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Business News/ Tech-news / News/  Are Apple products as expensive as you think? Maybe not.
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Are Apple products as expensive as you think? Maybe not.

A look at some of the gadgets that are more exorbitantly, at times astronomically, priced

On Thursday, Apple announced its latest edition of the iPad—the iPad Mini 3 and the iPad Air 2. The Mini 3 is priced anywhere from $399 to $729, while the iPad Air 2’s prices range from $499 to $829. Photo: APPremium
On Thursday, Apple announced its latest edition of the iPad—the iPad Mini 3 and the iPad Air 2. The Mini 3 is priced anywhere from $399 to $729, while the iPad Air 2’s prices range from $499 to $829. Photo: AP

Unless you are a loyal follower of the Apple cult that calls itself Mactards, chances are that you’d dismiss every product launched by the company as expensive or overpriced. In his defence, the Mactard would typically justify the price by telling you about how Apple has always been selling its products at a premium. While that never-ending argument rages on, what if we tell you about products, i.e. laptops, tablets and smartphones, that are more exorbitantly, at times astronomically, priced? 

The MacBook Air, considered to be one of Apple’s best selling notebooks, is priced at $899. The newly-launched MacBook Pro with retina display will cost you $1,299 (13-inch) and $1,999 (15-inch), respectively. Expensive? Maybe. But given the emergence of a new segment of personal devices, which essentially combines technology and luxury, Apple’s notebooks and their prices quite clearly pale in comparison. In 2007, a United Kingdom-based luxury goods company, Luvaglio announced a laptop they priced at $1 million. The second most expensive notebook is, interestingly, a MacBook Air, but redesigned and handcrafted privately by British designer Stuart Hughes. Priced at $500,000, Hughes redesigned the product using 7kg of molten platinum; it is called MacBook Air Supreme Platinum Edition. Designed like a handbag and studded with top-quality cut diamonds, the Tulip E-Go Diamond is priced at $355,000, making it the third most expensive notebook.

Hughes’ 2011 creation, the iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Edition, is the second most expensive phone. According to a CNN report, Hughes “crafted an iPhone 4S with 500 individual diamonds, totalling more than 100 carats". The Diamond Rose was valued at approximately $9 million.

In 2009, Hughes did it again, designing what was considered the most expensive smartphone in the world back then—the Goldstriker iPhone 3GS Supreme, which according to TechEBlog, is “studded with approximately 217 grams of 22 carat gold and an estimated 136 diamonds worth 68 carat". The Goldstriker iPhone 3GS Supreme is priced at approximately $3.2 million.

While it may not be in the same league and price range as Hughes’ products, Geneva-based jeweller Savelli announced the launch of an Android-powered smartphone costing $250,000. According to a CNN report, these smartphones “come complete with 18-carat white gold casing encrusted with precious diamonds".

On Thursday, Apple announced its latest edition of the iPad—the iPad Mini 3 and the iPad Air 2. The Mini 3 is priced anywhere from $399 to $729, while the iPad Air 2’s prices range from $499 to $829. Expensive? Maybe. But that still doesn’t make it the most expensive tablet in the market. That honour goes to an iPad 2 redesigned and customized by who else, but Stuart Hughes, and called the iPad 2 Gold and History edition. According to a report at Australian website news.com.au, the tablet, popularly known as Jurassic Pad, is “encrusted with gold, diamonds and shaved Tyrannosaurus rex bone". Besides, the device is “also encrusted with 12.5-carat diamonds and has 53 individual gems forming the Apple logo which is set into the 24-carat gold back section". In November last year, Panasonic launched a tablet, priced at $5,999, the 4K Toughpad, with Windows 8.1 as its operating system. Likewise, Microsoft’s tablet, the Surface Pro, was priced at $899 during its launch, $70 more than the best iPad at the time.

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Published: 17 Oct 2014, 06:50 PM IST
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