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.
Gosh, darn, Okie, you're so ignorant. People with an IQ above 50 don't hang around product threads where they don't have a use for the products. Unless mentally defective. That's you! Maybe you didn't realize it but Apple dropped the computer monicker off their company name years ago, because they deliver products in telecommunications, chip design, storage, music, etc... and phones. They're even quietly working on modern self-driving cars. But you wouldn't know that because you're just flinging crap around without a clue that it's splattering on you.
And last time I checked, IQ of 100 is average. So what's your point? That Apple's customer IQ is at or above average? Mine is near 150, so averaged against your 50 that makes an average of 100. But IQ is no measure of success in this world. I know some people with IQs under 100 who became rich business men. They did that by using common sense, which you lack due to wasting your time here in a product thread that won't enrich you because you are only here to be disruptive, like an arrogant child.
My point is I don’t like Apple as a company for so many reasons, and in a conservative forum they are Fair Game.
I believe your ilk is freeloading promoting Apple products and giving them free advertisement.
A conservative forum is better used for going after far more extreme targets. Apple is not one of them. You can waste your time here, or use it more wisely. Your choice. I've worked as a systems engineer and integrator on many brands of mainframes, minis and micros, including stints as an NT & Windows Server administrator and as a router admin building networks. Many brands. Apple is merely one of many brands, and is for the most part non-political. Other brands have spent far more resources and money supporting liberal politicians and causes. Apple does not.
The reason we are here on these threads is in the pursuit of technical information to better use these products as tools. Nothing more. It's not free advertisement. You buy what you think you can use as a tool, no one if forcing you to come to this thread and buy a product. You don't like the product, go to another thread for a product you do enjoy. I'm currently using and enjoying Unix and Windows products among the many computers I own. They're just tools.
So you think it is OK to lie and post falsehoods in these thread because your ends are to denigrate Apple which you think is good, because you don't like and wouldn't choose Apple?
Let's look at how that compares to Liberals whom you have been related in this thread:
"So you that it is OK to lie and scream falsehoods on the news because your ends are to denigrate Trump which you think is good because you don't like and wouldn't vote for Trump?"
Oh my, Okie, you are just like the lying Liberal wackos who will do and say anything to smear something they don't like and wouldn't vote for or choose. You come into Apple threads and throw tantrums just like any other immature, self-centered brat without impulse control. That defines you to a "T."
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