After my Lenovo laptop broke after less than 6 months, it is over a year later and I did not replace it yet. I was looking at some options and was thinking maybe to get an Apple one, but are they worth the extra premium?
I remember that when you buy a laptop, you normally have different price entry points depending on what tech you want on your device. Do you need a better screen, graphics cards for gaming or new processor chip.
However, with apple the devices are basically all the same and the only differentiation seems to be how much RAM or how big a hard drive you want.
Their pricing politic is very clear because the basic models don't come with high enough spec for everyday usage these days which you may think ok, then just upgrade it a little, but then the price can rapidly increase by €500 just for adding on 8GB of RAM and 256GB of hard disk space onto the already premium price for the laptop.
Considering the cost of these items to buy yourself and fit are just a fraction of the costs it becomes frustrating and made worse that their hardware doesn't allow you to do any upgrades yourself. So is Apple worth it? Also, what environmental impact does that have to need to upgrade the device each time instead of just upgrading some parts? It is similar to phone manufacturers ditching removable batteries so you are forced to buy new phones.
If you were paying a premium extra price for some newly released tech or something, it would seem reasonable to me, but just for extra RAM and HD space? What do you think?
Is this the peak of Apple now?
Recently Warren Buffett has been ditching his Apple shares and their VR headset new product flopped. They also abandoned plans to make an e-car and were outshined by Xiaomi who did release one. If the largest electronics firm cannot innovate new products anymore, then are they past it?
I do think they have a nice product and paying a premium for good quality products is worth it, but have Apple gone to far now with price gouging of the consumer? I didn't even mention that even with their high profit margins, their usage of cheap labour and bad working conditions for those making these products.
Thanks for reading.
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The Mac os is considered to be used by the elite class and tech companies usually give more ad revenue to ads presented on Mac os that is the only reason why apple is in demand it is all a royalty thing I suppose.
That makes sense and I didnt know that. The people using Apple have much more money than us normal people.
They seem to be pushing their meta rayban smartglasses more than the VR headsets. I know I have quite a stores to visit in the coming month to ensure they are being demo'd write to people etc.
I have never been an apple fan and thought their products vastly overpriced. The fact you cannot upgrade things always irked me, strange as I don't even own one!
I think they are being found out with their slave labour conditions, but too many people don't care what children what sweatshop was used as long their product is the latest etc..
Right I better stop ranting Steve!
Good luck with getting what you want.
Really good points Ed. I remember many committed suicide etc.. and with their large margins it doesnt make sense. Hoepfully the Apple era will end and better conditions for everybody will come.
I've never thought Apple was worth it. They have a nice OS but I've alway preferred a little more variety when it comes to hardware choices plus I like to tinker. This is an even bigger deal when it comes to desktop systems.
This is so true, I was mind-blown that I couldn't upgrade my memory or HD myself. What sort of game is that to play with your userbase?!
These days, there are many that have never known it any other way...
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Thanks for your support.
Your Lenovo died after only six months? That's incredible, they're the current day work-horses in offices all over. My Lenovo laptop has been good for over four years of daily usage and is still going strong.
I'm still not considering myself an Apple fangirl though I do now own a Macbook Air. Are they overpriced? Hell, yeah - hopefully, my Macbook will last a real long time, but - be real, Steve, do you really think that all the other tech giants importing from China aren't part of this?! Of course not.
And while I get the irk of not being able to replace parts yourself (I built my desktop myself), we're talking laptops here, right? How many people open up their laptops? And when you do, what is there to replace? For the most part everything in there is hardwired, except storage and maybe, maybe! RAM but not very likely. Same with phones, you can replace a battery - that's it.
Anyways, just thought I'd give you my 2c - happy weekend!
Usually the Lenovo's have lastest ages in the past, but they had some design failures on their Yoga range and refused to repair for customers.
I think you are right, they are all in on it. It is irking not being able to upgrade things yourself if you are used to it, but they do seem to make the nicest laptops and I will probably still get one :)
Have a great weekend too!
Apple's outlook isn't quite as hot right now. I personally stopped using their stuff a few years back. Sorry to hear about that Lenovo dying after six months, that pathetic!
Apple is expensive no matter what, but the more memory the price sounds like it's really getting up there. Then again I've become a lot less of a spender since COVID, I watch my budget like a hawk!
Yeah, I think they are losing their market dominance and not so innovative as before.
I haven't been an apple user up until an Ipad recently, which is a good product I must admit.
Hopefully they can innovate something really nice in the near future, or they will start to decline again.
I think Apple needs to refocus and get back to what made them a household name. I am not ditching my stock. The price of their devices has actually come down quite a bit in the past few years. I have a mac running in my basement at home. I don't use it much, but it is a solid machine.
I hope they have the wherewithall to turn things around Bozz. There is only so far the brand can take you when you price gouge your customers for ram and hard drive space.
I still think there are intrinsic things you are paying for when you are getting an Apple device. For some people those aren't as important, but for others they mean the difference between a pleasant user experience and an annoying one. I think that is part of where the premium comes from.
100% agree there is a premium for the software and UX.. but the gauging over ram and hard drives that should be standard on premium devices...
Ah okay, yeah, I understand what you are saying now.
I'm not too fond of Apple computers or phones. About 15 years ago, I had one Mac with two printers and one scanner connected to it, but I only used it for scanning and printing, and there were always problems.
Although I worked mainly on Adobe products, they were PCs.
Now I have about 15 lenovo laptops at work, quite powerful, with i7, 16gb ram and Nvidia cards as clients for some GIS viewers. But they suck. Seven have already broken within the warranty period - either the drives or the screens, and occasionally one crashes. I certainly won't be buying any more of them.
Quality seems to have gone through the floor. I have always had issues with electronics devices and wonder how they manage to pass quality tests when end customers encounter so many errors.
I havent been a big Apple user because the price was sky high and it appealed more to those who like brands, i prefer the higher spec cheaper devices.
Software is also more expensive for Apple, and developing add-ons is more expensive and more difficult because there are fewer developers.
Yes, a big part of the premium is their software I think, certainly their hardware is no longer cutting edge.
I agree.
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