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Apple intros $13,000 PC

April 04, 2007

Apple today introduced an eight-core version of its Mac Pro computer, the top model of which, tricked out with 16 gigs of RAM and four 750-gig hard drives, will cost you more than thirteen grand. Didn't anyone tell Jobs that these things are supposed to be commodities?

13k.jpg

(Monitor not included.)

UPDATE: Steve responds, in a way.

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Comments

Are you consulting for Dell now?

Posted by: jamesgross [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 01:40 PM

Or you can buy 4 dual-core PCs and save about $10,000.

Posted by: dugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 01:46 PM

Are you consulting for Dell now?

Yeah - they're paying me to write about Apple's product launches.

Posted by: Nick Carr [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 02:20 PM

This would have made an interesting announcement 3 days ago :-)

Posted by: Zoli Erdos [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 04:55 PM

Part of the problem is that you're using Apple's exorbitant prices on RAM. It accounts for about a third of that price quote you got for choosing to get 16GB of memory from Apple.

Posted by: s4xton [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 05:26 PM

Christ.. you're a bit of a tosser aren't you.

Mac
----
3GHz 8-core Mac Pro with 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, 256MB Video Card, CD-RW/DVD etc etc
>>>$4296

Dell
---
2.66GHz 8-core DELL Workstation, same spec as above (ie. no monitor, no floppy).
>>>$5756

The faster (3GHz) Mac Pro is $1500 CHEAPER than the slower (2.66GHz) DELL

Posted by: Tommo_UK [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 05:28 PM

Believe it or not, this post was not intended as a criticism of Apple or its pricing but as an observation - a pretty lame one, I confess - about the nature of commoditization in technology markets. But thanks for the shopping tips.

Posted by: Nick Carr [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 05:40 PM

Ahhh then excuse my rudeness.. the subtle, dry nature of your observation seems to have escaped me. I think its the lower end you'll find commoditized; high end workstations still command a healthy premium, though not as much of a premium as Dell would like to charge. Bye-bye to Dell's margins, thanks to Apple. I bet they're sticking pins in voodoo dolls of Steve Jobs over there in Texas.

Posted by: Tommo_UK [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2007 05:48 PM

Nick,

goodCRIMETHINK is the blog of comedian, author and vigilante pundit Baratunde. I saw Baratunde last night at the MassNetComms awards dinner. Funny guy, and he did a schtick on how warped Apple Mongers are. His blog post isn't quite as good as the live presentation (He has good timing), but its still funny. Here's the link:
http://www.baratunde.com/blog/archives/2007/02/apple_fans_are.html#comments

Posted by: MarcFarley [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 5, 2007 02:52 PM

Nick, Criticizing an entire industry is easy, but now that you've taken on the Mac I'm afraid you're in for a world of pain.

Posted by: Timothy Swan [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 5, 2007 02:57 PM

I actually thought it was kind of cool that Apple was selling a $13,000 PC. I guess my phrasing was off.

Posted by: Nick Carr [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 5, 2007 07:36 PM

The price has gone down quite a bit. I priced out the 4 core at 16K last August.

http://chinpokomon.com/?p=277

Posted by: Kevin [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 13, 2007 01:35 PM

Whoops, I forgot I added two 30" displays. Never mind.

Posted by: Kevin [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 13, 2007 01:36 PM

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