

A part of me was hoping this would be boring, and the other part of me is happy that the new iPad Pro is exactly what I’m after right now. Ugh.

[danbeddows (Dan)]

@ravipatel

I’m finding it harder and harder to justify the premium

Me too, UK prices in particular are awful since the Brexit currency fiasco. There’s a 20% premium on everything that didn’t exist before.

@ravipatel

high resale value to an extent goes hand in hand with the high sticker price.

Although I agree to some extent - these are inextricably linked, I do find Apple products tend to hold a higher % of value then competitors products, regardless of price itself.

@ravipatel

the Free Software has zero value to me (YMMV) and I’d argue has generally way less value these days then it once did when it was really standout

Agreed for me too, I (mostly) use other software than the software included. Many will still pay for competitors software not included in the ticket price of the machine, though.

@ravipatel

In the same price range you can get far better battery life on Windows machines

In my experience with Windows laptops, advertised battery life isn’t anywhere near actual capability. I’ve been sorely disappointed a few times now. I’ve always got what I expected with a Mac.

@ravipatel

It also annoys me that they generally don’t keep their machines updated and don’t lower their price

They’re awful for this. Mac Pro probably being the best example right now.

[harryru (Harry)]

Loving the updates, I have been looking to replace my MacBook Pro (early 2015) model for a while as it’s too heavy for me to lug around the world as I’m travelling / moving about overseas but it has everything I want. I was waiting for the iPad Pro to potentially replace my MacBook Pro but I’ve been drawn in by the MacBook Air instead! It’s already ordered and on it’s way for next Wednesday

Good job it’s roughly ~200GBP cheaper here in Australia