Posted on 05/26/2017 1:00:42 PM PDT by Swordmaker
It's popular to decry the "Apple tax" - the mythical premium Apple customers pay for Macs. But few look at the other side of the coins: what you get for your money. In Apple's case: the best reliability and tech support.
Consumer Reports surveys its subscribers annually to learn about their experience with cars, appliances, retailers, and computers.
In their latest survey, almost 83,000 readers shared their experiences with computers. Not everyone was pleased.
In laptops and desktops Apple was the most reliable. Plus it's tech support was - by far - the highest rated. Is it any surprise that Apple customers are satisfied?
Since I last wrote about CR's results, their survey has used a broader definition of problems. According to CR's James McQueen they now ask people:
. . . to recall if their laptop has broken or stopped working as well in the past couple years since they bought it. Specifically, we ask about laptops that have been purchased new from 2012 through 2016, and predict the breakage rates at 3 years of ownership.
Among the top laptop brands, Apple's "broken or not working as well" percentage is 17. Other brand percentages: Samsung 27; Dell 29; HP 30; Lenovo 31; and Asus 33.
Among desktops Apple's trouble rate is 15 percent. Other brands: Lenovo 24; Samsung 25; Dell 27; HP 27; and Asus 29.
CR cautions that differences of 5 percentage points are not significant. Essentially, there's Apple and then everybody else.
The differences are even more stark on tech support. 9,756 Consumer Reports subscribers also weighed in on their 2016 Technical Support Survey, covering support experiences with 14,889 desktop, laptop, 2-in-1 PCs, and Chromebook computers.
The reader score for Apple was 82, while number 2 Microsoft earned a 68, with Dell at 56. A reader score of 80, means respondents are very satisfied on average; 60, fairly well-satisfied; and 40, somewhat dissatisfied. Differences of fewer than 4 points are not meaningful.
What surprised me is that people said that Apple solved their problem 79 percent of the time, while Microsoft managed a near statistical tie at 74 percent. So MS is almost as good as Apple at solutions, but make their customers significantly less happy in the process.
Another surprise: Apple's Genius Bars were tied with independent computer stores for in-store satisfaction. So if you must have Wintel, find a good local computer store.
As I noted in my recent piece, the tiny MacBook is competitively priced with similarly spec'd Wintel Ultrabooks.
Likewise, the iMac is competitive with Wintel all-in-ones with similar specs. Which shouldn't be too surprising since Apple's limited number of models enables them to buy in huge volumes, cutting component costs, and they cut the fat out of the supply chain at every step.
The Mac Pro and Mac Mini are overpriced for what you get, but they don't have the volume. On the other hand, they still offer Apple's excellent reliability. How do you put a price on that?
Personally, I put a premium on reliability because I'm cheap. Stuff that doesn't break - and need replacement - is much cheaper in time and money than stuff that does.
Here in a not-affluent corner of Arizona, I regularly see people who have and use 10-15 year old Macs. Check out the prices of used Apple gear on Craigslist and you'll see the other benefit of reliability: resale value.
So the CR survey results prove a key point around Apple's $800 billion market cap: they produce quality products. They aren't perfect, but they consistenly outperform the Mac's competition on reliability and support.
Nonsense? Wow, just...wow...
You are looking at price not cost
I have a gen year old mac book...still beats most winter products out there
Haven’t had to do the replacement every three yesrs
So everyone who buys an apple must pay their exorbitant ram price for because you’re stuck with it.
I’m not trying to sell anyone on any brand.
I’ve never even once been impressed with Apple tech support but I do have a mostly good track record with their hardware. The only problem I had that I blame on Apple is that for years they made iMacs using all laptop components except for the hard drive which was a desktop component. The internal temperature of an iMac is halfway between that of a laptop and a desktop. You can figure out how this story ends.
Software wise my biggest complaint with Apple is the overaggressiveness of their spell check. They don’t understand how people really talk. My friend is recovering from the flu and I wanted to send her a message saying “How’s the sicky today?” The amount of time it took me to get the word sicky into my iPhone was ridiculous.
I’m using a 2007 MacBook. Changed the HD to 500gb. I’m on the third battery and it only lasts about 1.5 hours.
I use Firefox and some other workarounds, but it’s still chugging along.
About $900 over 10 years...not too expensive.
Apple products have been incredible for this family.
Apple ][
Apple III
Mac 128
LaserWriter
Numerous MBP for all members of family
Numerous iPhones
Two Apple TVs
Several iPads
Apple external SuperDrives
Time Capsule
The stuff just works and works and works for years. The only other electronics that beat their stuff for longevity and reliability are the toaster and incandescent light bulbs.
Basic appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, clothes washers and clothes driers can’t hold a candle to Apple reliability.
What did I miss?
I have a 2006 MacBook. On the second battery, and it lasts all day. What you should regularly do, is take apart the case, and use an aerosol spray can to clean out the dust bunnies. I bet your fan is clogged and allows your system to overheat, running down your battery. It's amazing how dust can build up inside over a period of months, let alone years. I just upgraded to a 2016 MacBook Pro. Not because the old one is no good, it is still going strong. I wanted to newer OS and faster speed of the new ones.
Same here, did I miss an announcement of new MacBooks? Interesting, because I just bought a new 2016 MacBook Pro with TouchBar (enjoying it now). Great machine, the only downside is I got it stuffed with software including Windows 10 (inside VirtualBox), and once I tried Windows 10 on it I got some nausea, but other than that the machine is fantastic.
I am not certain what is new. They’ve got the MacBook Pros all marked as “New” today and the pricing is different. There’s a red “New” under the menu bar listing for the MacBook Pro icon and they’ve got some new graphic movies up. They haven’t released any press releases though.
I don’t keep as close a tab on Apple as you do... but I do keep tabs. There’s nothing new yet.
Where do you get this BS? Only the lowest model iMac is made with what could be termed laptop components. iMacs can have Intel i5 to i7 processors and full power supplies in them as well as fans and stereo speakers designed by Bose. SHEESH!
I agree with the overaggressive spell check, but you just have to be paying some attention. You don't have to accept Apple's spelling, even in an iPhone if you know what you are doing. It takes no time at all to accept YOUR preferred spelling of a word. Just tap the version you spelled on the option at the top of the virtual keyboard rejecting the corrected spelling. Done. I just tried it and it worked perfectly.
I wan Who's stuck with it? I happily pay for what I want, as does every other Apple product buyer. We know what we are buying and know what it costs.
You buy what you are willing to put up with. . . and then buy it again when it breaks. . . and then again when the new one breaks.
Here's the menu caption on the Apple Store page I just captured... perhaps they have accidentally posted it in anticipation of a release next week's WWDC and announcements then? There are new prices. . . and everyone is anticipating Kady Lake processors.
thanks roadcat! I’ll do that tomorrow! Mine does run hot.
I can assure you that was not there just five days ago when I bought a new MacBook Pro for my girlfriend’s Godson who has just graduated from high school and is heading to college. I was checking current pricing because Apple’s retail partners were closing out their current ones last week. We got that one for $250 off the original price. . . better than the $100 off Apple offers for educational discount.. . they only offer that kind of discount on current models when a new model is imminent. The sale was limhe ited to stock on hand at each store and no mail orders were permitted. An hour after the email ad came out, there was only one left in the Sacramento Area and that was the upgraded version. We grabbed it. The next closest store with any in stock was in San Francisco. and they had only two left.
I just received my MacBook Pro beginning of this week, and was doing price comparisons. Price doesn’t look different than a couple weeks ago. I bought a refurbished machine at discount, fully configured with software by a reseller. Came packaged as new in the box, full warranty from Apple and not distinguishable from any other new machine. Reason I compared the pricing is because for a few hundred more than Apple’s price for a plain model, I got it configured with Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe PhotoShop CS6 Master Suite, MS Windows 10 in Virtual Box, MS Office 2016, FileMaker Pro, TechTool Pro, iWork apps, and some other programs. Went for the i7 fast processor and graphics, with 16GB memory and 512GB SSD. Refurbished is a great way to save money. My 2006 MacBook was getting a bit old so I treated myself to a new one.
Apple has a good product but one must weigh the cost-benefits. I’ve had very little problems with HP and Dell machines over the years and had the luxury of reconfiguring. My Win 7 machine runs 24/7 and has been doing so for 5 years or so. I’m on the road and got tired of not having access to FR so I recently picked up a HP Pavilion laptop with the latest Win 10 (runs good but has a LOT of advertising and other intrusive habits) for $449 - the cheapest Apple machine was over $300 more.
I bought my pages software for one price. Microsoft word charges me the same each year for their program.
Advantage: Apple consumer
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.