Previous updates: 2018, 2020, 2021
MacRumors on 4/23/2026: “A Full Apple Ecosystem Now Costs Less Than a MacBook Pro”
- iPhone 17e: $599
- MacBook Neo: $599
- iPad (11th generation): $349
- Magic Keyboard Folio: $249
- Apple Pencil (USB-C): $79
- Apple Watch SE 3: $249
- AirPods 4: $129
- Apple TV 4K: $129
- HomePod mini: $99
- AirTag: $29
The total comes to $2,510, which is $189 less than the $2,699 starting price of the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip. AppleCare One, which can cover any three Apple devices of the buyer’s choosing, costs an additional $19.99 per month.
I’m not going to do this post justice because I’m a bit busy today but I did want to link to this. My past Apple-Cost rundown posts assumed a middle-of-the-road Apple fanboy who is purchasing their more standard builds like an iPhone Pro, MacBook Pro and iPad Pro but hats off to Hartley Charlton at MacRumors for showcasing something very unique.
Apple has gone down market without eroding their perceived value of being “nice” compared to the alternatives. Apple makes nice hardware and people pay extra for that nice-ness. Yet they’ve released progressively lower cost hardware that more people can afford without compromising on quality.
As Tim Cook departs Apple as its CEO after 15 years, this should be applauded. You can spend $2500 to get one of everything they make in all of their product categories including watch, headphones, speaker, phone, laptop and iPad. Remarkable.
An Apple fan only spends $2500 (plus $19.95 a month for AppleOne and $19.99 a month for AppleCare One or around $479 a year to warranty and attach services for said devices). This is less than a standard config 16″ MacBook Pro. Incredible.
….and that’s why we’re here. Apple’s profit margins remain in the 40% range because services are inanely profitable at around 75% so it can prop up lower margin hardware because Apple only reports out on profit against revenue for their margins. If a MacBook Neo at $599 has a 15% profit margin but the customer is giving Apple $240-$500 a year in services, Apple’s bottom line isn’t being impacted. A Neo+SE customer will keep those devices for 5 years and hand Apple $1000-$2500 in services in that same timeframe.
There’s nothing wrong with that. So all along, I was wrong. You can be an Apple Fanboy by giving them $10-$15 thousand dollars a year in hardware and John Ternus will take your money but Apple is just as happy with you purchasing their lowest price hardware and attaching their very profitable services which is still value to the customer. I would get storage, mail, games, music and a warranty coverage added for less than a trip to Five Guys every month.
Hats off to Apple for this transition. Anyone in a developed nation with a full time job can afford to be an Apple customer today and access the same software people with larger budgets can afford (thinking back to John Gruber linking to the Andy Warhol quote about Coke):
What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.
The cost of being an Apple-Fan in 2026 is $2500 (before services).
….I still spent $5900 on my MacBook Pro a month ago