New 24" iMac price decomposition

[imac123]

I bet some of you mac fans have seen threads like this and probably don't like them. But please bare w/ me =P

I'm a PC guy right now, but have been waiting for the iMac upgrade, and think I'll take the plunge this week. Having built my last PC, and being an engineer, I just have an urge to know exactly what I'm paying for here. I know a good chunk of change is going to the overall mac experience, stable OS, style, all-in-one design, and easy of use, etc. But can we give our best shot at breaking down the component cost of the two higher end 24" models?

How to play: Copy/paste/edit the lists for either of the models below and if you think you have a better price estimate for the components, post it! and give a reason if necessary, but DONT BE TOO PICKY... within $10-20 will do fine.

Here are my GUESSES/estimates… I know I won't be accurate on some of these so please reply w/ better estimates!!! thanks!

24-inch 2.8Ghz Machine
Motherboard - $80
Power Supply - $40
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO - $80
320GB Serial ATA - $80
24” display - $500
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - $200
2 GB RAM - $80
8x double-layer SuperDrive - $50
iSight camera - $30
Built-in stereo speakers - $20
Ethernet/Wireless Card - $25
Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, and Mighty Mouse - $60
Case - $50
OSX - $130

Total of above = $1425

Which means all the extra software, style, all-in-one design, etc, and profit equals approx $375


24-inch 3.06GHz Machine
Motherboard - $80
Power Supply - $40
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS - $150
500GB Serial ATA - $110
24” display - $500
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - $230 (guess??)
2 GB RAM - $80
8x double-layer SuperDrive - $50
iSight camera - $30
Built-in stereo speakers - $20
Ethernet/Wireless Card - $25
Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, and Mighty Mouse - $60
Case - $50
OSX - $130

Total of above = $1555

Which means all the extra software, style, all-in-one design, etc, and profit equals approx $645

 

[myuserid08]

Its not just the hardware your paying for, just think how much time has been put into the design for both the mac and the os, then there is assembly, shipping from china etc.
Engineers dont work for free neither do designers!

 

[imac123]

Its not just the hardware your paying for, just think how much time has been put into the design for both the mac and the os, then there is assembly, shipping from china etc.
Engineers dont work for free neither do designers!

I 100% understand and agree...
all i'm trying to do is get peace of mind and figure out approx as best as I can HOW MUCH is going towards all the "extra costs" (which yes, do include design, shipping, marketing, etc, everything).

Don't worry guys, i'm not putting down mac for any of the above, just trying to estimate the cost of this segment. =/

 

[danny_w]

Just try to find anything comparable from any other manufacturer. The closest that I have seen is considerably more than the iMac (Dell, HP, Sony). I personally would much rather have the iMac, esp. since it is cheaper. The days of paying extra for Macs are over!

 

[cohibadad]

Apple posts their profit margins. They are generally around 30%.

 

[J@ffa]

Do the same thing you just did with a Dell or Sony machine. Shock horror, they make a profit too! You're totally ignoring regional and national taxes, infrastructure costs (staff, distribution, retail store overheads) and marketing. Yes, Apple's products garner a higher profit than tech companies whose philosophy is 'stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap', but Mac owners value the integration of hardware and software and are less sensitive to the price difference. If price matters that much to you, by all means, go for a similarly specced PC.

 

[imac123]

Do the same thing you just did with a Dell or Sony machine. Shock horror, they make a profit too! You're totally ignoring regional and national taxes, infrastructure costs (staff, distribution, retail store overheads) and marketing. Yes, Apple's products garner a higher profit than tech companies whose philosophy is 'stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap', but Mac owners value the integration of hardware and software and are less sensitive to the price difference. If price matters that much to you, by all means, go for a similarly specced PC.

you must not have read my entire post. I know why the cost is higher. And i know there are very good reasons why the costs are higher. Since I understand that, I don't care about the WHY. I'm just curious about HOW MUCH it is... not because I'm complaining in any way, but just because I'm curious.

if you guys think i'm complaining, don't bother replying... i'm really not. I guess if you build computers and are coming from the PC world, you can maybe understand where my curiosity is coming from.

 

[imac123]

Apple posts their profit margins. They are generally around 30%.

thanks for that info! =D finally a good bit of feedback, i'll keep that in mind when looking at other products/prices

 

[flopticalcube]

When pricing things out, keep in mind that Apple uses laptop parts in its iMacs (save for the hard drive).

 

[nick9191]

The top end 24" iMac is a pretty sweet deal imo. You wont regret it at all.