I think with Apple, you kind of need to consider their aesthetic. I don't think they like selling anything cheaply. The last few OS upgrades were cheap. iWork i

I think with Apple, you kind of need to consider their aesthetic. I don't think they like selling anything cheaply. The last few OS upgrades were cheap. iWork is cheaper than MS Office (because it is often an optional extra with office being mandatory) and (ironically) being in the iOS market means that they have an €8.99 version of iWork anchoring he price. Overall software sales are not big money makers for Apple. OTOH, you they can simplify a bunch of things by making OSX upgrades cheaper. Users no longer need to worry about OS updates (eg time their purchase). They can sell macs as "ready to go with all the software you need" for creative or office workers. A new mac will be easier to get used to. Developers can target a single OS version, this includes Apple. Apple can release features relying on new OS features. It's just simpler. Apple have an aesthetic preference for simpler. For the cost of whatever revenue these software sales were bringing in they get to improve and simplify the mac ownership experience. They get to differentiate themselves from PCs in one more difficult to quantify way. This is another thing they like. You don't have to buy antivirus & Office or worry about Windows upgrades. Financially it's probably a wash. Slightly better mac sales or increased pricing power will more or less make up for lost revenue.