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.
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I suspect that when Steve Jobs was around and running things Apple was earning their reputation for quality and customer support. But I will never again buy anything they offer.
They better be at that price
A macbook-mini can be had for not much more than a MS surface, but you end up with a beautiful machine that is virtually trouble-free. No more MS issues. The darned thing works precisely as advertized without hidden headaches, imagine that.
A few things to consider:
You pay 50% more from Apple for Apple specific hardware,
You have very little choice in how you configure you Apple
You cannot upgrade your Apple
You are buying all your software from Apple written specifically for Apple and priced by Apple.
Still the most expensive
Thanks for the good work bro.
Bump.
My MBP worked great right up until a cat knocked over a water (thank God it was water) glass and flooded the section of countertop it was sitting on.
Water got up inside through the bottom vents. It was on and plugged into the charger as I was doing a system update.
The display seems dead. Had to connect to the TV via the HDMI port to get a working display. Had to turn on remote management so I could work with it over the iPad.
Everything seems to be working okay except the display. Any ideas on what the Apple Store would do to help? It’s a early 2015 certified refurbished I bought from Apple. No even a year old for me.
I am assuming you didn’t buy AppleCare. . . but you do have a one year warranty even though it was refurbed. I’d give warranty repair a try. It’s up to you if you tell them the cat and water glass story.
That would still be in warranty so no matter whose problem it was it would be covered.
Four claims, three complete falsehoods. Did you even bother to read the ZDNet article?
THE MYTH OF THE APPLE TAXAs 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.
Mac software is written by the same people who write Windows software and it is priced the same. Microsoft writes Office for Mac just same as it writes Office for Windows. Adobe writes it software for Mac just as it does for Windows. . . and on down the list of software publishers.
Once again you just drop in to an Apple thread to spread your lies.
I have the most up to date MacBook Pro. Fast as all get out with the SSD.
The battery lasts at least all day.
I’ve had it since 2013!
I’d chime in, but Sword-dude covered it.
You’re either ignorant or a liar.
Big question is why do you bother to post on Apple threads anyway?
Actually no. Microsoft Surfaces are. . . and Microsoft Surface Books. The 13" 128GB MS Surface Book starts at $1499 while the 13" 256GB Apple MacBook Pro starts at $1449, but the equivalent MacBook Pro with 128GB drive is only $1199.
And a MacBook Air can be purchase brand new for just $999.
That Microsoft Surface Book comes with only a 30 day trial of MS Office, after expiration after which you have to subscribe annually or purchase out right, while the Apple comes with a lifetime suite of Office applications, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which work across all Apple devices, as well as a lot more productivity software included with the purchase price. Not so the Windows machine.
One more thing, to help alleviate your ignorance.
I have built dozens of PC. The ability to upgrade was necessitated primarily by Microsoft and software companies. I would buy a loaded PC with a killer video card and 18 months later the newest game or video editor would require a faster card, or more memory, or a faster processor. If I were unable to upgrade, my PC would be a paperweight in two years.
Currently own/operate about a dozen Macs and a couple of PCs. After about 5 to 7 years or so (Swordmaker has a better handle on that time) Apple will stop “supporting” a machine. It will still work, you just can’t upgrade the operating system any more. I have a Mac Pro I bought in 2007 that is still chugging along. I run Adobe Design Suite on it and use it for email and web surfing.
Macs aren’t up-gradable (a debatable point, they are to differing degrees) because Macs generally don’t need to be upgraded.
You had the most up to date MacBook Pro until today. Apple just release new ones. Actually they release a new set with the Touch bar last fall. . . but they did a whole new refresh today.
Nonsense.
You are the only one spouting "nonsense" on this thread. You do it repeatedly on every Apple thread. ImJustAnotherOkie = TROLL
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