But that's argument absurdum considering the price. Yes, it can do that, but you can also do that much better with a cheaper combo that gets you more actual har

But that's argument absurdum considering the price. Yes, it can do that, but you can also do that much better with a cheaper combo that gets you more actual hardware... Which is exactly what the OP is saying. And I agree, laptops are generally poor value no matter the brand/side. But you can mitigate that by buying a good enough not too expensive notebook and associate a "real" desktop computer with it. At curent Apple price, the laptop convenience factor for almost equivalent workstation is not really worth it for the vast majority of peoples (at least those who have to point with their own money...).