Are you wondering how much it costs to manufacture a MacBook? How much more is Apple selling its MacBook Pro compared to its actual production cost?
In this post, we will be providing a cost breakdown of Apple’s MacBook Pro to help you understand how much Apple is actually earning in profit per MacBook.
Cost of Materials in a MacBook Pro
The actual cost of materials of a MacBook Pro is anywhere between $700 to $1500, depending on the model. Let’s break down the materials in a MacBook Pro and provide some general estimates of how much the components of a MacBook cost, considering a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro with 512 GB of storage and an 8-core CPU:
- M1 Chip: The price of an M1 chip is generally between $75 to $250, depending on the size. On average, we can say that it costs around $125 for medium-sized chips.
- RAM: RAM costs around $50-$125 for 8-32 GB of RAM, depending on how many GB there are.
- SSD: An SSD typically costs $50-80, depending on the model.
- Display: New MacBooks come with a mini-LED display, which costs around $200-$250, depending on the size.
- Keyboard: The keyboard, together with the trackpad, costs around $75.
- Speakers, camera, and microphone: These, combined, cost around $75-$100.
- Battery: The battery costs around $50, on average.
- Cooling: Cooling costs up to $50.
- Other components: Other components, such as ports, cables, and other internal parts, cost between $200-$300.
So, in total, the lower end of a MacBook Pro’s cost would be $775, while at the higher end, it would be around $1180. To err on the side of caution, we could round this up and say that the materials may cost up to $1200.
However, this is just the cost of the materials alone. Of course, there are other costs associated with selling MacBooks.
Furthermore, in MacBooks with more storage or more cores in the CPU and/or GPU, production costs are higher.
Cost of Assembly for a MacBook Pro
To reduce the costs of assembly for MacBooks Pro, Apple does most of its production in China. However, while labor costs in MacBook production may be lower than what they would be in the USA, there is still a lot of money that goes into it. There are many workers, and there are, of course, the costs of renting and maintaining the facilities and ensuring quality control.
A good estimate would be that the cost of assembly and production averages to around $50 per laptop, but this is just a general estimate.
Furthermore, Apple doesn’t only have employees working in factories, but it also has employees working in many countries. It invests a lot in R&D (research and development) to maintain a competitive edge over other laptop manufacturers, which is how it has been able to be so successful.
Distribution and Marketing Costs
MacBooks cost money to distribute as well. There are shipping costs involved in shipping Apple products from Asia to countries around the world. There are also taxes that must be paid.
Furthermore, Apple invests heavily in marketing and advertising. It is impossible to say how much Apple invests in marketing, advertising, R&D, and other expenses, as we’re not privy to Apple’s internal accounting. However, you would have to add that on to the cost of production as well.
Cost Comparison: M1 Chip vs. Intel Chip
This is once again difficult to quantify, as it depends on the particular Intel and M1 chip in question. Generally, though, M1 chips are more expensive. Intel chips can cost around $50 or less to produce, while M1 chips go higher than that, as mentioned above. Furthermore, it’s hard to quantify how much R&D costs go into each chip from each company.
Resale Value of the MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro’s resale value is a lot higher than what it costs to manufacture. Apple obviously has to make a profit, even after all the costs associated with R&D.
Once again, the price depends on the product, and pricing may also vary based on your region or country. For example, in the US, a 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1600 and goes up to $2000 for an 8-core CPU, but higher core CPUs can go up to $3200, because those cost more to manufacture (we did not consider those in our cost estimates).
Meanwhile, a 16-inch MacBook starts at $2500.
Cost of a Custom Laptop vs. MacBook Pro
If you build a custom laptop, you can save a lot of money. You will mostly be paying for the resale value of laptop component prices, so you will avoid extra costs associated with assembly, production, and the profit the company would make.
However, you would typically be building a Windows (or perhaps a Linux laptop), as building a custom Mac is quite difficult due to the way Apple uses proprietary components. There is a community called Hackintosh which focuses on getting macOS to work on unsupported computers, so check it out if you’re interested.
You can spend as little as a few hundred dollars and as much as a few thousand dollars on a custom laptop. It all depends on the types of components you get.
For example, you can get a cheap CPU, motherboard, RAM, an SSD, battery, and monitor for a few hundred dollars. It won’t be very powerful, but it will work. But if you want a powerful gaming laptop, you will need a more powerful CPU, a GPU, more RAM, more storage, a cooling system, and a better display, which will cost more money. You might also invest in a backup battery in addition to a more powerful default battery.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our MacBook Pro cost analysis. Hopefully, you can now see why a MacBook Pro is so expensive. In addition to all the high-quality materials and the overhead costs that go into making Apple such a successful company, many people are paying for the brand name, so Apple can afford to charge more. It is definitely worth investing in a MacBook Pro despite the high price, as they are some of the best and most durable computers on the market.
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