You might not have noticed this, but if you go to upgrade your RAM to 8GB in your new iMac, you’re going to be paying a pretty penny. Now, it should be noted that 4GB DIMMS are very expensive already, so it’s certainly not all Apple markup. It seems a bit strange that they’d even offer it in a consumer system like this. Sure, if you can afford a new Mac Pro you can afford that $6100 memory upgrade, but who’s getting an iMac and willing to drop an extra grand on memory?
The problem is just that the iMac’s board only has room for 2 DIMMs. 4GB DDR3 1066MHz costs at least a couple hundy a stick. If Apple had allowed iMacs the space to have 4 DIMMs, they could sell 4×2GB DIMMs instead of 2×4GB, saving probably around $700. Evidently they weren’t interested.
[Thanks to the people at Reddit for pointing this out]
When the economy was good. Apple was a nice status symbol. I suspect Apple PC sales will take a nose dive because they are just too expensive for this economy. When my stock options are back in the thousands, I might consider an Apple.
Totally agree with you bro…
Apple is really over-priced…absolutely doesn’t make sense…especially when you can get 2 PCs at the same price for 1 iMac…ridiculous…
http://www.livbit.com
This is mostly apple tax.
Troy, do you have a Macintosh now?
Apple does not sell the Macintosh on the basis of cost. Apple sells the Macintosh on the basis of value. Macintosh buyers must believe there is value in ease of use, intelligent design, access to the largest library of software available, excellent security, and clean, elegant, well-made hardware. I’m not rich, I’m a elementary school teacher. I drive a 8 year old car that cost $14000 when brand new. I will have two kids in college next year. I don’t buy status symbols. I do buy Apple computers. I will buy my daughter a MacBook to take to college. I plan to buy one of the new iMacs this summer. I suspect Apple PC sales will not fall as much as Dell or other computer makers who sell primarily on cost. (That is a cheap forecast because Dell profits have already tanked while Apple’s financial have remained solid.)
I don’t think it’s a slur on Apple to mention the “Apple tax,” though. Clearly they put together good computers (I’m typing this on a MBP), but when they charge $300 for a part that costs $200 when included in every other computer (happened last year with video cards I think), we have to just sigh a little. Luckily they’ve opened up their design somewhat so adventurous users can skip the Apple tax on RAM and HDDs.
“access to the largest library of software available”, that was meant to be a joke right?
if macintosh had the largest library of software, windows would have the whole galaxy. no?
The original comment would refer to the Mac’s capability of being able use Mac software AND PC software.
Please inform yourself first, he isn’t talking ONLY about the OS, remember Macs can run Windows natively and virtualized.
:)
@atm you should do some research before commenting, check out the cost of 8Gb of DDR3 RAM @ crucial http://www.crucial.com/
Apparently the apple tax is about 200$…
Nick, I don’t own an Apple other than a first gen Ipod Nano. Apple like Sony has done a great job in designing products that appeal to the senses and emotions. Mac users are notorious for their loyality to Apple and worship of Jobs. You are right, Apple is not a status symbol but it is an indulgence. Apple is like bottled water vs tap water.
Where in Nick’s comment did he worshipped Jobs?? And did you happened to misspell your name where it should have been -ll instead of -y?
Oh and I would choose clean water any day over dirty tap waters.
Apple fans sure stick together. As for dirty tap water, are you living in India?
If you buy an apple desktop, you are a tool.
And only 1066Mhz? You are a major tool.
Apple could sell a turd for $1000 to the Mactards.
Yeah they could, they have these people brainwashed it’s not even funny.
The cheapest Mac (mini) with these specs 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz 1GB memory 120GB HD costs $600. I just got my daugther a Dell 530 with Quad core, 4GB, 320GB HD, wifi for just over $500. The equivalent Mini will cost over $1000. I think in general, Apple computers are almost double the price of a “regular” PC. Maybe that’s is why they have less than 5% market share.
I believe I can end the Machine War.
Yeah- I’m like Neo.
Anyway, I am impartial, I really do like the MAC environment, it’s pretty clean and effective, but the cost to get the operating system because you need the hardware isn’t worth it to me. It’s the cost of Prestige I guess, it’s like people that are ok with spending more to fit in. Apple has a strange hold on you guys.
So to summarize: I’d get a Mac, if I didn’t have to pay double.
1,000 bucks for some 4GB DDR3 1066MHz only a brainwashed apple tard would pay that….
When doing the math, apple should have realized that based off of the upgrade costs for all of their other computers memory – they should be charging $800, not $1K. With this economy they need to start re-thinking these things just as they did with the new price on the 24 inch iMac.
“$300 for a part that costs $200 when included in every other computer”
Just a comment on the “apple tax” – in the case of hardware like video cards and sound cards, these often have different firmware than their PC counterpart so they cost more. I believe the switch to intel helped mitigate this, but Apple isn’t always charging for the brand name.
On memory prices though…yeah. Apple is high, and has always been high. But hey, it’s easy to add your own and it doesn’t invalidate the warranty.
I have worked on both PC and Mac over the years…maybe I can explain the “strange” hold Mac has gotten over me.
I am on a computer a bare minimum of 8 hrs Monday-Friday (usually more like 10-12 hrs.) then I spend quite a bit of leisure time on the weekends surfing. I owned 3 PCs in a period of about 6 years, I had to replace them approximately every two years, because viruses and daily use simply rendered them dead. And speaking of viruses….I shudder at the hundreds of dollars spent on anti-virus software.
I purchased my Mac Powerbook 7 1/2 years ago, and am still using it today…without spending a single penny on anti-virus software or repairs in that entire time. I have had my Dual G5 Power Mac for 4 years and am typing this on it right now. I have never had a virus, I have never needed service or repair of any kind on either machine.
I will admit, Apple charges a premium on RAM, but as has been posted before…purchase the base amount and add more RAM yourself…it doesn’t invalidate your warranty and Apple makes it EXTREMELY easy to do.
Speaking of making things easy….networking, photo editing, video editing, web publishing, cross-platform file sharing…. I truly have nightmares thinking about the possibility of dealing with any of this crap on a PC.
I am going to be purchasing a new Mac, but only because the new editions of all of the software that I use in my work is for the Intel platform, not because my machines have crashed and burned like so many of my friends who use PCs have to deal with.
Yes, when you purchase a Mac, the upfront cost is higher, but in the long run, the quality and ease of use saves me both frustration AND MONEY.
Some may call buying a Mac an indulgence and think the love of Mac is about image and presitge. I say it is old fashioned common sense and practicality.
So, have you actually priced out non-Apple RAM? The best you’re going to get in a *name brand* product is about $800. So you might want to relax your anti-Apple hardon a little bit, eh?
Doesn’t seem too out of the park.
You get what you pay for. Mac’s are well worth the extra cost.
What I think a lot of people fail to realize is that if the thousand bucks for a memory upgrade means more productivity, more work done, and less time jerking around with tech support, it’s worth every penny.
Amortize the cost over a year and you get the upgrade to cost less than $100/month. You’re paying less than a cup off coffee a day for headache free memory upgrades that are guaranteed to work. That’s value.
I don’t think the issue is that Macs cost more; you usually get what you pay for. It’s just that Apple is charging an extra $200 (based on RAM pricing on Newegg) for doing a process that is ultimately less tasking and complicated than changing a tire. I am currently typing this comment on a refurbished eee pc that I bought for less than $190, so it blows me away that people can just let money like that go without a second thought.
I agree that Macs are expensive but they are very well designed and nice to use. If you know where to buy them, you can save big $. All Macs are designed in California USA but assembled in China. To save money, the best place to buy them then, would have to be China. For example, today I bought a brand new 24″ iMac 3.06GHz 1TB HDD 4GB RAM for $1,599 Australian dollars with free delivery from China. I will have to pay $160 extra for customs but I’m still getting it for less than half price. You just need to know where to shop.
I love my MACS. Im not rich at all. In the last 2 years my iMAC has not had to be reset or scanned for firmware or other malicious garbage you catch on a PC. It runs just as smooth as the day I brought it home. Sure they are more expensive than a PC, but I would have bought 2 in the time I had my MAC. 10 days ago I bought a Macbook Pro, not cheap. I dont buy it for a status symbol, I buy it because I know it is going to work! Its that simple. I feel PC users on this forum are somewhat jealous because perhaps they cant afford one, but i bet you stop by the APPLE store and play with them all the time and say “damn, I wish I had this machine”.
In ending, you cant compare the two, its like comparing a Ford to an S-Class Mercedes. Either get one or dont, but dont sit here and say anyone is “sticking together” or being “brainwashed”. You sound like a twit.