AS Macbook Pro major pricing differences between Intel and ARM - CARES act

[MisterMe]

Purchasing person from OP's organisation: Hello, we need 300 Macs before the end of the year

Third Party Reseller Person: Ah right no worries. Let me get you a quote

Purchasing person from OP's organisation: I heard about these Apple Silicon things coming out? Do you think we should wait for the announcements or purchase today?

Third Party Reseller Person thinking about his targets and bonuses: Nah. They are going to be like double in price! You should totally buy today. Hell, I'll throw in some Apple TVs too

Purchasing person from OP's organisation: Great. Sounds good!

There is no way that AS Macs will be substantially cheaper. Just look at the price of a top iPhone or iPadPro. They may be slightly cheaper, or they will be at the same price points, but NOW 2X FASTER with more magic. The marketing practically writes itself.

This is not my experience. When I make a purchase or have a defective unit replaced across the boundary of a model change, my experience is that Apple simply changed the order from the old model to the new model--with permission, of course.

As for price changes, again this is not my experience. The only model upgrade in my experience that came with a significant price increase was the switch from the Trashcan Mac Pro to the Cheesegrater II Mac Pro. Apple's historic practice is to replace the old model with the new model at about the same price as the old holder relative power constant. By this, I mean that I am comparing the power of the new computer to its contemporaries. Compared to the computer that it replaces in the lineup, it is substantially more powerful.

I don't buy a new computer everyday, but I have purchased new Macs since 1989. When it comes to the FUD that I read here about what to expect with the ASi Macs, I have to call B.S.

 

[boss.king]

See if they'll give you a quote for an iPhone 13 Pro Mini while you're at it.

 

[Lammers]

As for price changes, again this is not my experience. The only model upgrade in my experience that came with a significant price increase was the switch from the Trashcan Mac Pro to the Cheesegrater II Mac Pro. Apple's historic practice is to replace the old model with the new model at about the same price as the old holder relative power constant. By this, I mean that I am comparing the power of the new computer to its contemporaries. Compared to the computer that it replaces in the lineup, it is substantially more powerful.

I don't buy a new computer everyday, but I have purchased new Macs since 1989. When it comes to the FUD that I read here about what to expect with the ASi Macs, I have to call B.S.

Not sure the pricing point is necessarily true. Apple product prices tend to creep up, especially when associated with major upgrades where they can charge premium prices.

 

[leman]

Not sure the pricing point is necessarily true. Apple product prices tend to creep up, especially when associated with major upgrades where they can charge premium prices.

New products sometimes start out at the higher end of the spectrum, especially if they contain some expensive tech (like the retina model back in the day). But I dint think this will be the case this time. Apple Silicon Macs will be cheaper or at least similarly expensive to produce compared to Intel machines.

 

[JeepGuy]

Ummm...a base model 12.9” iPad Pro costs $1000 with only 6Gb RAM and 128Gb of storage. Oh, and the Magic Keyboard is another $350.

A MacBook with equivalent 12-13” screen, processor, storage and backlit keyboard with “just iPad parts” isn’t likely to cost less than the current Intel offerings. Apple doesn’t do cheap.

I agree, I think people are going to be in for a shock, if they think AS Mac will be cheaper, apple will just absorb the price difference as extra profit.

 

[ascender]

I agree, I think people are going to be in for a shock, if they think AS Mac will be cheaper, apple will just absorb the price difference as extra profit.

Or as we're seeing with the phones, maybe the price stays the same but there's "better" tech in there which costs more - ProMotion screens, touch-screens etc.

I think the entry-level Macbook will be priced competitively though.

 

[JeepGuy]

Or as we're seeing with the phones, maybe the price stays the same but there's "better" tech in there which costs more - ProMotion screens, touch-screens etc.

I think the entry-level Macbook will be priced competitively though.

I can see them having a basic Macbook at a more competitive price, but anything Pro will be a major premium.

 

[SegNerd]

Even if the story is true, you’re reading it to say “New models will cost double” when it could actually just mean “Old models are half off.”

 

[Ursadorable]

Hmm. Apple doesn’t sell hardware direct to corporates. It is done through resellers. And Apple “sales executives” don’t know anything about unreleased products, they find out about them the same way and at the same time we do.

Yes they do. I have an Apple corporate account where I can get quotes and order Apple hardware. In fact, I just bought a Mac Mini through it a week ago, and an iMac a month ago. However, they don't list any AS hardware.

 

[UltimateSyn]

The next iPad Pros will be on the A14X SoC and I could see the first ASi Macs also using the A14X since they will be "entry-level" portables and an A14X will be more than fast enough.

Not sure what the more powerful ASi-specific SoCs will be called. Might be "A14M" or depending on the architecture difference to the A14 in terms of number and type of core, Apple might very well give them their own dedicated naming schema and the first one could be, say, "M1".

Its true but they reuse names all the time. They just recycled MagSafe.

I don't think anyone would be confused, I can't even remember the last time they marketed the motion coprocessor. Its been built into the SoC since like the a10. If they want to use that name I don't see this holding them back.

Good calls! M1 it is.

 

[theSeb]

Data point on upcoming AS/ARM Macs from a large corporate purchase:

So my workplace government organization received a chunk of money from the CARES act and we are spending some of this to equip our staff of 300 users with new Macbook Pros (13").

We received a quote for both the current 13" i7 MBP and 13" AS/ARM MBP.

Price difference was the AS/ARM Macs almost twice more expensive than the current Intel MBP.

We asked why an AS/ARM Mac that is more efficient using the same chassis/case - Apple responded by saying that the new upcoming Macs are commanding a higher price.

Our Apple sales executive said that they would incentivize us with a sweet deal if we opted for the current Intel i7 MBP....

So we ended up getting the Intel i7 MBP for our organization as they priced it way below retail and threw in 300 qty 4K Apple TVs for free.

Our purchasing dept notified us that the Intel MBP are on it's way and expected in our warehouse by next week.

This post has not aged well at all.