That's kind of a weird way to look at it. It assumes that your needs match exactly what Apple offers, which is rarely the case. For most users, Apple devices co

That's kind of a weird way to look at it. It assumes that your needs match exactly what Apple offers, which is rarely the case. For most users, Apple devices come with their own set of compromises. Instead of taking Apple's devices as the benchmark, and trying to find a device that's cheaper and better on all axes, you have to start with the users requirements, and see where you get from there. For example, if your requirement is "I want a silent machine for programming with lots of RAM for running VMs" then it's very unlikely that the cheapest option is going to be a Mac. If your requirement is "I want a machine for checking my emails and watching Netflix with a big screen" then it's also very unlikely that the cheapest option is a Mac. The only scenario where a Mac is reasonably priced is if your requirement is "I want a machine that is exactly like one of the few machines that Apple sells and I don't mind its shortcomings".