Apple should be arrested for daylight robbery [MERGED]

[Lucifer666]

I love the: "I'm Apple's biggest fan, but...." , Or: "I've bought everything Apple has sold, but......"

It almost looks like the biggest Apple fans a whiners. I wonder what else they are

 

[skaertus]

I dismissed claims that Apple was greedy.

When the new phone and watch prices were announced I scratched my head.
Today I sat there like wth.
Mac mini $600 for a 24gb ram upgrade?
The iPad prices, whew.

The new Mac Mini is ridiculous. MacRumors (https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/30/2018-macbook-air-mac-mini-hands-on/) is reporting that the initial price of USD 799 is aggressive. How so? It is just too expensive.

Just compare:

Low-end Mac Mini
3.6 GHz 4-core 8th-gen Core i3
8 GB RAM 2666 MHz
128 GB SSD
USD 799.00

Custom PC (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J8KLq4)
2.8 GHz Core i5-8400
16 GB RAM 2666 MHz
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB
500 GB SSD
USD 820.75

Custom PC similar to low-end Mac Mini: USD 452.47 (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xwVXdX)

High-end Mac Mini
3.0 GHz 6-core 8th-gen Core i5
8 GB RAM 2666 MHz
Intel UHD Graphics 630
256 GB SSD
USD 1,099.00

Custom PC (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BXmHbX)
3.0 GHz Core i5-8500
16 GB RAM 2666 MHz
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB
1 TB SSD
USD 1,107.59

Custom PC similar to high-end Mac Mini: USD 554.56 (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wzYB7W)

Of course you can say that the Mac Mini has premium parts, and aluminum, and everything. I agree. I could understand asking some additional USD 200 for a piece of aluminum and a better thermal design, or better speakers. But that just does not justify asking nearly double the price.

 

[Tapiture]

Tend to agree with most of the opinions on this thread. And whilst boycotts usually never work, we've actually seen a dent in Apple's iPhone sales ever since they started rapidly increasing prices. Solution is to not buy it, at least not until there's a sale that makes it a good value for you.

 

[STevil 39]

That’s the sad thing they released these products today which appeal to only two people:

1. The rich
2. Apple fans who buy all things apple.
[doublepost=1540945166][/doublepost]

Because the new Pro is more expensive they feel they can keep the higher mark up price

I'm disappointed by the pricing so I agree with what you and many others say at an emotional level. But the truth is you missed a couple other viable groups:

3. Professionals who use the iPad to create graphics, products or services as part of their business.
4. Students who use electronic text books; web based school networks; and make lecture notes (and who hopefully get to buy at a discount).

I unfortunately like many others here am a recreational user who can't justify over $2,000 Cdn.. for a tablet to watch movies, read, play games, and do occasional emails, but the reality is the new iPads just aren't for me.

I'm really waiting for the 2019 update when these features get added to the 'consumer' model of the iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

4. Students who use electronic text books; web based school networks; and make lecture notes (and who hopefully get to buy at a discount).

Sure, the larger screen's nicer (particularly on 12.9) but other than that, what exactly do the Pro models bring to the table that a $329 iPad doesn't have that would be necessary for electronic text books and web based learning?

 

[Ryand123]

Previously I'd be in the "prices are increasing because Apple is adding new features" crowd but today I'm done.

Historically Apple would reduce the price for their older stuff whose R&D is paid for and using old technology. Now what they've done is keep the old iPad Pro at THE SAME PRICE with the SOLE PURPOSE of launching the new product at a higher price !!!!!


There is NO REASON AT ALL to not drop the price on their old products other than A) they expect demand to stay the same or B) the gains coming from selling fewer units at a higher price outweigh those they'd have selling more units at a lower price.

This is monopolistic behavior, which is very weird because Apple is not a monopolist. Nevertheless I'm increasingly pissed at them because this has been going on since the iPhone 8 launch last year. And happened across their product line (Mac, Watch, iPhone). I wonder what's the price point that will force people to switch.

If they were selling something that was absolutely better than the competition, you could understand it. But as I mentioned in another thread, a very strong argument can be made that the Galaxy Tab S4 has a superior display. And it's cheaper.

With something like 5K iMacs....while the prices are extremely high you can certainly argue that you can't get the equivalent PC desktop.

But Apple no longer feels they need to offer the best product across the board to justify the highest price. They are confident the Apple logo will do all the work for them and people will be too dumb to research or care about the details.

It will be interesting to see if this strategy eventually hurts them. Right now they seem bulletproof but many other companies were once bulletproof until they weren't. Sears was once an invincible machine! Sony once topped the tech universe.

 

[Amazing Ox Space Monkey]

I'm disappointed by the pricing so I agree with what you and many others say at an emotional level. But the truth is you missed a couple other viable groups:

...
4. Students who use electronic text books; web based school networks; and make lecture notes (and who hopefully get to buy at a discount).

.

Those students may get the much cheaper $325 regular iPad, it now supports the pencil. The new iPad pros, especially the 11” one, have only a few use cases where they can excel over the regular iPad. The 13” is completely another beast bu then again, at 3x the price of the regular iPad it’s easy to skip if you don’t need it for professional work.

 

[dumastudetto]

If they were selling something that was absolutely better than the competition, you could understand it. But as I mentioned in another thread, a very strong argument can be made that the Galaxy Tab S4 has a superior display. And it's cheaper.

The Galaxy Tab S4 might be ok hardware, but the software is lousy in tablet form. Even Google has pretty much given up on it and has moved on to ChromeOS and trying to compete with the Surface line. Android devs are not interested in android tablets at all.

You can’t get an iPad experience anywhere else. It’s this simple.

 

[rui no onna]

If they were selling something that was absolutely better than the competition, you could understand it. But as I mentioned in another thread, a very strong argument can be made that the Galaxy Tab S4 has a superior display. And it's cheaper.

Strong argument? Probably not. Even ardent Android fans I know lament Android when it comes to tablets.

 

[lambertjohn]

Well... Apple has just released their new iPad Pro and I’m speechless, if you were going to use this iPad as a computer you would need to get the bigger size, the keyboard case and the Apple Pencil, all of this would cost £1,287, yet I can go buy the new MacBook Air for £1,199 and that has a bigger display, a physical keyboard, Touch ID, 2 USB C ports compared to 1 and 128gb compared to the base model iPad Pro 12.9” at 64gb. This is absolutely outrageous Apple are charging more money for their iPads than for their laptops, I can’t tell you how angry I am, I feel like Apple are trying to rob me, they should of at least included the Appl pencil and or the keyboard case in the box, this makes me feel sick.

You could always go buy an Amazon Fire tablet. I think they start at like, $49.

 

[unobtainium]

I'm quoting the price for the flagship devices.

It is an absolute fact that, in 2016, the flagship, latest-technology iPhone started at $649 and now it's $999.

The way they organize their line-up has changed. The iPhone XS and iPad Pro are not "flagship" models. They're extra-premium models and Apple doesn't expect most people to buy them. The situation isn't comparable to the past ten years, when cheap gains in tech were being made every year. Back then it was possible to keep introducing the "best" new products at the same price as the previous year's. These days, new and exciting tech features are simply more extravagant and more expensive. The cheap "gains" have dried up.

 

[SactoGuy18]

The price of the new 11-inch iPad Pros is just silly. I'm still going to get the 10.5" iPad Pro 256 GB WiFi, where the US$799 price isn't so silly. And it still has the same 4 GB of RAM as the new models.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

So you can afford to pay the asking prices but you are going to deprive yourself of the best new products? Sounds a bid weird to me. You are only hurting yourself.

I will sell you a can coke for $20. I’m sure you can afford $20 for a coke right? Just cause someone prices a product at a certain rate. Doesn’t mean it’s wise to do that purchase.

 

[rui no onna]

I will sell you a can coke for $20. I’m sure you can afford $20 for a coke right? Just cause someone prices a product at a certain rate. Doesn’t mean it’s wise to do that purchase.

Lol, I think I recall paying that much at amusement parks.

 

[WinterWolf90]

It's a very high quality product. The price is more than OK.

This isn't some low grade plastic case you'll find on Amazon for $6

Used to be leather

 

[whitedragon101]

Previously I'd be in the "prices are increasing because Apple is adding new features" crowd but today I'm done.

Historically Apple would reduce the price for their older stuff whose R&D is paid for and using old technology. Now what they've done is keep the old iPad Pro at THE SAME PRICE with the SOLE PURPOSE of launching the new product at a higher price !!!!!


There is NO REASON AT ALL to not drop the price on their old products other than A) they expect demand to stay the same or B) the gains coming from selling fewer units at a higher price outweigh those they'd have selling more units at a lower price.

This is monopolistic behavior, which is very weird because Apple is not a monopolist. Nevertheless I'm increasingly pissed at them because this has been going on since the iPhone 8 launch last year. And happened across their product line (Mac, Watch, iPhone). I wonder what's the price point that will force people to switch.

It’s because of the extremely high price of their competition, the surface pro units. At twice the price for half the performance apple knew they had headroom to increase their price. I was really hoping they wouldn’t notice but clearly they have.

 

[kodos]

I was really going to buy a new IPP. But I looked at those prices and there’s just no way.

 

[QCassidy352]

I think the prices are crazy, too. BUT, I'll say this: you do get a long lifespan with an apple product. My current mac just turned 5 and continues to run as well as when I got it (maybe a tad worse with Mojave - HS was better), and my iPad Air 2 is about to turn 4 and is also going extremely strong.

So when you think about getting 5+ years out of a device, with software updates that actually run well for that entire lifespan, the prices are a little easier to swallow.

I'm still not happy about today's prices, but I do think that context matters.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Well... Apple has just released their new iPad Pro and I’m speechless, if you were going to use this iPad as a computer you would need to get the bigger size, the keyboard case and the Apple Pencil, all of this would cost £1,287, yet I can go buy the new MacBook Air for £1,199 and that has a bigger display, a physical keyboard, Touch ID, 2 USB C ports compared to 1 and 128gb compared to the base model iPad Pro 12.9” at 64gb. This is absolutely outrageous Apple are charging more money for their iPads than for their laptops, I can’t tell you how angry I am, I feel like Apple are trying to rob me, they should of at least included the Appl pencil and or the keyboard case in the box, this makes me feel sick.

Got my 2018 iPad with iPad Air 1 trade-in for $150. Best decision I’ve made all year tech related. The new iPads don’t interest me the way the iPhone Max did. Glad I spent only $150 to get my iPad experience up to speed. These new iPads are nice, but not worth the price jump.

 

[rui no onna]

I think the prices are crazy, too. BUT, I'll say this: you do get a long lifespan with an apple product. My current mac just turned 5 and continues to run as well as when I got it (maybe a tad worse with Mojave - HS was better), and my iPad Air 2 is about to turn 4 and is also going extremely strong.

So when you think about getting 5+ years out of a device, with software updates that actually run well for that entire lifespan, the prices are a little easier to swallow.

I'm still not happy about today's prices, but I do think that context matters.

Desktops have matured enough that performance hasn't really been an issue for a long time. We still have a Windows PC custom built in 2009 with i5-750 and 8GB RAM (upgraded to 240 GB SSD in 2012) running quite nicely.

 

[clarencek]

What really gets me is the Max is more expensive than an iPad AND MacBook / MacBook Air.

I know apple is pricing for the demand but doesn’t anyone think it’s odd that a phone is one of the more expensive products. I mean you can get an 11” giant iPad screen for less than the Max.

 

[rui no onna]

I know apple is pricing for the demand but doesn’t anyone think it’s odd that a phone is one of the more expensive products.

Always been the case for iPhone/iPad? iPhone was already $650 back when iPads were $499.

 

[blairh]

Vote with your wallet. I picked up a refurbished 10.5 from the Apple store just now for $550. Def don't feel the 11" is worth $800. I also suggest anyone who feels inclined to leave Apple some feedback regarding pricing. I think it's getting out of hand lately. (Mac Mini, iPad, MBA.)

 

[rui no onna]

Vote with your wallet. I picked up a refurbished 10.5 from the Apple store just now for $550. Def don't feel the 11" is worth $800. I also suggest anyone who feels inclined to leave Apple some feedback regarding pricing. I think it's getting out of hand lately. (Mac Mini, iPad, MBA.)

Was hoping to nab a 512GB LTE Pro 10.5 for ~$800-ish if I didn't like the new models alas no price cuts on retail models means no price cuts on refurbs either.

I'm also somehow reluctant to get the 10.5 now that there's a good chance devs who haven't optimized their apps yet for 10.5 will just skip it entirely and optimize directly for the new 11" display size.

 

[cornerexit]

Got my 2018 iPad with iPad Air 1 trade-in for $150. Best decision I’ve made all year tech related. The new iPads don’t interest me the way the iPhone Max did. Glad I spent only $150 to get my iPad experience up to speed. These new iPads are nice, but not worth the price jump.

That’s what I said about the phones, ridic. Different strokes for different folks. I use my pad way more than the phone. Probably 4 times as much. I use the phone for CarPlay, audio, checking messages and email on the go, some home automation. Consuming media I want 13” screen not 6” screen. Different deal for everyone. Like you, I say the new phones aren’t worth the price jump.