That would miss the point entirely, and arguably be morally dubious. The Macbook hardware is pretty excellent, and prices are comparable to the (few) competito

That would miss the point entirely, and arguably be morally dubious. The Macbook hardware is pretty excellent, and prices are comparable to the (few) competitors of similar quality. In absolute terms, they are not outside the range that their market can afford. It is only in desktops, or, more precisely, workstations that Apple's offerings fall short.