It wasn’t long ago when you could find a MacBook that was priced at an easy $1,300 and a comparable Windows laptop that cost half that. However, that was then and it’s 2012 now. Things have changed drastically.

Let’s start with a normal 15-inch laptop:

Obviously I’m not making much of a case here. The HP has more RAM and better graphics with a lower price tag. However, the price gap isn’t greatly significant.

Let’s look at all-in-one machines next:

This is a little better, but the HP Omni has better graphics and twice the HDD, but the difference in price is very small.

Now here’s where it gets very interesting. Let’s look at some thin-and-light laptops:

The Samsung has a slower processor and is the same price as the MacBook Air.

Let’s now move up to a bigger screen, thus more room for a faster machine:

Almost identical specs, but the Lenovo is $200 more than the MacBook Air.

Interesting, huh? Ultrabooks are the same price (sometimes more) as the MacBook Air, and this is where the industry is going. Expect to see thin-and-light laptops make a huge impact, and unless PC manufacturers can find cheaper ways to manufacture them, the price gap between PCs and Macs will only shrink.

Note: All prices and configurations were taken from the manufacturers’ own websites.

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Sure, even with Jobs having departed the company, many of the names and faces at Apple remain the same. But Jobs is known to have micro-managed since he returned to Apple and transformed the company into the behemoth it is today. With that guiding force gone for good things are all set to change.

One of the key components of Apple’s winning strategy has been its premium pricing. Apple products have always been expensive, the choice of those not on a budget, for whom the need for quality overpowers the need for affordability. But that strategy is already changing, and could change even more as the company heads further into the mainstream.

The question is, should Apple cut its prices across the board?

The Argument For

Apple is now about as mainstream as they come. What was once the small, independent-like company fighting against the big corporation that was Microsoft, the roles have changed. Apple is now rich, powerful, and a member of the new mega-corps. With that status comes a responsibility to lower prices. People now want to own Apple products more than ever after buying into the brand, and for people to do so in bulk the prices need to be lower than they currently are.

Apple can also afford to cut its prices. It famously now has more cash reserves in the bank than the U.S. government does. The iPad, which is the first of this new breed of affordable Apple products, is fairly priced, and yet Apple is still making a healthy profit on each unit sold thanks to the scale of its production line and the methods it uses: Chinese labor is cheap.

The Argument Against

Apple could lower its prices quite easily, but should it do so? The fact is it doesn’t actually need to. The iPad is a phenomenon, selling millions around the world and still being the cream of the tablet market despite various attempts by rival manufacturers to match or beat it. The Amazon Kindle Fire could derail its dominance, but that isn’t guaranteed. Meanwhile while the iPhone isn’t the best smartphone money can buy it is the one people invariably crave owning. And they’re buying even slight upgrades en masse.

There is also an argument that lowering prices could actually harm Apple in the longterm. While the company will gain more customers, those ever-so-loyal fanboys may turn their backs when the great unwashed join their little club. If Apple products become so affordable that the proletariat can buy them then expect some Apple fanboys to seek the next tech company selling overpriced wares.

It’ll be interesting to see which way new CEO Tim Cook goes on this one. If he gets it wrong then Steve Jobs’ legacy could soon turn to dust.

Image Credit: Lara604
Image Credit: Paulswansen

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