With the announcement of new Mac Pros, I thought back to the last time I used such a machine, during my years at MTV. At one point I found myself picking up the machine to move it; surprised at the heft, I remember wondering to myself, “what do they build these cases out of?!?” Platinum, apparently: that’d be the only way to justify the price. Why do I say this? Because, after yesterday’s announcement, I turned to Apple’s tech specs page and priced out the exact components used in the base-level Mac Pro. The results might surprise you.
The $2,500 Mac Pro includes a $350 CPU, $165 graphics card (unchanged from its PC counterpart), $75 of RAM, and a $70 hard drive. The four most important components of the machine — processor, graphics card, memory, and storage — total up to $660. Where’s the other $1,840 going? Keep in mind this total is from buying one of each, as a regular Joe off the street; Apple surely receives substantial volume discounts on everything, widening the gap even further.
Sure, there are more components in the machine, like the motherboard (I don’t know enough about Apple’s motherboard or motherboards in general, but here’s a dual Xeon mobo for less than $300), and a dual-layer DVD burner similar to Apple’s SuperDrive is $25. There are some other components, like a power supply, networking card, cabling, and of course the fancy case, which must be really expensive, because after accounting for the major components as a single buyer — keep in mind Amazon and Newegg are each getting a cut of what we’re paying — we’ve still got over $1,500 of air in the box.
Yes, Apple will build the machine and ship it, and there are warranty and support costs as well. So let’s compare apples to apples — how does a Mac Pro compare to an iMac, since they also announced new iMacs at the same time? An iMac, after all, has to be assembled and supported the same way (both machines have one year warranties). One analysis has the Mac Pro going for a 75%/$1,500 premium over a comparable iMac. And the iMac includes a 27″ 2560×1440 display! So Apple isn’t just pricing the Mac Pro at a premium over PCs — they’re pricing it at a substantial premium over other Macs.
You could walk into a computer store, buy basically the same components in a Mac Pro, and assemble it yourself. Then, let’s say something goes wrong — e.g., you bought an underpowered power supply and somehow fried the whole machine (this wouldn’t happen, but for example’s sake… ). You’d still have enough money to buy the components all over again and build a new one! That beats any warranty coverage I can think of…
Certainly a reason to consider building a hackintosh.
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15 COMMENTS
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cameron wheels on 07.29.10 @ 2:58PM
The problem arises when you use a “hackintosh” for comercial reason to make money from your edit or what ever…. is there any laws that are being infringed… I am very intrigued and have contemplated it for a while now but just worry.
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How alot of the same software is on the pc and out site the usa apple by LAW can’t use the EULA to lock you out of your own hardware and any ways apples $39 for os X is about the price that dell and others pay for OEM windows.But even at $200 FULL OEM of the TOP ver of 7 windows. Apple can make osX $200 if they want.
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Todd Rains on 07.29.10 @ 3:15PM
So have you seen this article?
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2010/20100728_iMac–imac-macpro.html
Lloyd Chambers seem to think just the opposite.
…interesting…
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I see where he’s coming from, but they are two different machines. I’m most interested in how the Mac Pro compares to other workstations, but from what I can tell, Core i7 processors compare very favorably to their more expensive Xeon brethren.
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My suspicion is that el Jobso isn’t very interested in furthering the PC market. The majority of Apple’s money comes from the consumer products, whereas the desktop systems are for the professionals who can often justify/write off the expense. The iPad, iPhone, macbook and such are for ‘everyone’. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mac pro got more expensive over time.
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Yeah, whatever happened to Moores Law? These new Mac Pro’s aren’t much more of a bump spec wise from last go round.
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I agree completely, save the last sentence: “Certainly a reason to consider building a hackintosh.”
Been there, done that. It’s not worth it – buy or build a PC.
I have a Macbook. I really wanted to try to use MacOS also on a Desktop Computer. So badly (mostly for styles sake, for curiosity and also for Things and PasswordPro, these 2 Mac Applications I really like). IMacs were out – only mirrors instead of displays and not easy to enhance, if at all. I really played with the new 27″ iMacs several times in apple stores or media markets… but no. MacPros… no way, underpowered even to the then new iMacs and way overpriced.
I already had a Core i7 PC. So I tried and succeeded in building a Hackintosh on a 3rd Harddrive.
Well, I was disappointed, to say the least. It worked flawlessly but couldn’t operate with the same flawless “feel” I get from Windows 7 on the same machine. That ranged from the Mouse-Cursor feel and precision (acceleration and speed) to the overcome concept of the toplevel menu bar on the top of the screen instead on the windows of the respective applications. Way cumbersome on state of the art Dual Screen Workstations.
Nah, my aluminium MacBook with it’s compact screen and the touchpad is a very nice machine – but I realized: Mac is for fancy Macbooks and Apple is for mobile Devices. Real work is done with PCs. And nowadays that includes all sorts of media design.
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Yes the Mac Pro is expensive, but there are a couple missed points here.
Consumers are buying Mac Pros because they want the most powerful Mac; yes building a Hackintosh is cheaper, but from a professional standpoint, you risk unscheduled downtime and possible licensing violations. The target market of the Mac Pro are people who are suppose to be making money off their machines. The iMac is the for the mainstream user.
The point of the Hackintosh is to save money. Here you can get OS X for $30, but don’t forget that’s actually the upgrade pricing from Leopard; full installers are suppose to pay the $160 for the whole package with iLife and iWork. Add the fact that you’re paying a couple grand for software like Photoshop and Final Cut for work. But how many people actually pay that when they’re running a Hackintosh? I’m willing to saying almost none.
So overall, you’re looking at the Mac Pro that’s expensive, yes, but because the market commands it, Apple can sell it for as much. Similar configured systems from Dell and HP are just as pricey.
Finally the pricing of the parts is a bit off; most of the prices we pay on retail parts is very close to prices OEMs pay, And not to get into specifics, but the parts the Mac Pro are at least $400 more than your estimate.
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I realize I’m a few dollars off (this is why I say “major components” — this is not all-inclusive). Of course, I think you also need to consider that a lot of shooters/editors already have the software. I have a CS4 license that cost $800 to upgrade to CS5 — a far cry from the $2,500 commanded by the master collection. I agree that anyone who’s going to be spending $3,500 (if you include Final Cut Studio) on software should just get a Mac Pro… but there are a lot of people who already have the software, but need a faster machine, and that’s why I’m building an alternative (also, just out of a sense of curiosity).
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It’s onerous to find educated folks on this matter, but you sound like you realize what you’re talking about! Thanks Consider a visit to my page . thanks!!
3 pingbacks
- Coming Soon: The NoFilmSchool Hac Pro - NoFilmSchool on 08.5.10 @ 1:10PM
- Coming Next Week: How to Build a Video Editing Hackintosh - NoFilmSchool on 10.14.10 @ 4:03PM
- Is Apple Canceling the Mac Pro? - NoFilmSchool on 11.1.11 @ 3:16PM
Yesterday i went to ibuypower.com, and did a fake build. 6-core i7, 12gb ram, 1tb hd, nvidia 470, and usb 3.0 & esata. It was under $2500, and this would run circles around that mac pro. i really don’t get that pricing