Apple Products: Worth the Money?

Apple products are craved internationally. Every time a new product is released to the market, there are long lines of people in front of Apple stores, waiting to “cop” new tech. Although Apple products are very popular, they are not cost-effective.

Apple’s new iPhone X, which is worth 1,000 USD from retail, is one of the most popular phones among tech fanatics. According to a study by IHS Markit, the cost of the materials for the phone is actually 370.25 USD. The other new phone, the iPhone 8, is worth 700 USD according to the Apple website. However, the price of the components is only a fraction of its cost. Although I am not accounting the price of the software and its development, it is clear that the new iPhones are not worth their high price point.

Expanding more on the new iPhones, the “new tech” that Apple has introduced, which is the face ID camera, has a cost of 16.3 USD. The aluminum case of the iPhone X is 61USD, and the rear facing cameras are 35 USD. These components are only a small part of a phone’s retail cost. Although the software is considered to be state of the art, does Apple need to charge so much for the cameras and a screen?

Apple has also released new computers. Although the new devices have better specs and features than their older counterparts, they also carry a very heavy price tag. As an owner of a 2017 MacBook Pro with a touch bar, I can positively say that the touch bar is useless for everyday schoolwork. It drains battery life, causing me to have to charge my laptop in the middle of classes, and its fingerprint sensor provides little to no convenience when using the computer. The touch bar takes away access to function keys which allow one to change brightness and volume on the fly. Apple has also taken away the traditional USB ports and has replaced those ports with USB C. Although these ports have faster speeds, they are extremely inconvenient.

Another improvement of the computers is their hardware. Apple has changed the processors and the storage units of the computers, greatly improving the speeds of the laptops. The CPU of my MacBook is a 3.1 GHz dual-core i5 processor, which allows for quicker speeds during productivity. Although this CPU is well worth its retail price of 304 USD and arguably the most important part of a computer, it is only a fraction of the total retail cost of the MacBook Pro (1800 USD).

In conclusion, although Apple products are highly praised for their user-friendly interface and new technology, they are certainly not worth their high price point.