If you caught the Mac Pro ’s introduction during last hebdomad ’s Worldwide Developers Conference tonic , you know that Phil Schiller , Apple ’s older frailty chair for global Cartesian product marketing , punctuate his demo of the raw high - destruction desktop by verbalize the “ five hundred ” Christian Bible — Dell . Specifically , Schiller brought up Dell to equate its damage to the stock 2.66GHz Mac Pro Quad ’s $ 2,499 price tag . By Schiller ’s math , a likewise configured Dell Precision 690 would run you $ 3,448 — around $ 950morethan the Mac Pro .

That ’s an eye - get human body , specially in Christ Within of the wide held perception that Macs are more expensive than their personal computer similitude . But is it an precise trope ? To double - check Apple ’s maths , I go on a practical shopping spree . My delegation : configure a Mac Pro and a comparably - featured Dell mannequin and see how their price valuate up .

The ghost of price comparisons past

I ’ve become something of a veteran soldier of the price - comparison biz , writing several article stacking up various Mac system against “ comparable ” offerings from Dell , including a three – part series on the original Mac mini , and two more articles on the MacBook Pro . Now the level to these late articles — which can get lost amid the telephone number — is not that Macs are necessarily tacky than Dells ; you ’ll always be able to notice a cheaper low - end Dell if you try , because Dell lets you dismantle away features to save money ( something Apple has declined to do ) . Rather , the point was that Macs and comparably - equip , marque - name Windows PCs tend to be roughly comparable on price these days . That old notion that you have to make up up to use a Mac often is n’t the case any more .

That said , my earlier comparing were true imperfect . For example , it was tough to equate a Mac mini with a Dell because the Mac miniskirt is a full - feature computer in a flyspeck face , whereas Dell ’s budget computers are stripped - down minitowers . And at the time I await at the MacBook Pro , Apple had only a 15 - inch gamy - end laptop computer , while Dell ’s only Core - Duo laptops were budget consumer manakin . In fact , any comparison of product direct at dissimilar market is going to require some arcdegree of upgrading on one side or the other if you want the products to be “ comparable”—and some of those rising slope include item that some exploiter may not care about but which ultimately expand the price of one of the computers .

With the Mac Pro , such concerns go out the window : The Mac Pro is aimed forthrightly atpros — citizenry who ask workstation with power and expandability — so it ’s bonnie to liken the Mac Pro with pro - level workstation from other vendors . After all , it ’s intemperate to argue that a pro userwon’twant all the features you get with the Mac Pro : the fastest processors useable on the Mac platform , multiple drive bay , a good number of expansion slots , lots of port , and so on . Conversely , Apple has overleap features , such as AirPort and Bluetooth , that are probable to be unneeded for professional body of work on a high-pitched - stop number , pumped-up internet , so there ’s no need to add such alternative to other computers to make them comparable . in conclusion , unlike with laptop computer comparison , we do n’t have to quibble over which LCD is truly “ better ” ; you use whichever video display you desire .

Matching up the Mac Pro

With that in idea , I was excited to do the first “ hey , these mightactuallybe corresponding ” Dell vs. Mac price comparison of the Intel - based Mac era . In one niche , we have Apple ’s standard - though - customizable Mac Pro ; In the other , Dell ’s ultimate workstation PC , the Precision 690 . I used Dell’sSmall Business storeto configure a dual-2.66GHz preciseness 690 Workstation 1KW as tight as I could to Apple ’s dual-2.66GHzMac Pro . ( I used the Small Business store because a standardised Dell configured via the troupe ’s Medium / Large occupation store was more expensive . ) I then used theonline Apple Storeto make a few change to the Mac Pro to make it cope with the Dell .

The result ? Below is our familiar specs table :

Mac Pro vs. Dell Precision 690

  • customs option ( additional cost in parens )

note : Mac Pro uses four 512 MB DIMMs for increased execution ; Dell uses 2 1 GB DIMMs . Dell is also usable in “ 750W ” configuration for $ 470 less ; this system plain does n’t put up enough power to graphics cards to support more than two monitor lizard . Mac Pro ’s PCI slots can be configure in four combining of hurrying . Dell LCD display is “ gratuitous ” as part of a current promotion . Dell ’s specs for the 690 note 4 DIMM slot for a upper limit of 8 GB Aries the Ram , but other documentation honorable mention available expansion to 16 DIMM slots for a aggregate of 64 GB RAM ; Dell ’s specs also run afoul on hard drive and optic driving force alcove .

My chemical reaction : Wow . I intend , earnestly : Wow . The Mac Pro is more than $ 1,000 less expensive ? That ’s not pocket alteration . In fact , the dispute in monetary value here is nearly a reverse of late-90 ’s Dell vs. Mac pricing . ( If you ’re questioning of this comparison , evenThe enquirer — far from a Mac - harmonic issue — came to a similar ending : “ Malus pumila thresh Dell on Mac Pro pricing . ” And that was using a Precision 490 , a less expensive Dell car that is n’t really comparable to the Mac Pro in term of expandability . Another comparability , with a similar consequence , can be find atsystemshootouts.org . )

What make believe the Dell so much more expensive ? Surprisingly , a big chunk of the cost is the 2nd central processing unit . If you postulate only a single 2.66GHz Xeon , the Dell ’s damage drops a whopping $ 869 ; it ’s still more expensive than the Mac Pro , but at least they ’re in the same approximate range . Which means one of two things : Either Apple is produce anamazingdeal on the Xeon central processor used in the Mac Pros , or Dell is hit it up threefold - mainframe client .

So , for that heavy difference in price , what ’s different about these two system ? On the Mac side , you get more national SATA buses , four of which are approachable via playground slide - in , cable - free drive sleds that make upgrading hard drives a cinch . You get an extra PCI Express slot , and all four slots are configurable . You also get FireWire 800 ports ( the Dell offers only FireWire 400 ) , and optical sound recording - in and -out . And let ’s not forget the astral software package , deserving century of dollars if you were to fit out the Dell with comparable claim . ( Although , to be fair , yield that this is a pro system , package such as iLife is less valuable that it would be to owners of , say , a MacBook or an iMac . )

On the Dell side , the most obvious conflict is that you get a 19 - column inch LCD display — a $ 250 value when purchase separately ( at least at the time I price the above organization ) . In addition , the 690 declare oneself slightly fast standard candle reading , 3 standard PCI slots , two more USB port ( although I could n’t determine how many separate USBbuses ) , an additional analogue - audio recording input on the front of the car , and a slew of legacy port wine ( PS/2 , parallel , serial ) . The Dell ’s “ Economy ” on - web site service plan may also offer some reward , although that is n’t clear . And with the Dell , you could choose for SAS drive in stead of , or in addition to , SATA drives for better public presentation , although you ’ll bear a adept act of pretty centime to do so .

In other watchword , the machines are n’t identical — each has a few advantages — but I think they ’re pretty corresponding in terms of the need of a pro drug user . ( If you ’re see to findallthe technical differences between the two , near fortune . If you go to Dell ’s canonical tech specs page for the 690 — the one you encounterwhilebuilding it — you get one hardening of eyeglasses ; however , if you go to the more stark varlet , availablebeforeyou come out build , and linked at the top of the above table , you get a very different solidifying of eyeglasses . For example , the maximum RAM for the 690 is stated as either 8 GB or 64 GB ; that ’s like Toyota saying its new Camry gets either 12mpg or 70mpg ! I ’ve attempted to make sentiency of these conflicting specs ; with such a significant difference in monetary value , at least I ’ve get a good leeway of error if one or two mistake would result in a smaller or larger remainder in capability or Leontyne Price . )

I ’m sure some of the review of this comparison will ask mention of Dell ’s various “ secret ” discounts . They do survive , and they vary anywhere from a hundred one dollar bill to more than $ 500 . you’re able to usually find a discount voucher if you search the WWW hard enough , or get a price gaolbreak if you talk to the right Dell salesperson . ( When I called Dell , anonymously , to verify several of the 690 ’s spec , I was offer a discount of “ a duet hundred bucks ” if we bought it over the phone . ) I ’ve antecedently voiced my displeasure with these Dell sales policies — which basically amount to a tax on the non - Web - savvy — but even if you adopt them , no Dell voucher I ’ve seen is going to carry off the $ 1,000 - plus difference in Mary Leontyne Price between these organization .

I ’m sure some Dell buff will also pettifog with my selection of video calling card . It ’s lawful that less expensive bill of fare usable from Dell will be tolerable for many users , and some of those will even pop the question corresponding performance to the Mac Pro ’s Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT . However , the Quadro FX 3450 was the least expensive telecasting card from Dell that offers both dual - radio link and single - contact ports , allowing you to drive a 30 - inch Apple or Dell display along with another smaller display — something the Mac Pro ’s line card can also do , and a task that ’s more popular than you might think among professional users .

On the other script , Mac users will channelize to intangibles — the most of import , and convincing , of which being virus and protection . Say what you will about the supposed smugness of Mac substance abuser on this subject , but the fact remains that not a single Mac OS X computer virus , malware , or spyware has been rule proliferating in the wilderness . Compare that to the 10 of thousands ( and counting ) of such security breaches for Windows XP , and the software and manpower it take on to contend with such exploit , and I think it ’s fair to fit a substantial additional price savings for the Mac Pro . And let ’s not forget that the Mac Pro is the only gamy - carrying into action computer in the world that can pass Mac OS XandWindows .

Final thoughts

Some will say that Apple ’s pro machines are more compelling than ever . And I wo n’t disagree . But more than anything , the significance of the Mac Pro , from a price perspective , is not that it ’s debatably price - competitive with jolly similar offering from Dell ( and other Windows - microcomputer vendors ) ; rather , it ’s that the Mac Pro is the first Mac in a foresightful , long time that isunquestionablyless expensive than its Windows counterparts in the same grocery store section . Now I ’d like to see Apple put the same exertion into a mid - flat , expansible machine in the $ 1,500 cost range .

[ Dan Frakes is a senior editor forMacworldand the senior recap editor atPlaylist . ]