The great reason that makes Apple price 4 computer wheels at $699
First shared in J.M. Santolin’s newsletter
In spring 2020, Apple introduction a new version of its Mac Pro. You might have seen these memes around the internet making the revolutionary, uniquely one of a kind design of the Mac Pro look like just another cheese grater.
To bring some context here, Apple has a pretty clean and consistent computer line where the Mac Pro is intended to professional users who need powerful machines. That is cinema studios, industrial design teams, scientific laboratories etc.
Just for the pleasure of random numbers, if we take say the active memory of a computer, today 16 Go are great. 64 Go is the maximum a boosted MacBook Pro can have. A Mac Pro though goes up to 1.5 To of active memory (that is different than storage).
The Wheels
If you just realized that you’d need such a machine to sort your holidays pictures, you’ll have some options. You can go for a tower which you could place under your desk for example, or for a rack to insert… in a rack.
If you decide to go for the tower but then think quite pragmatically that it would be interesting to have wheels to easily move the tower for cleaning, Apple has your back and propose you nicely designed wheels for just $699.
That’s right: 699 US dollars for 4 computer wheels. Meaning that for a same amount of money, you can either get yourself a brand new iPhone 12 — which was just set available when this newsletter is sent — or get four wheels in a box. Which leads to the following question:
What makes 4 computer wheels so expensive?
“They are made out of special materials”
That would be a pretty realistic answer indeed. After all, Apple might have made super resistant wheels, out of titanium for example, with a special material on the edges that makes the wheels super satisfying to use.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the answer. The wheels are actually made out of regular stainless steel and rubber, nothing fancy. Don’t get me wrong, customers acknowledge the quality of the wheels is irreproachable, and it’s clearly Apple Design, but there’s no gold nor diamond on it.
“The price tag takes the whole chain into account”
This is an answer you’ll get a lot during debates with Apple fanboys. And it’s not necessarily a bad one. It’s totally true that the price tag of a product shouldn’t solely be based on the price of its parts.
The margins should make it possible to pay for R&D, for the design, for the distribution, for the marketing etc. Yet, taking the iPhone 12 vs. wheels example mentioned above, I suspect these costs are higher for an smartphone than for little still basic computer wheels.
“Whatever, I don’t know, it’s just Apple”
Well, we might actually have an interesting point here. Bare with me.
The Mac Pro wheels’ pricing logic
Let’s start by taking a step back. In the past couple of years, Apple has become even more successful. Next to the iPhone, which remains the cash cow of Apple, the company has launched several very successful products.
The Apple Watch is considered as the smartwatch to go. The Airpods became the kings of wireless earbuds. The iPad went from main tablet product to serious alternative to a computer, with mouse, keyboard, Pencil.
Because of that, you might see more and more people around using Apple products. Which is always a good thing for a company, and we can even see Apple pushing this trend with the introduction of a second iteration of the more affordable iPhone SE.
That being said, when you are or try to define yourself as a luxury brand, the fact of looking mainstream can actually arm your brand image. How do you make sure that everyone perceives you as a premium, high end brand when it seems that everyone can afford your products?
Well, by pricing products as basic as computer wheels at $700 for example. Or by making a pure gold, “Edition” version of a smartwatch priced at $18,000. Who cares if nobody buys it? What matters is that consumers keep seeing your brand as the one of privileged people, so that they feel even more special when they buy other products from you.
That’s what makes a brand price 4 computer wheels at $699.
I’m Jean-Marc Santolin, marketing consultant and maker. If you liked this article, tap 👏 up to 50 times or get the newsletter below:
