Thus, as I have said... I really do appreciate their design... OSX is famously reliable... they are priced according to their market and thus succeed. BUT, it is my PC biased opinion, that if you remove OSX from the equation, then Apple hardware offers no real advantage other than aesthetic appeal and THAT comes at a (market targeted) premium price.....
Hardly. There are other reasons too. As said Apple also releases incredible software, mostly its pro-Apps. The photographers on this forum will testify
to how good Aperture is, while video editors will tell you that Final Cut Studio
is probably the best editing package out there and leaves Adobe Premiere far behind while Sony Vegas and other solutions are amateurish toys in comparison.
Avid Media Composer, the only real competition to Apple Final Cut Pro is available in both Mac and Windows versions.
Apple has added some very expensive software into it's pro-apps league:
Apple Color - an application which sold for $10,000 only two years ago when
owned by a different company, is
included free in Apple Final Cut Studio - which costs under $1000
and is cheaper than the Adobe Creative Suite.
Apple Shake - a package which likewise not long ago cost $10,000
per licence now retails for under $500 and whips AE's butt.
The applications have been used in movies such as King Kong and LOTR trilogy. You don't getter apps than these and they are cut price dirt cheap for any prosumer movie studio or enthusiast. In the PC world equivalents at this price do not exist, and the Linux version of Shake still costs $5000 per license.
As you can see buying Apple Hardware saves you a lot more money in the long run if you're in need of these apps. Apple H/W is not that expensive either, if you compare the MacPro whenever it gets upgraded with the
same Dell equivalent you'll find that the Mac Pro may even be cheaper.
Such was the case when I bought my MP.
I would also like to say that unlike ADOBE, Apple actually bundles tons of manuals in paper form with their software. Final Cut Studio package I bought last year
was fully filled with books. The Adobe Photo Shop CS4 I bought end of last year had a big box with an ad and the DVD jewel case only. Print or buy your own
manuals from Adobe.
Apple offer a great deal of value. Investing in their h/w offers great savings in the long run.