But guess what!?! The apple tax is STILL THERE.

Who knew..?

double the RAM and HDD and it just might be worth it

Wow my brother-in-law bought a compaq at wally world at a pre-black friday sale with almost identical specs for $299. It can still be picked up for $399 on sale, and every other day for $499. Yay, go Mac!

Not even shitting you, my specs are 90% the same except i have a 250 GB hard Drive. I how ever paid $450 for this gateway laptop. Hey Apple Where did that other $550 go to? For $550 you dont give better faster specs or even a $550 case to go with it, so why should i buy your product when the competition is cheaper with the same specs?

Wow that's horrible specs for that price.

I'm writing a paper on this(advertising) so maybe you guys can help me. besides specs, the apple tax obviously goes towards promoting its OS. so whats the difference between XP/Vista/linux's interface(OS) that an "average user" will notice?

This is the only computer in Apple's line-up that comes at a good price. If I go to HP's website for instance and customize a 13.3 inch laptop with the P7450 processor (2.13 @1066 fsb), N-wireless/bluetooth, and their pathetic attempt at video card (105M=9200), compared to the 9400 GS that the macbook has you're at a price of $1028, slightly higher than Apple's $999. I didn't really check around but others might have the same specs for less.
Apple just started their back to school special today, which includes up to a free ipod touch after rebate, in addition to their $50 discount, which brings the laptop's price to $730...which is a pretty good bang for the buck. As for the RAM/Hard drive, you have to be a complete moron to upgrade that through the company...upgrading to 8 GB of RAM on your own will cost you the same whether the laptop has 2 GB or 4 GB from the factory.
I'm not a fan of the apple lifestyle they force on people but If i was in the market for a 13 inch laptop i would seriously consider getting this one and using windows as my primary OS.

I think Ubuntu 9.04 Gnome has the best interface of all because it combines User friendly features from both OS giants. From OSX, it has the dock and from Windows it has the Start Menu and taskbar.

As for OSX, it works well for Media production such as image, video and audio editing because there is a vast abundance of hardware that integrates with OSX exclusive and non exclusive software.

Out of the box, the software supplied by Apple (like iLife) is pretty good. With windows, the creative software seems like an afterthought and it is very unclear from the interface, what can and can't be done with a barebone Windows installation.

It is also very easy to install Windows in OSX (as a separate OS or as a VM) and boot camp installs the necessary drivers required so all you need then is external device drivers for printers and such).

Also, with OSX (for most computers), it has integrated peripherals that work great out of the box, which is an appeal for non savvy users who just want to use the computer to consume and share information rather than worrying about driver support (which probably was the backbreaker for Vista, as well as the hardware requirements).

Also, OSX is built using a modified BSD (Unix) kernel, which has stood the test of time on stability and security with adeqaute performance. Windows is still plagued by security wholes (requires Antivirus and malware protection) and stability issues (not so common now but was still an issue in the XP and pre-NT infancy days).

For $1000, it is an affordable system for young people like students who are in the media production industry and will likely last them the full term of their undergraduate study and then some). With Windows it is hit and miss and battery life varies greatly (and 15.4" is large to lug around school all day). $1000 for a 13.3" laptop is not terrible, plus it has a decent GPU.

If you don't want to spend $1000 for a Macbook then don't, but others who have used Macs and need OSX, the $1000 price point is fair. RAM is very cheap to upgrade yourself (4GB for $45 or less).

Simply put: MacBook sucks.... your wallet!!! XD

Well the computer at that price also sucks itself!!!

LOL!!!

Nobody needs OSX..., FAIL!, and $1,000 for that is not worth justifying with a novel, double FAIL!.

Still overpriced, but even the spec doubles, why would anyone uses retarded Mac OS.

"now comes with 160 GB hard drive"WoW epic! There are 500gig harddrives now...

The usual simpleton responses from blind/mindless windowheads.

The overall design of the mac and the OS X are in general superior to windows. What you're paying for is the overall ownership experience.

As a long time windows user (several latops and desktops) who just added a macbook to the family stable there's a lot going for the mac beyond specs. Ease of use, better hw design, amazing customer service, etc make the mac a pleasure to own and use. More macs coming into my family.

In the car world a 400hp engine in an escort will have it outperforming most bmw's in a straight line. But its still an escort.

I bought a Dell Latitude E6500 for about that same price, maybe a little less. Mine came with a P9500 2.53GHz processor, 4GB ram, 320GB hard drive, and all metal case. Plus I got the LED backlit screen, the identical screen to what you get in a 15" iFruit. Oh and the Dell came with a real OS.

The first app I loaded was Revit, the second was AutoCAD. Try that with an iFruit.

What you are basically saying is that the brand trumps the specs. Frankly I am pretty sure OSX is a more pleasant experience than Vista (which OS isn't, really).
Sure, the macbook design is also very nice, and the attention to some details is pretty good too.
Am I willing to pay 25% more for that? Certainly.
Am I willing to pay 100% more for that? Not a chance. Even if I had a lot of free available cash.

yes,because we dont care about high prices in today's economy.

Hey!! I hope you know that OS X can be run in any machine that covers the specs(yes, even pc's).

And WTF!!! design of the mac? Are you serious here? Is this even a valid point to explain $300 more for a white design? I hope you know that the white box contains the same hardware as other pcs...

And please... "What you're paying for is the overall ownership experience"... Typical fanboy argument... This makes no sense at all! What do you mean by "ownership experience" is this something impossible for a pc user?

Smells like fanboy spirit!!

I was really thinking just the opposite. Their hardware is real nice, not sure the OS is worth anything or not but since it will run Windows all is not lost, but I would not buy a product from Apple itself. If that identical computer was available with a different brand on it I would be more apt to consider it.

well a cheaper apple beata a pro or maybe not.

Test of time do you even know what bsd is? Time is to an operating system as salt water is to steal. UNIX is over 40 years old apples have all sorts of security problems granted most are through bolt on software to UNIX they fix it fast its true mostly due to the simple fact that there is only 1000 or so hardware versions to keep track of. Around a million pieces of software which are built on 1000 development schemes. Of those maybe 100 are popular to the point someone would know when there camera program stops working after an update. UNIX has nothing do to with apples relative stability its all because there install base variable is very controlled compared to windows. Example how many major security issues have you seen with a game console or a phone when you know every possible outcome to a problem it’s easy to control the outcome. osx is just a trade off of less options slower adaptation for potential stability.

also the its better for graphics pictures and music is kind of bull to the software options are nice pro tools is amazing but look over your bench marks anything adobe cs 4 family runs better on vista 64 and windows 7 then apple due to new tech not supported by apple.

The apple tax is really there but you get something for it i.e. why it’s a tax not the "apple steal all your money when you buy their product thing"
You get some good software for entry users or no fuss users it looks nice for some these things are worth. that being said there hardware pricing is a joke if they are really charging 600+ bucks for ilife and osx apple and apple users can never ever bitch about the price of windows.

apple is always behind the times on hardware still no blu ray options it took them like 6000 years to get +\- DVD drives Mac books with just a cd DVD when DVD writers where in laptops. SD ram for 2 years after ddr 1 came out ddr 1 for 18 months after ddr 2 came along.

Apple is the opposite of most of the big pc makers they sell new product high to bring the price down to make more on the low end in 6 to 9 months. apple mixes old hardware with new to get top dollar now it leaves them room for more margin the problem for apple fan boys not apple is they will never take over the world and apple wants it that way if everyone has it you’re not cool anymore look at star bucks.

When trying to make a valid argument, you ought to avoid stating opinion as fact. "The overall ownership experience" is never the same for everyone. If it was, everyone would own Macs or everyone would own a Windows machine. But, as the comment sections on Tom's articles can testify, there are plenty of people who have great experiences with Macs and horrible experiences with Windows, and some who have had nothing but trouble with Macs and have never had major problems with Windows.

What it comes down to is, some people do like Apple's design and are willing to drop big bucks to get it. The rest of the world runs on Windows and Linux.

OMG!!! A 2.13 ghz dual core with 2GB ram and 160 GB disk space for ONLY $1000. Wow amazing!!! I did not believe time travel was possible, but somehow Apple made it happen and turned the whole world back to 2005.

The unibody Macbook actually justifies the pricetag. I still haven't found a comparable laptop that has its similar construction, multitouch trackpad, good LED backlit screen. As for the white Macbook, I'm still surprised that they didn't drop that ... most likely the only offer left for those who need Firewire (which is weird that Apple dropped it in the aluminium variant). I love my aluminium Macbook and it's the best laptop I've ever worked with and it's worth every cent I spent on it and I'm still to find this Apple Tax since there is none.

I'm pretty sure back in the day... my friend poisoned my mind, I then convinced my Mom to get the fastest macbook pro available... and she feels it's a good idea too... she goes out buys it. one year + a day later the motherboard goes capput ("better hw design"?)... no more warranty on the sucker... we're paying $500 extra for goddamned planned obsolescence (it also cost 500 bucks to repair the piece of crap.) Build a computer for tits sake... which is the BMW or the Escort??? ...cause I'm pretty sure a BMW is the PC.

P.S. I do computer work for all my friends and dorm mates... I've had 4 macs come in in the past two months and one pc... the pc was water damage.. the macs... well they were mac damage.

Can someone explain how macs are better? Cause I'm not getting it.

I apologize for freaking out. But macs piss me off

Is the icon jumping up and down to alert you in OSX the superior design?

1000$ for a 13" laptop is fair?? On what planet is that?
Don't compare mac vs pc to bmw vs ford escort.
A perfect comparison would be paying 50000-60000$ for a honda civic with a bodykit and a pearl white paintjob.

Like a Jack-Russell f**ckin'-Terrier?

When is Apple going to update is MacBook line with the Intel Nehalem (45nm) mobile cpus?

Im waiting for that upgrade before i shell out $3000...

haha exactly! i haven't seen that in a long while

@Kabobi

I'd expect that they would put in the Nehalem mobile chips once they are released, or at least have a release date announced.

and CPU's have been 45 nm for while now. Nehalem didn't introduce that. The newer Core 2's were 45 nm and AMD has a bunch of 45 nm as well

I understand the hostility towards Apple/Macs -- I was like that for a long time, too. In schools especially (high schools & colleges), the systems really don't seem to offer anything else that the PC's don't offer as well. What I didn't realize is that the Macs were really being bogged down by all the security software, etc that were being put on them. The PC's were suffering the same fate, but when everyone brags about Apple's "stability", it seemed kinda silly when they weren't performing any better.
I've been a PC user for, hmm let's see -- 23 years. I've loved them all. But honestly, they aren't perfect pets. They work great once you iron out all the kinks, but even once they are "ironed", you still tend to get a lot more crashes than you do on a mac. And I'm talking everyday things. Then when you get into heavier usage tasks, the difference can be staggering.
The main thing is, PC's CAN run rock-stable -- it just depends on the hardware & the accompanying drivers. While you can swap parts in a mac, the 'pick' is limited -- and that's for good reason; by doing so, the hardware is likely to perform in a much more stable state, since 1000's of brands/makes/models don't have to be supported. That's what I don't really understand about people running Hackintosh computers, and thinking they're getting the full Mac benefits. Sure, it's OSX, and it runs...but the OS and drivers aren't made to fit together in the same way, and likely performance and/or stability is going to not be as streamlined as a result.
One thing people don't take into consideration is that there are applications that are owned by Apple, used by professionals...and not available on PC. Actually, this is initially why I started using Macs (the visual effects application Shake). It was then that I really started loving the OS, hardware, and overall setup.

Do I like PC's?
Oh yes!

But do I love my Mac more than any PC I've ever built on my own (which have been some HIGH end PC's)?
Absolutely!

Are Macs more expensive?
Absolutely!

But have I found it to be worth the money?
For sure!

PCs are great, and certainly more cost-efficient...but try not to slam something just because you don't find it to be "worth the money", especially since most of you have not used a mac EXTENSIVELY (using it at 'the library at school', I would say, does not give you a proper usage scenario -- and neither does a hackintosh).
Honestly...I used to do the EXACT same thing. And now I have a mac.

hehe Used to use macs at school all the time. my laptops are always mac laptops these days. windows laptops tend to be bigger physically than macbooks and anything that is the same size as a macbook is always the same if not more expensive.

i mean come on you have to compare apples with apples here. theres no point saying i got the same specs when the windows laptop is 5cm thick compared to the 2.4cm of the macbook. you always pay for more portability.