cost comparison

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I'd never buy 1st generation apple stuff :)

And that's a generally accepted rule of thumb if you can stick to it.

But if we're going to be bringing TCO into the equation and value over the long term, then we ought to point out the cases where it's not an automatic 'win' for Apple products. It's very much buyer beware for some models or product lines.

Professional users probably know this better than anyone.
 
Depends on the model really. If we want to talk about things that are worthless in 2 years, look no further than the original iPad. That's been a terrible value purchase for me.

Planned obsolescence. :(

iPad 1 is capable of running iOS 6. I don't think Apple will bring iOS 7 to iPad 2. :(
 
Other cost is power usgae.

I just put the spec of my machine below in and power usage was 444W 500W with monitor

The mac is 41.8W with screen on etc.

Saying they will be on 5 hours a day PC = 2.5KWH a day mac = 0.29

My rate is 16.2p per kwh average which means a day pc will cost 40.5p mac = 4.7p

over a month pc = £12.15

Mac = £1.41
 
Not sure those numbers are even remotely accurate tbh....

PC components have various power states and will not use anywhere near 500w all the time... Also I am pretty sure it is actually impossible for the mac to be that low power usage (I presume you mean the 27" imac)

I expect a comparable imac Vs PC would be lower power due to using some mobile components etc. But nowhere near what you have said there....

On the apple site for the 27" i-mac it lists - idle display ON = 78.9w
I would estimate a idle PC and 27" monitor = maybe 150w if that

So yes it is cheaper but nothing like 50w vs 500w
 
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Planned obsolescence. :(

iPad 1 is capable of running iOS 6. I don't think Apple will bring iOS 7 to iPad 2. :(

I know, it's really bad. When I see organisations buying them by the truckload it makes me cringe because they're effectively rolling a die.

The 2nd generation iPad has served me pretty well so far, but I bought that batch back in 2011. If they axe support in mid-2013 with the next version of iOS I'll have been stung again after just two years.

I'm holding on to the idea that with the iPad mini and iPad2 still actually on sale it will get continued support for a few more years.
 
Planned obsolescence. :(

iPad 1 is capable of running iOS 6. I don't think Apple will bring iOS 7 to iPad 2. :(

The 2nd generation iPad has served me pretty well so far, but I bought that batch back in 2011. If they axe support in mid-2013 with the next version of iOS I'll have been stung again after just two years.

I'm holding on to the idea that with the iPad mini and iPad2 still actually on sale it will get continued support for a few more years.

This bit is crucial... They will continue to support it until at least iOS8 (which will then be only for iPad Mini2 and whatever iPad they are on). There is no way they will stop supporting the mini with iOS updates less than a year after launch.

However... On the flip side you could argue that you don't really need the latest version of iOS if it does everything you want right now...
 
Planned obsolescence. :(

iPad 1 is capable of running iOS 6. I don't think Apple will bring iOS 7 to iPad 2. :(

iOS 7 will come to the iPad 2, as Apple still sell it on their store. The same reason the iPhone 3GS runs iOS 6, because they were still selling it at the time, but not the iPad 1.
 
The mac is 41.8W with screen on etc.

No it's not, it's 79W as per this PDF.


However... On the flip side you could argue that you don't really need the latest version of iOS if it does everything you want right now...

The problem is app support. iOS 6, whilst not groundbreaking, brought a few nice developer API improvements. If you are a serious app developer you'll want to consider still supporting the iPad 1 for the next 1 or 2 years, so you need to target iOS 5.1, and with it any benefits of new APIs that come with iOS 6 go straight out the window. By exclusively targeting iOS 6, you will potentially be alienating users of your app that are unable to run it.
 
I was running it for myself which is a 21.5" I have and that is 41W and my pc before used a 23" monitor.

I stand corrected then, I assumed you were on about the 27" model.

Looking at the PDF for the 21.5" spec it seems you're pretty much on the money :)

Also:

I would estimate a idle PC and 27" monitor = maybe 150w if that

He never mentioned idle wattage? The PDF does though.
 
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Depends on the model really. If we want to talk about things that are worthless in 2 years, look no further than the original iPad. That's been a terrible value purchase for me.

True, but the iPad 1 had no competition and I bet it would still be more valuable than say the original Galaxy Tab.
 
I stand corrected then, I assumed you were on about the 27" model.

Looking at the PDF for the 21.5" spec it seems you're pretty much on the money :)

Also:



He never mentioned idle wattage? The PDF does though.

What? The 41w figure is idle watts... Similar spec PC to the 41w mac probably about 100w max idle including monitor, Probably less if optimised for low power usage.

By idle means turned on and ready to go but not under load and not in standby mode, just sat there at desktop doing nothing.

My point is that an imac is a bit better for power usage due to the laptop gpu etc. But it is not a magic computer that is 10x less power usage than an equivalent PC.
 
Its horses for courses. We have the cheapest new Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM I installed under the HDTV as a media machine. It works very well for all our audio / visual needs and is very easy to use.

But why a Mac Mini, wouldn't something else cheaper be much more suitable...or did it have to match the rest of your living room ornaments?:D
 
A comparable PC to the imac specs though.... The imac would be slightly better due to the mobile parts etc.

You can't say "the imac has better power consumption compared to a high end gaming rig" because the components in the imac are nowhere near as good... It is only fair to compare to a PC of similar spec. It is like saying "a fiat punto has better fuel economy compared to a bugatti veyron".

I am just trying to make the point that an imac is simply PC components in a compact box, so it is not really much better power consumption than a comparable PC.
 
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A comparable PC to the imac specs though.... The imac would be slightly better due to the mobile parts etc.

You can't say "the imac has better power consumption compared to a high end gaming rig" because the components in the imac are nowhere near as good... It is only fair to compare to a PC of similar spec. It is like saying "a fiat punto has better fuel economy compared to a bugatti veyron".

I am just trying to make the point that an imac is simply PC components in a compact box, so it is not really much better power consumption than a comparable PC.

The iMac is essentially a high-end laptop with a more power-hungry screen. It's like saying my MacBook uses less power than the computers at uni, of course it does.
 
What? I dont understand your point....

As far as I know the imac is a hybrid of desktop and laptop parts... So comparing to a similar spec of desktop PC it will be slightly lower but not 10x lower like was suggested... Maybe 50% lower at best. A laptop connected to a monitor would be lower power usage than the imac.

But yes obviously the imac is going to be lower power usage than his high end gaming rig..... But if you compare it in a similar way to a car such as power > weight ratio... I expect the PC would actually be better as desktop parts like a GTX 670 actually use extremely low power when at desktop.
 
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So are you talking about a PC of comparable specifications or one that is more powerful? You've said the former in your second to last post, and the latter in your last post.

The iMac will likely offer lower power consumption than the average tower desktop machine offering similar performance due to very efficient power supplies (that the majority of systems likely won't have as the increased efficiency of the superior power supply is outweighed by the lower cost of a "good" power supply), a few mobile components (namely graphics cards), and if you really want to argue, better cooling (quite a bit of that premium goes into design) with fewer, smaller fans that don't need to really spin up all that often (which will make a minimal difference).

However, quite literally all of this is nitpicking now. You pay less for the tower machine but you have higher power consumption, you pay more for this, more for that, etc...at this rate you might as well start talking about the overall carbon emissions for every component!

To be honest it only really needs to go as far as the initial purchase cost, selling cost, the cost of software updates, a little bit of electricity if the difference is massive. Not much else.
 
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lolNirK you're the worst Apple troll ever. You come here flogging the same dead horse ad nauseam and the only person that you're winding up is yourself.

Who cares what a similar spec gets you honestly? Buy what you like and can afford.
 
Mobile components - Yes
Better cooling - No it would likely be worse cooling, the imac is not designed to be overclocked etc.
More efficient power supply? Not sure about that, I doubt it is much different to a power supply from a good manufacturer such as antec etc.

Basically the point I am trying to make is that apple does not have some magic algorithm or some magical apple performance enhancer that makes it particularly better power consumption than a comparable PC other than the mobile parts. I just wanted to clear that up as people seem to think that somehow apple components are magical and better than those in a normal PC.

lolNirK you're the worst Apple troll ever. You come here flogging the same dead horse ad nauseam and the only person that you're winding up is yourself.

Who cares what a similar spec gets you honestly? Buy what you like and can afford.

Nope I just feel a duty to add some balance to the thread because people make assumptions that apple is somehow better due to clever marketing etc. I was talking about power consumption not same specs. I am not "wound up" I just felt the need to clear that up. Anyway you have a point this is getting tedious now I am going to go and do soemthing else goodbye!
 
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