Why is the black Macbook SO much more money?

[coffey7]

I noticed that different color dells or Sony laptops all cost the same even if you get red, white etc. Why is the black macbook so much more? Has this been figured out yet? I found it to only have a larger hard drive. Is the black plastic that much more expensive to make? I am not trying to be a smart ass I just want to know. If I upgrade a white macbook to 160gb it is still $125 more for the black macbook. Most IBM thinkpads are black and those are cheaper with the same processors and configurations. I think when they first came out it was only a 20 gb difference over a white macbook and it was a $200 difference.

 

[dewey decibel]

Most people make the mistake of thinking prices for products are based on things like parts, labor, advertising, etc. In some case maybe, but with larger companies they're mostly based on what the market will bare. Blackbooks get a premium price because they can. If the low end Macbooks were black and the high end was white it would be the same thing.


BTW, I originally wrote off the blackbook because off the price issue, but last week I was going to buy a refurb mid tier rev B Macbook for $950 when I saw they had the same revision blackbook for only $50 more which came with a bigger HD. So I've got a blackbook on the way for only a $50 upcharge...

 

[eman]

The difference between the black macbook and the white macbook is in the color (obviously) and the black macbooks have a larger HD, that's it. Buy the white macbook and do your own upgrade to a larger 2.5" SATA HD and you will have the same thing for a lot less. Some people just love the color black and that's fine.

 

[PCRanger]

It's probably just racism. Or something.

 

[maestro55]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3A109a Safari/419.3)

As it was pointed out the reason is because Apple can sell it for more money and people will buy. I personally like the white ones more and so I saved the money and webt white. I didn't need the bigger HD.

If you think black color is worth i then get it iif not then don't.

 

[coffey7]

I wanted to buy a black one this time since the white one I had kept on getting stains. I had the palm rest panel replaced once and then I had it happen again. My hands are not acidic at all. I guess I will wait for the next generation of slim silver macbook pros I keep hearing about.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

I wanted to buy a black one this time since the white one I had kept on getting stains. I had the palm rest panel replaced once and then I had it happen again. My hands are not acidic at all. I guess I will wait for the next generation of slim silver macbook pros I keep hearing about.

this is my bigger grief....white vs black.

I love the black one, but for 200 dollars more? I'll play more and get that 3 dollar magic sponge or something.

 

[ozziegn]

so do the white MacBooks really get dirty that easily?

 

[aethelbert]

It's more expensive for two reasons:
1. Because they can.
2. Because people will pay.

 

[dziewuliz]

And I'm pro-choice

Following the same logic, Apple is/can be more expensive than the usual laptop (because they can, and because people will pay)

 

[kaiwai]

It's probably just racism. Or something.

I take my Mac like my men: Black

 

[VOGUEx]

i like my white macbook, just do an upgrade! unless you're worried you'll get your laptop dirrty.

 

[IDANNY]

The blackbooks, are for people who miss there pismo powerbooks to much, kinda of like getting a dog that looks like your dead dog. ; )

 

[iW00t]

Everyone knows the whitebooks are subsidized. Apple is making a loss selling those.

 

[djellison]

Everyone knows the whitebooks are subsidized. Apple is making a loss selling those.

Complete and utter nonsense. You can buy a similar spec PC laptop for <£500 which will have a near identical bill of parts AND be making a profit for Acer/Dell/whoever. Every Macbook makes a SIGNIFICANT profit - even the cheapest white one.

Doug

 

[Eraserhead]

^^ Though it won't have as good a battery, or magsafe, or the webcam, or a wide touchpad, or a Vista Ultimate beating OS, or iLife, or Bluetooth, or Optical Audio In/Out, or (probably) Gigabit Ethernet, or DVI, VGA and S-Video support (it'll probably just have VGA). It also won't be attractive to look at.

Also even though the build quality of the Macbook isn't great it'll probably still have worse build quality.

Also £500 laptops really don't make much money, the margins on them are razor thin.

 

[Sijmen]

I went for the € 399 version because I see no problem being with my ISP for another two years.

 

[Evangelion]

I noticed that different color dells or Sony laptops all cost the same even if you get red, white etc. Why is the black macbook so much more?

Because lots of people are willing to pay premium for black.

Is the black plastic that much more expensive to make?

No. It's just a question of what people are willing to pay.

 

[Jasonbot]

My brother got a blackbook from Japan, only because it cost the same as the bottom of the range whitebook in South Africa :O

 

[kaiwai]

^^ Though it won't have as good a battery, or magsafe, or the webcam, or a wide touchpad, or a Vista Ultimate beating OS, or iLife, or Bluetooth, or Optical Audio In/Out, or (probably) Gigabit Ethernet, or DVI, VGA and S-Video support (it'll probably just have VGA). It also won't be attractive to look at.

Also even though the build quality of the Macbook isn't great it'll probably still have worse build quality.

Also £500 laptops really don't make much money, the margins on them are razor thin.

Is't great? grab any PC laptop out there, and you'll find it flimsey. My two previous ones, Toshiba and HP being prime examples of laptops which need 'two hands' to pick up without worrying about that creeking sound actually problems going wrong.

 

[TheStu]

^^ Though it won't have as good a battery, or magsafe, or the webcam, or a wide touchpad, or a Vista Ultimate beating OS, or iLife, or Bluetooth, or Optical Audio In/Out, or (probably) Gigabit Ethernet, or DVI, VGA and S-Video support (it'll probably just have VGA). It also won't be attractive to look at.

Also even though the build quality of the Macbook isn't great it'll probably still have worse build quality.

Also £500 laptops really don't make much money, the margins on them are razor thin.

Now here is my question. Here in the States, £500 is about the cost of the base macbook already, so is most technology generally twice as expensive there as it is here? So a laptop that would cost $1000 here would cost you £1000 there? That is just ridiculous if true.

 

[sunfast]

It's more expensive for two reasons:
1. Because they can.
2. Because people will pay.

Exactly. As people will happily pay the extra, Apple will charge. Some people seem proud of having the "premium" version - even if it's only claim to luxury is an artificially inflated price!

 

[skyrider007]

Now here is my question. Here in the States, £500 is about the cost of the base macbook already, so is most technology generally twice as expensive there as it is here? So a laptop that would cost $1000 here would cost you £1000 there? That is just ridiculous if true.

It is true to a certain extent. Most American electronic goods sold in Europe (i.e. Apple and BOSE) are up to 50% more expensive than the U.S. base price. Just do a quick comparison on BOSE.com and BOSE.co.uk or Apple Store U.S. vs. U.K., you'll be surprised by the price difference.

 

[Cloudane]

LOL at Apple. Next time anyone says they don't rip people off, I'll have to point them to this thread (or their component upgrade pricing). It's a very clever idea, luring people to the high end products by putting more colours there, but it smacks of greed to me.

Now here is my question. Here in the States, £500 is about the cost of the base macbook already, so is most technology generally twice as expensive there as it is here? So a laptop that would cost $1000 here would cost you £1000 there? That is just ridiculous if true.

Normally yeah, though Apple aren't quite as bad as others when it comes to the $-£ conversion. This is one area where they're not so greedy.

The main issue is VAT, which adds 17.5% onto the price, but this is caused by our government. They don't want people just importing everything from the USA because it's cheaper, so they add on tax and import duty.

Most American manufacturers, however, like to take this little markup a bit further, and basically translate it as $1 = £1.

 

[Eraserhead]

Now here is my question. Here in the States, £500 is about the cost of the base macbook already, so is most technology generally twice as expensive there as it is here? So a laptop that would cost $1000 here would cost you £1000 there? That is just ridiculous if true.

No the Macbook starts at £699, but our prices include sales tax (VAT) which is 17.5%

Is't great? grab any PC laptop out there, and you'll find it flimsey. My two previous ones, Toshiba and HP being prime examples of laptops which need 'two hands' to pick up without worrying about that creeking sound actually problems going wrong.

Business PC Laptops will have higher quality than a Mac, but they are be better than Consumer PC's.

LOL at Apple. Next time anyone says they don't rip people off, I'll have to point them to this thread (or their component upgrade pricing). It's a very clever idea, luring people to the high end products by putting more colours there, but it smacks of greed to me.

I expect you think that Tiffany rips you off for jewellery, Porsche rip you off for cars and airlines rip you off for flying First Class .

If you can afford that stuff its worth getting, its not a "rip off" you are getting something that looks better. I have only bought a white Macbook because I thought the premium wasn't worth it, but still its available for those who don't agree.