Mac Pro overpriced?

[iWalrus]

I got this post on my Formspring.me one day:

"Pretty sure you're a fanboy you'd drop $6k on a Mac Pro and one of Apple's insanely overpriced and overrated displays. Jesus. Any self-respecting tech-savvy person would just build their own PC and stick OS X on it instead of paying the Apple tax."

Continuing the naive ignorance, he followed up with several more than can be read here: http://www.formspring.me/Walrus1911


What do you think about this? What would you say to this guy?

 

[derbothaus]

That he is a "self respecting tech savvy kind of guy". They make up .0005% of the population and no one cares.

 

[bearcatrp]

If your good building pc's and don't want to pay the apple tax, go for it. Otherwise, pay the tax. Guess we will see if apple keeps the tax going when the new pro's are released.

 

[MacDawg]

I have never needed to justify my purchases to anyone... even my ex-wife
Why would I start with some internet stranger?

 

[iWalrus]

If your good building pc's and don't want to pay the apple tax, go for it. Otherwise, pay the tax. Guess we will see if apple keeps the tax going when the new pro's are released.

Well see, there's differences (ups and downs) for a Hackintosh (which he is suggesting) and a regular Mac. The main upside with a regular Mac is that it's much more stable than a Hackintosh. And easier to update, and whatnot.

 

[derbothaus]

If your good building pc's and don't want to pay the apple tax, go for it. Otherwise, pay the tax. Guess we will see if apple keeps the tax going when the new pro's are released.

What about the rest of the luxury PC market? They all have "taxes" as well. The tax is that they are building and pairing it for you. Voodoo was WAY overpriced. So was Alineware until Dell bought them and flattened the prices as they can just absorb them. Falcon NW is overpriced, etc...

 

[iWalrus]

I have never needed to justify my purchases to anyone... even my ex-wife
Why would I start with some internet stranger?

Good point, but someday or another, I will run into a friend or somebody in person who will make a similar argument, and I would want to tell them that they're wrong.

----------

What about the rest of the luxury PC market? They all have "taxes" as well. The tax is that they are building and pairing it for you. Voodoo was WAY overpriced. So was Alineware until Dell bought them and flattened the prices as they can just absorb them. Falcon NW is overpriced, etc...

The price you pay for Apple is much more than just that. Other than the fact that the hardware and software is built under one roof, you pay for the extra time, money and thought that they put into it, unlike your usual Wintel. And also, somebody once proved that if you were to built a PC with comparable parts, it would cost almost the same as a regular Mac Pro.

 

[MacDawg]

Good point, but someday or another, I will run into a friend or somebody in person who will make a similar argument, and I would want to tell them that they're wrong.

Why do you feel the need to tell them they are wrong?

Do you do that with a car you purchase?
A microwave?
Sneakers?

I make purchases all of the time without consulting internet forums and opinions (or friends)
I don't expect them to critique my choices and if they do... screw them

I don't nose into their purchases and feel the need to tell them what to do
And if they nose into mine I would ignore it... I care not what others think about what I do with my money

 

[iWalrus]

Why do you feel the need to tell them they are wrong?

Do you do that with a car you purchase?
A microwave?
Sneakers?

I make purchases all of the time without consulting internet forums and opinions (or friends)
I don't expect them to critique my choices and if they do... screw them

I don't nose into their purchases and feel the need to tell them what to do
And if they nose into mine I would ignore it... I care not what others think about what I do with my money

Has your ex-wife or any family member asked/judged a purchase you made? (not being a smartass). If a good friend of mine for example did, I wouldn't just tell them "**** you, I buy what I want".

 

[MacDawg]

Has your ex-wife or any family member asked/judged a purchase you made? (not being a smartass). If a good friend of mine for example did, I wouldn't just tell them "**** you, I buy what I want".

Actually no, they haven't
I do have extended family that are very Wintel minded and they snicker at my Apple choices
I just let it roll off my back because I don't need to evangelize them
They buy what they want
I buy what I want

If they ask me why I buy an iPhone, iPad or Mac, I have plenty of reasons why it is the right choice for me
But I have never tried to convince anyone I made the right purchase... no need
Nor have I ever tried to convince anyone to buy an Apple product

 

[iWalrus]

Actually no, they haven't
I do have extended family that are very Wintel minded and they snicker at my Apple choices
I just let it roll off my back because I don't need to evangelize them
They buy what they want
I buy what I want

If they ask me why I buy an iPhone, iPad or Mac, I have plenty of reasons why it is the right choice for me
But I have never tried to convince anyone I made the right purchase... no need
Nor have I ever tried to convince anyone to buy an Apple product

It's just crazy how somebody can be that obsessive over my own purchase decision. Still got lots of Apple haters out there (me being one of them in the past), not much we can do I guess.

 

[Consultant]

Actually no, they haven't
I do have extended family that are very Wintel minded and they snicker at my Apple choices
I just let it roll off my back because I don't need to evangelize them
They buy what they want
I buy what I want

If they ask me why I buy an iPhone, iPad or Mac, I have plenty of reasons why it is the right choice for me
But I have never tried to convince anyone I made the right purchase... no need
Nor have I ever tried to convince anyone to buy an Apple product

I just won't provide them any tech support when their PC frustration tax surfaces.

 

[velocityg4]

Whether or not it is overpriced is not the main concern of someone looking to spend $6,000 on a Mac Pro. Odds are they have a very specialized business need for such a powerful computer and after all the other equipment and high priced software. The additional $1,000 to $1,500 will be a drop in the bucket.

Plus if your work needs such high end equipment. One or two days of down time will likely cost you a hell of a lot more than $1,000 to $1,500. Many of these people don't bother with the Applecare either. Because they need a technician to come down within a few hours for an expensive emergency repair to get things up and running again ASAP.

Then the other market is really well off Mac enthusiast. To whom the extra price is worth it as they will have the most expensive and powerful Mac. With the bragging rights to go along with it.

 

[iWalrus]

I just won't provide them any tech support when their PC frustration tax surfaces.

Hahaha......yeah, that too.

 

[ActionableMango]

I did not buy a Mac Pro in order to get approval on social networks, and I don't care what "some guy" thinks.

Why do you care?

 

[iWalrus]

I did not buy a Mac Pro in order to get approval on social networks, and I don't care what "some guy" thinks.

Why do you care?

that's not the point of this. the point is facts to back up the falsity of the Mac Pro's expensiveness myth.

 

[toxic]

it's the internet. no point caring.

if it's someone in person, point them to the Dell Precision T5500. that's what Mac Pros compete with – workstations, not gaming desktops.

the display part is just blatant ignorance. every 27", 2560x1440 display is expensive, you don't even need to know about panel types to find that out.

 

[alphaod]

Most people who complain that the Mac Pro is overpriced are the same people who compare cars that they've never seen in real life let alone having driven. They may never have owned a Mac Pro or spent the time using one, but they have definitely browsed many online forums to formulate their so-called expert opinion on the subject. They are the "self-respecting tech-savvy" folks. Funny thing is: "Savvy" ≠ "Having the ability to formulate logical and coherent arguments."

Any ways these people are fueled by you actually reading their comments. I usually just ignore those people.

 

[cburton]

If your good building pc's and don't want to pay the apple tax, go for it. Otherwise, pay the tax. Guess we will see if apple keeps the tax going when the new pro's are released.

I build my own, wife pays tax. I just like the idea that I can essentially get the newest single proc Mac Pro each year by only spending $400 or so on the upgrades. That's not to say that the next Mac Pro version won't change my mind it's just that I can't justify buying 2x new complete systems.

Chris

 

[Vylen]

Yep, longevity. I intend to keep my Mac Pro for a good 5 years at least with minimal upgrades (just HDD's and potentially graphics card but I don't envision the latter anytime soon).

People who are happy to build computers on the cheap are probably the ones more inclined to upgrade it with the latest and greatest parts to keep on top of technology. But over say... 5 years... how much money would that equate to?

 

[theSeb]

that's not the point of this. the point is facts to back up the falsity of the Mac Pro's expensiveness myth.

This has been discussed in great detail in another thread on this sub-forum. You'll need to search for it. I recall that it had a similar title to your thread.

By the way, the whole comparison is flawed when people try to compare consumer desktop parts to build a home pc versus the parts found in the Mac Pro. The comparison should be against workstation PCs from the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo.

 

[Tanax]

This has been discussed in great detail in another thread on this sub-forum. You'll need to search for it. I recall that it had a similar title to your thread.

By the way, the whole comparison is flawed when people try to compare consumer desktop parts to build a home pc versus the parts found in the Mac Pro. The comparison should be against workstation PCs from the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo.

The funny thing though is that the consumer graphics cards are both better AND cheaper.

 

[juanm]

Mac Pro computers are often priced right when they come out, but as they are only updated now and then, and the price stays the same, it's true that they are way overpriced.
LGA1366 socket is now living its last months, so it's even more evident, especially if you compare them price/performance wise to the latest i7 processors. I do mostly 3D now, where render times are all important, and wouldn't even consider a Mac Pro (or any other dual LGA1366-based pc for that matter)

Don't get me wrong, I've had two 1,1 (one of them later upgraded to X5355) and a 2008, and loved them, but even the latest models lag behind when compared to 800€ i7 computers, when it comes to rendering (considering you can buy three such systems for the price of a Mac Pro)

Funny thing is, I use my very expensive PC workstation with its 30" ACD for nothing else than 3D. For everything else, I use an old iMac or my gf's 11" refurbished MacBook Air. Performance is relative to what you want to do with it...

 

[firestarter]

that's not the point of this. the point is facts to back up the falsity of the Mac Pro's expensiveness myth.

I'm a MacPro owner and I don't think they're over-priced, but I do think they're over-specced, at least for most buyers.

For me, the main reason I bought a MacPro was to have a lot of fast internal storage. No other Mac (except maybe a MBP 17 with an expresscard) gave me the expansion option - so the MacPro it was.

Now, given that Apple uses server grade CPUs, ECC memory etc. this winds up being an expensive machine. It's not significantly more than similar PCs using the same components - but it is significantly more than PC consumer desktops that use regular non-server hardware. If I were buying a PC, I would definitely have gone for a much cheaper unit, which would have met my needs equally well.

I don't need server grade components. Parallel processing is still under-utilised on OSX, and my 8 CPUs spend most of their time doing nothing. The box itself wasn't expensive compared to similar PCs, but given that my main requirement was just to have a quick housing holding 4+ drives it is costly.

The MacPro is great, and it's been good to me (I've had it almost 4 years). Now that Thunderbolt allows full speed external storage, I won't be limited to just buying a MacPro as a replacement - I can buy another Mac and still have my fast disks. I won't be buying a MacPro next time 'round, because for my needs there are other options that give me better bang/buck.

 

[gpzjock]

Pays yer money makes yer choice.

Opinions are like sphincters, everybody has one.
I make my choices based on needs and preferences, experience and "judgement" which I have derived from my life so far.
Who can tell you what your needs and budget constraints are? Some spod on a forum? Me? Nah, we just do what we want and say what we want.

I use a Mac Pro 2008 Octo and will continue to do so till it breaks, I paid my Apple Tax and now that Mac will depreciate slowly and hopefully last longer than the majority of PCs I support in my community. Folks come to me to fix their computers cos I'm the "tech savvy" guy (read geek) who's computer works all the time and can struggle with their budget restricted, unreliable piles of crap till they work again too.
How often? Well, this week I have replaced a PSU in 1 tower and reformatted another only to find it still can't see its router by wireless or Ethernet cable (cheap ass hardware FTL). I have a guy in town who's Dell is bust, who I haven't got time to see yet and hey, it's only Thursday.....

I have a mate who does this as a job, he has over 30 PCs sitting infront of him as we speak, he's gutted I won't come work for him to clear the backlog, but I got a proper job, this is just a "Help a buddy" service I do.

The brighter ones save up to buy a Mac too and rarely if ever phone me with a tale of woe or begging plea to repair the next problem that appeared. Windows and PC clones have kept me in beer and favours for years. I'd be killing the golden goose if I could convince all my local Wintel using friends to switch.