ARMacs prices?

[bripirie]

what do you think about ARMacs future prices? I assume that should be cheaper to produce as I expect everything to be integrated, non user replaceable memory nor disk. And they could reuse a lot of its current infrastructure for the mobile devices. The other thing is if Apple wants to reflect this on final prices...

I don’t think we’ll get the equivalent mac at a lower price.
We’ll get a more powerful mac at the same price as today.

 

[il_teo77]

Same prices, more features.
The prices will stay largely the same, in my opinion, but Apple will add features (FaceID, w1 chip, 5G modems,and so on) and also tout speed increases and battery benefits.
it might also be possible for them to redesign the MacBook Pro and MacBooks and brag about the challenges in making them so thin, with so little bezels as an added mean to justify that the prices stay the same.

“Blabla bla” and the price will stay the same! (Everybody will be happy)

 

[collin_]

Aren’t new designs for Apple computers really expensive to start? Original MacBook Air, retina MacBook Pro, MacBook 12”. Possibly others. Thats how I remember it. I’m guessing a hypothetical 14” ARM MacBook Pro is around $2000

I don't think the ARM machines are going to be more expensive. They're cheaper for Apple to make and I'm sure Apple wants to encourage quick widespread adoption. These are not marketed as speciality machines for high-end users. Apple is transitioning the entire lineup over the next 2 years.

 

[Trusteft]

The prices will not drop much if at all. Apple has made it clear for decades now they don't want the plebs to buy their products.
It's not impossible there will be price reductions, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Helmlein]

Same prices, more features.
The prices will stay largely the same, in my opinion, but Apple will add features (FaceID, w1 chip, 5G modems,and so on) and also tout speed increases and battery benefits.
it might also be possible for them to redesign the MacBook Pro and MacBooks and brag about the challenges in making them so thin, with so little bezels as an added mean to justify that the prices stay the same.

“Blabla bla” and the price will stay the same! (Everybody will be happy)

"Bragging" is a good point, but in a different way: they will continue to sell their machines as "faster than most laptops", but you can't compare them to PC/Intel notebooks any more as the CPU is different. That is possibly very welcome.

I'm not totally against those slogans and a very happy user of a 2020 iPad Pro with keyboard (apart from the fact that the MacBook is lighter than that combo), but it does make the comparison harder. Said iPad Pro was already marketed as "faster than most laptops"...

H.

 

[Return Zero]

It seems to me that Apple prices products based on market value, not on cost. In that sense, I don't think prices will change one bit for "equivalent" machines. However, they will say the machines are actually better, not equivalent, and thus create greater perceived value while also enjoying slightly higher margins.

Also, making their own chips will probably allow them flexibility to offer cheaper, stripped-down base models. I wouldn't be surprised to see the return of the $499 Mac Mini, and smaller/cheaper MacBooks again as well. This is exactly what we are seeing in the iPad and iPhone lines lately (SE, 10.2", etc.).

 

[Albatrossflyer]

Price and cost are 2 different things. Regardless of the CPU, Apple will continue to price their products according to their philosophy that Apple builds premium products and sells them at a premium price. I expect any BOM cost difference between x86 and ARM chips will be absorbed by Apple as higher profit margins.

 

[maflynn]

allow them flexibility to offer cheaper, stripped-down base models.

That generally falls out of scope of their philosophy of premium devices. More likely they'll be enjoying the higher profit margins on the backs of their customers.

 

[Homy]

So to sum up:

- Mac prices may go up
- Mac prices may go down
- Mac prices may go unchanged

End of the thread. ?

 

[maflynn]

So to sum up:

- Mac prices may go up
- Mac prices may go down
- Mac prices may go unchanged

End of the thread. ?

Its all speculation at this point and we all enjoy bantering about why we think our favorite opinion is correct

 

[HyperFlow]

I feel long term we might see bit of a price drop but initially I think they will be similarly priced to now. I’m expecting the higher spec lines to get ARM processors first (MBP lines), just because I think it will be important for Apple out of the gate to show they can outperform intel in Macs. Then later on I think we’ll see the less powerful but hopefully cheaper ARM processors in the entry level Mac mini, MacBook Air etc.

 

[Tankmaze]

Apple has too many product lines at every price point, and when the mac become the same architecture as iOS and iPad devices what would differentiate between the devices other than price.

It will stay the same I assume.

 

[maflynn]

and when the mac become the same architecture as iOS and iPad devices what would differentiate between the devices other than price.

You can make the argument that Macs won't be the same architecture, take the apple watch, yes its an ARM based processor, but it has little in common with the iPhone.

Macs will be running an OS, that is more flexible, more powerful, then iOS, hardware wise, its night and day between what you can have on a mac vs. iPhone or iPad. I think overall making Macs on ARM doesn't mean they're just more powerful iPads.

 

[robbieduncan]

You can make the argument that Macs won't be the same architecture, take the apple watch, yes its an ARM based processor, but it has little in common with the iPhone.

Macs will be running an OS, that is more flexible, more powerful, then iOS, hardware wise, its night and day between what you can have on a mac vs. iPhone or iPad. I think overall making Macs on ARM doesn't mean they're just more powerful iPads.

I think there is confusion that the DTK uses the A12Z SOC (but probably not the exact same: I expect the RAM is not part of the package due to capacity?). Shipping Macs will almost certainly use unique to Mac Apple Silicon SOCs. No doubt the cores will be shared with the iOS core design but I expect more cores, higher frequencies due to the higher power budget.

 

[spicy_tonkotsu]

.

 

[W2u7Yw4HaD]

I suspect the prices won't change very much. In the PowerPC days, Macs were also just as expensive. The 12" iBook G4 laptop started at $999, which is the same price as Apple's current lowest-priced laptop, the entry-level 13" Retina MacBook Air.

Its good you bring that up, since that notebook was launched exactly on October 22, 2003. I know people complain about apple pricing often (memory upgrades I'm looking at you!) but a new notebook from apple can be bought for nearly the same price 17 years ago.... So that increase really hasn't kept pace with inflation. Base on an online calculator that notebook would be $1392usd instead of $999. Yet you can buy an air for $999 still....

 

[anthonylambert]

intel charges $300-$500 (volume price) for CPUs that Apple uses.

I can buy an Arm CPU infact its a computer with Ram and SSD for $40.... (Raspberry PI).

I would expect they may have to have a price drop!

 

[CalMin]

They will price according to perceived value, competition and a minimum profit margin. I don't see how tomorrow's ARM Macs will offer less value than today's offering (other than for Boot Camp users).

For those who complain that Apple charges too much, remember that we don't have to buy their stuff. It's a choice to buy Macs, iPhones, iPads, AirPods, HomePods, etc. There are cheaper (and in my view inferior) options out in the marketplace. Don't get me wrong, I wish they were cheaper too, but you have to pay the Apple tax for Apple goods.

 

[magbarn]

intel charges $300-$500 (volume price) for CPUs that Apple uses.

I can buy an Arm CPU infact its a computer with Ram and SSD for $40.... (Raspberry PI).

I would expect they may have to have a price drop!

Where's the savings on the ipads then? They're either the same price or more expensive than the equivalent MBP/MBA screen size. Of course they're all Apple Silicon

Another case in point, 1 TB SSDs, even NVME ones go for $100 retail all the time with sales, yet Apple still charge 4X that amount even though you're already technically paying for the first 256gb (Apple also never pays retail prices for their materials either). Despite SSD's tanking in price, Apple is still going to charge you the maximum the Mac market will bear which has always been a premium.

 

[Return Zero]

That generally falls out of scope of their philosophy of premium devices. More likely they'll be enjoying the higher profit margins on the backs of their customers.

I know what you mean, but how do you reconcile the premium philosophy with devices like the SE and 10.2" iPad? Older hardware designs and/or older chips, at competitive, non-premium prices within their respective segments. Apple has clearly been branching out in new ways. I think it goes hand in hand with doubling down on their services (fastest growing profits for them lately), trying to get a wider market to buy into their ecosystem.

Also, the margins will still be high. I imagine that, currently, intel 'royalties' have simply made the cost floor too high for such cheaper models. With their in-house chips, that shouldn't be a barrier anymore.

 

[HappyMBAowner]

I bought a macbook air with i7 2-cores 1,7 GHz, 8 Go 1600 MHz DDR3 ram, Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 Mo, 256gig ssd for a bit over $2000 (CAD) in 2013. I just bought a macbook air with 10th gen i7 4-cores 1,1 GHz (turbo 3,5), 16 Go 3733 MHz LPDDR4X RAM, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 1 To SSD for about $3000 CAD. Considering the prices went up since 2013, I consider I paid the same price as in 2013, but I got a much better computer. Considering the quality of these products, I really feel they are worth the price. With an ARM chip, $100 less would not make a real difference. Even it were $100 more, I'd pay for the quality of Apple computers and the great ecosystem. I know I'm stuck with buying Apple products to make it simple for me, but I'm happy to be stuck with Apple, considering the awful experiences my friends have with other OS.

 

[dukeblue219]

Probably in the US or Taiwan. TSMC just opened a US factory, and all the systems to do the fabrication come from the US or the Netherlands.

TSMC *announced* a factory that may open in 2024. They also have a subsidiary that makes chips in Washington with a much older fab. I'd be shocked if Apple's ARM designs are fab'd anywhere other than Taiwan.

 

[maflynn]

I know what you mean, but how do you reconcile the premium philosophy with devices like the SE and 10.2"

Well on the iPhone its easy, with falling sales, and market saturation they feel a vast market remains untapped with the SE.

As for the 10.2 iPad, I don't have enough knowledge to offer any opinion on that simply because I don't follow iPad news at all.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

I know what you mean, but how do you reconcile the premium philosophy with devices like the SE and 10.2" iPad? Older hardware designs and/or older chips, at competitive, non-premium prices within their respective segments.

The iPhone SE is targeted at three of the four BRIC countries -- Brazil, India, China -- as well as other emerging markets like Africa. There is also a place for a low-end smartphone in a corporate setting like an inventory control scanner or a POS terminal. The most blatantly obvious example would be the handheld POS terminals at bricks-and-mortar retail Apple Stores.

The 10.2" iPad is targeted at education and corporate/government use where top performance is less important than value and durability. A lot of school districts have moved away from deploying computers to students and now prefer iPads. Another example: airlines don't need to use a high-end iPad Pro for their pilots to store flight maps.

 

[bodonnell202]

They would have to target their bottom lines and cover the cost for R&D for new chips coming down the pipelines. I assume they will be manufacturing the chips in the US or out of country like China?

The chips will almost certainly be manufactured by TSMC, with most of their operations in Taiwan.