Macs are 3x cheaper than Windows based PCs says IBM

[Belgarathian]

Recently Fletcher Previn took to the stage at a Jamf conference to show that over the long-term, macOS based systems cost 1/3 as much as Windows based platforms in the IBM workforce. This is comprised of a larger up-front capital investment, but is offset by reduced support costs over the life cycle of the asset. 

 

Quote

Only 5% of IBM’s Mac employees needed help desk support versus 40% of PC users.

At that time, some 30,000 IBM employees were using Macs. Today 90,000 of them are, he said. And IBM ultimately plans to distribute 150,000 to 200,000 Macs to workers, meaning about half of IBM’s approximately 370,000 employees will have Macs. 

Quote

Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC, over four years IBM saves between $273 to $543 per Mac compared to a similarly configured Windows PC.

In other words, when you add in all the software a company has to buy from Microsoft to run and manage its Windows devices, Windows PCs are 3 times more expensive, he says.

“It ends up being $57.3 million more expensive per 100,000 Windows machines, or exactly 3X the cost,” he said. “And this is a conservative number. This represents the best pricing we’ve ever gotten from Microsoft.”

 

 

 

I've used both systems, and I'd have to say that the macOS operating system is far more intuitive and intimate (like iOS vs Android) but less flexible than Windows as the OS tends to be locked down, and prevents the user from changing or deleting components that are critical to operation. macOS tends to handle system and software crashes slightly more elegantly too. 

 

Flame wars aside, what are your thoughts on enterprise macOS roll out given that Apple seems to be focusing on Education and Consumer markets, and not enterprise? RIP Xserve. 

 

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/an-ibm-it-guy-macs-are-300-cheaper-to-own-than-windows-2016-10?r=US&IR=T

[ARikozuM]

That's the problem we all see. Do you go for the closed (possibly more efficient) OS or the open (with breaks being possible) OS?

[Steeve]

AAHAHAHAAAHAAhh nice one that was funny

[Belgarathian]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

That's the problem we all see. Do you go for the closed (possibly more efficient) OS or the open (with breaks being possible) OS?

Ever since Apple switched to Intel 64bit processors the ecosystem has been pretty open... It's only if you want to go through the Apple Store that you can get into trouble. Other than that, you can install whatever applications you like, you just have to allow unauthorized installs in the control panel.

[RGProductions]

IDK. All software I use is either cheaper on windows or the same, and I can't use a lot of it on mac. Macs are really nice when running windows though.

[Belgarathian]

Just now, RGProductions said:

IDK. All software I use is either cheaper on windows or the same, and I can't use a lot of it on mac. Macs are really nice when running windows though.

The whole article is based on the OS, rather than the hardware but yes... You're right, the software or workflow that you use would have to be compatible for this to work.

[Houndz199]

Interesting Article, but it makes sense. They wouldn't be switching if it weren't the better option for them. However I wonder if their computer illiterate people choose windows because that is what they have a home.

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

Ever since Apple switched to Intel 64bit processors the ecosystem has been pretty open... It's only if you want to go through the Apple Store that you can get into trouble. Other than that, you can install whatever applications you like, you just have to allow unauthorized installs in the control panel.

Apple has a good, closed system that has been opening up since the mid-2000's. I'm glad that IBM is switching some of its employees over since getting Microsoft's act back in place is going to be important soon.

[Centurius]

9 minutes ago, Steeve said:

AAHAHAHAAAHAAhh nice one that was funny

Yeah the Vice President in an incredibly large company dealing with IT is a funny guy...

6 minutes ago, RGProductions said:

IDK. All software I use is either cheaper on windows or the same, and I can't use a lot of it on mac. Macs are really nice when running windows though.

I\m guessing you're probably on the consumer or small business end, I imagine IBM got themselves better corporate deals.

[Belgarathian]

2 minutes ago, Houndz199 said:

Interesting Article, but it makes sense. They wouldn't be switching if it weren't the better option for them. However I wonder if their computer illiterate people choose windows because that is what they have a home.

That was my thoughts too... people that can use a computer (the LTT community for example) are going to be able to operating in a Windows environment without breaking everything (if they don't try get 5GHz on a air cooled chip, and install malware). 

 

The average enterprise user - not so much, therefore the macOS might be the better option (maybe even a Chromebook)

[vanished]

Quote

Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC

This is all most people will care about.  Now imagine if they only priced them the same... they'd save even more money!

[bgibbz]

15 minutes ago, Steeve said:

AAHAHAHAAAHAAhh nice one that was funny

You know, the ops article is very true. Regardless of whether or not you agree, almost everyone I know finds macs more intuitive. I'm the go to IT guy in my family, and about half of my family has Macs and half has pcs. I can't even remember the last time I've been called to help with a mac. Bottom line, there is no reason to pretend that macs are a joke, as they are far from it. Try to post something that actually contributes to the discussion

[ARikozuM]

Just now, bgibbz said:

You know, the ops article is very true. Regardless of whether or not you agree, almost everyone I know finds max more intuitive. I'm the go to it guy in my family, and about half of my family has amcs and half as pcs. I can't even remember the last time I've been called to help with a mac. Bottom line, there is no reason to pretend that macs are a joke, as they are far from it. Try to post something that actually contributes to the discussion

He doesn't agree with a man whose job is essentially to make more money from higher revenue and lower costs.

[Steeve]

• This is the 

  3 hours ago, Nicholatian said:

  ignorant shitstorm of Apple hate comment

  got you buddy 

• 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (top of the line 512gb version)
•  
• __SPECS __
• 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz
• 16GB 1600MHz memory
• 512GB PCIe-based flash storage¹
• Intel Iris Pro Graphics
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory
• __Cost__
• $ 2,300.00

 

Custom PC (part picker link : http://pcpartpicker.com/list/PZvH3F )

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700k 4.0 GHz Clock Speed 

Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

(2 x) Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Raid in redundancy or anything really)

Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case

EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory

Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card( 2Way - SLI )

__COST__

$2146.02

The custom PC will beat the crappy mac any day.

 

Lenovo Y700 (2015)

 

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Processor

8 GB DDR4 SDRAM (16 Gb easily upgradable)

1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive

NVIDIA GeForce 960M Graphics

Amazing build quality and speakers

__COST__

$870.00

this cheap ass laptop kicks the macs ass while being literally less than half the price

 

and are you still gonna tell me that macs are worth it

 

[Belgarathian]

2 minutes ago, Steeve said:

• This is the 

  got you buddy 

• 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (top of the line 512gb version)
•  
• __SPECS __
• 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz
• 16GB 1600MHz memory
• 512GB PCIe-based flash storage¹
• Intel Iris Pro Graphics
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory
• __Cost__
• $ 2,300.00

 

Custom PC (part picker link : http://pcpartpicker.com/list/PZvH3F )

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700k 4.0 GHz Clock Speed 

Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

(2 x) Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Raid in redundancy or anything really)

Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case

EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory

Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card( 2Way - SLI )

__COST__

$2146.02

The custom PC will beat the crappy mac any day.

 

Lenovo Y700 (2015)

 

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Processor

8 GB DDR4 SDRAM (16 Gb easily upgradable)

1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive

NVIDIA GeForce 960M Graphics

Amazing build quality and speakers

__COST__

$870.00

this cheap ass laptop kicks the macs ass while being literally less than half the price

 

and are you still gonna tell me that macs are worth it

 

Yes, 100% - because you didn't read/comprehend the article. 

[vanished]

2 minutes ago, Steeve said:

• *snip*

That's not what this article is about.  In fact it even admitted macs are overpriced compared to PCs.  The point is that the users on macs typically needed less tech support and less frequent upgrades, and that saved them money over time, in a net sense.

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, Steeve said:

• -white background snip-

You're only looking at BoM costs. If you read the article, you would have noticed IT support being a part of the cost.

 

29 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

Only 5% of IBM’s Mac employees needed help desk support versus 40% of PC users.

 

[Guest]

So as someone who works for an MSP and has worked in presales for a commercial IT company - it's true. The cost for Microsoft licensing is astronomically expensive. $600 for Office Pro for business? User CAL's at $230 each for remote desktop? CAL's for Exchange? Microsoft squeeze every dollar they can out of businesses.

 

How do you think they fund all their other stuff?

 

Don't get me started on the support desk cost either.

[Nowak]

I mean, it makes sense I guess? macOS tries to steer the user in the right direction and prevent them from damaging the OS, while Windows and Linux aren't designed in such a way.

[Belgarathian]

2 minutes ago, Windspeed36 said:

So as someone who works for an MSP and has worked in presales for a commercial IT company - it's true. The cost for Microsoft licensing is astronomically expensive. $600 for Office Pro for business? User CAL's at $230 each for remote desktop? CAL's for Exchange? Microsoft squeeze every dollar they can out of businesses.

 

How do you think they fund all their other stuff?

 

Don't get me started on the support desk cost either.

Wow, I didn't know it was that bad for businesses. Ouch!

[Guest]

 

4 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

Wow, I didn't know it was that bad for businesses. Ouch!

Let's look at a business of 500 seats over 4 years - the average lifespan for a deployment. Pricing is based on Synnex Australia RRP.

 

We'll need Office Pro (Skype Business/Lync) and Exchange licensing.

 

Cloud - $432,200 total cost

Office 365 Business Premium (Office Pro suite, 50GB custom domain Inbox) - $216.10/user (annual)=    $432,200

 

On Premise - $507,709 minimum cost.

Office Pro Plus - $900/user (perpetual) = $452,500

Exchange Enterprise 2016 - $7,209

Exchange Enterprise User CAL - $96 x 500 - $48,000

 

 

You're looking at $75k more expensive over 4 years at minimum - you'll then also have things like file and print server licensing, SQL licensing and any terminal environment stuff that is required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Centurius]

15 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

Wow, I didn't know it was that bad for businesses. Ouch!

About to get even worse with their licensing per core rather than per socket on the server os.

[CBojorges]

17 minutes ago, Steeve said:

• This is the 

  got you buddy 

• 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (top of the line 512gb version)
•  
• __SPECS __
• 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz
• 16GB 1600MHz memory
• 512GB PCIe-based flash storage¹
• Intel Iris Pro Graphics
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory
• __Cost__
• $ 2,300.00

 

Custom PC (part picker link : http://pcpartpicker.com/list/PZvH3F )

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700k 4.0 GHz Clock Speed 

Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

(2 x) Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Raid in redundancy or anything really)

Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case

EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory

Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card( 2Way - SLI )

__COST__

$2146.02

The custom PC will beat the crappy mac any day.

 

Lenovo Y700 (2015)

 

__SPECS__

Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Processor

8 GB DDR4 SDRAM (16 Gb easily upgradable)

1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive

NVIDIA GeForce 960M Graphics

Amazing build quality and speakers

__COST__

$870.00

this cheap ass laptop kicks the macs ass while being literally less than half the price

 

and are you still gonna tell me that macs are worth it

 

You're comparing a laptop with a desktop. Also for many jobs you don't need such an overkill computer. 

 

What I like about macs is that they are better for programming (altolhou I prefer Linux) and are far more stable than Windows IMO. 

[N3v3r3nding_N3wb]

46 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

That's the problem we all see. Do you go for the closed (possibly more efficient) OS or the open (with breaks being possible) OS?

For me, open all the way.  I love to fiddle, but Windows is definitely a middleground, not the open option.  Linux takes that particular cake.

[ARikozuM]

Just now, N3v3r3nding_N3wb said:

For me, open all the way.  I love to fiddle, but Windows is definitely a middleground, not the open option.  Linux takes that particular cake.

What is Linux? Is it an undiscovered land? /s