Apple has advertised itself as a premium brand for years, and just like every other premium brand, many people see its products as overpriced. There’s even a common name for it: the “Apple Tax.” Is that really true, though?
Apple’s value proposition has been all over the place in modern history: for every iPhone SE or iPod Nano that was a great value, there was a $700 collection of desktop wheels or a RAM upgrade that cost hundreds of dollars. The fabled Apple Tax is alive and well in some custom configurations, but when it comes to base model Macs, iPhones, and iPads, the prices are probably undercutting the competition, at least in the United States.
Base Models Are (Usually) a Great Deal
It’s true that Mac computers throughout the 2010s were a more difficult value proposition. They had the same Intel processors and NVIDIA or AMD graphics as Windows PCs, with similar performance and thermal restraints. Apple frequently limited the performance of its computers to help them fit into slimmer designs—the 2015 MacBook with an underpowered Intel Core M processor was one example among many. Mac computers were usually price-competitive, but the hardware design and macOS operating system (or back then, OS X) were the main selling points, not bang-for-your-buck.
That changed when Mac computers switched from Intel processors to Apple Silicon chips, starting in 2020. The first M1 chips were more power efficient than similar x86-based CPUs from Intel and AMD, and both performance and power efficiency have continued to improve in subsequent M-series chips. Intel and AMD have made architecture changes to stay competitive—some of their chips now have similar memory sharing as Apple’s unified memory architecture—but Apple is still staying one step ahead.
Don’t take my word for it, though. The highest-end Intel Ultra CPU for laptops right now is the Ultra 9 Processor 285HX, found in workstation PCs like the $4,679+ Dell Pro Max 18 Plus. That CPU has nearly identical multi-core performance and ~27% slower single-core performance as the 12-core M4 Pro, which is found in the $2,000+ 14-inch MacBook Pro and $1,400 Mac Mini. Our friends at XDA compared the base M4 chip against the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V and Snapdragon X Elite last year, and the M4 won in all benchmarks.
Mac computers are outperforming PCs with Intel and AMD chips at nearly every price bracket, usually with better battery life as well. If you need a laptop, the M1 MacBook Air at $600 and M4 Air at $900 are a great value compared to Windows laptops in their respective price ranges. If you need a desktop, the base M4 Mac Mini is a fantastic value at $600.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of Android tablets that are more affordable than an iPad, but Apple’s extended software support is still hard to match. This year’s iPadOS 26 update will roll out to models like the 8th gen iPad, which was released in 2020 and was frequently on sale for $300. iPads are also still beating the competition in performance—Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is around 25% slower in single and multi-core performance than the current M3 iPad Air.
Most iPhone models are close in price and features to the competition, but Apple has definitely abandoned the low-end and mid-range market. The iPhone SE series used to be a great entry point for people on tighter budgets, but now there’s just the iPhone 16e that starts at $600. If your budget maxes out below that, then it doesn’t really matter if the price is justified. The long-term software support means models from one or two years ago can still be great purchases on sale, though.
There are still valid reasons to not buy Apple products—maybe you don’t like macOS or iOS, or hardware upgradability is non-negotiable for your computer purchases, or something else. The price being too high for what you get is difficult to justify, though, at least with the base models.
The All-Important Resale Value
If the Apple Tax is real, then it’s a tax you can still pass onto others when it’s time to get a new device. Apple products, especially iPhones, hold their value on the resale model incredibly well.
You might gawk at the high entry price for some Apple devices, but if you choose to do a trade-in or sell your device later, you usually get a lot back. Some laptops manage to hold onto their value in the same way as MacBooks—the Apple M1 Air and Dell XPS 9310 are both from 2020, and are going for around the same prices on eBay right now. The resale market for desktop PCs and Android phones is usually less forgiving.
If you pass your old electronics to friends or family, or trade in your old phones on those carrier promotions that take any functioning phone, the resale vale on modern Apple products might not be a big deal. Still, it helps to justify the higher prices for me when I’m upgrading.
The Apple Tax’s Last Refuge
Before you write me off as an Apple shill, I will point out that some of Apple’s products are still ridiculously overpriced. The Apple Tax is alive and well—it’s just not universally applied.
The worst offender here might be the memory and storage upgrade options for Macs. The base models of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and other computers frequently go on sale at stores like Amazon and Best Buy, and certain upgrade configurations are also sold through third-party retailers with occasional sales. Beyond that, you will pay dearly for upgraded models—far more than it would cost to throw more RAM or a new NVMe SSD in a comparable PC.
The base 13-inch MacBook Air with 16GB memory and 256GB storage costs a respectable $999 from Apple, but doubling the memory to 32GB costs an extra $400, and maxing out the storage to 2TB is an additional $800. If it was a PC laptop using a standard NVMe slot, you could just get a Samsung 990 EVO 2TB drive for around $120. That’s extremely obvious price gouging on Apple’s part.
The upgraded versions of iPhones and iPads can also get ridiculous at times. For example, the 11-inch iPad Air starts at $599 for 128GB of storage, but maxing it out to 1TB brings the total to $1,099. Again, flash memory is not that expensive in 2025. Apple has also never made an iPad with expandable microSD storage, because then no one would pay those high prices.
Apple’s accessories are generally high quality, especially when it comes to niche options like Thunderbolt cables, but some prices are just silly. $49 for a silicone iPhone case? $699 for Mac Pro wheels? Nope.
Apple still absolutely sells some overpriced products and services—at least a few people had to get ripped off for Apple to become the first $1 trillion company. Still, many of its products are an incredible value, especially its Mac computers. An Apple device might not be the right pick for you, but the next time you’re shopping for an upgrade, you should definitely do some pricing and benchmark comparisons.