Not to argue, but just to educate me (and I always like learning), can you identify some of these features that don't exist on a pc?
1.
Apple engineering.
People SERIOUSLY undervalue this, but it takes MEGABRAINS to come up with (for example) the way the iMac draws in cool air from the bottom and uses convection cooling (aka "heat rises") to pass that air out the top back vent so as to minimize fan use. The way the speakers bounce the sound off your desk (in the iMac) is another example. A
lot of thought went into little things like that which most of us barely notice. I am just scratching the surface here but the engineering that goes into Mac products ROUTINELY revolutionises the entire PC industry a few years later. Look at what the MacBook Air and the iPad did to those awful, plastic, junky netbooks everyone was using two years ago.
As Steve himself once said, "design" is not how the case looks. Design is how it works. PC makers for a very long time (and most of them still) think/thought "design" was how to make the box less ugly. I still find my breath taken away at how ugly, hot and LOUD most PCs are. I have many, many more examples across the years but let's leave it at that.
2.
Apple software engineering. This is where OS X comes in, which of course directly ties into the hardware, but I'm also talking about the other software Apple provides on a typical machine. From TextEdit to iMovie, you just DO NOT find that quality of software out-of-the-box on a Windows machine. And that's before you get into Apple's paid software, or the syncing of iCloud (free), or the utter delight and disruptive power of iOS.
3.
The entire Apple experience. Jonny Ive and others have talked extensively about how much time Apple spends on just the BOX the product comes in. The incredibly smooth Migration Assistant and registration/getting online setup. The remarkably clear, concise, video-oriented tutorials on Apple's web site. The lack of talking to you like you are an idiot or a pirate. Software Update. The Applecare and warranty experience for most customers. The stores and the 1on1 sessions and the free classes. NO ADS IN ICLOUD. The executives that write you back when you ask a question (!!!). And a hundred other little things.
This is a company that deeply, DEEPLY cares that you're getting a good experience out of using their products, and takes enormous pride in what they make. You can feel it in everything they do. "White box PC is good enough fer ME!" Windows/Linux type people make me sad; they are like the people who ask "what's the point of the arts?"
In short, you're not just buying a box. You are buying into the company, the way DeLorean drivers did and Lamberghini drivers do. The company doesn't "go away" the moment they have your cash.
Pros for iMac:
- awesome 27" IPS display with magnetic glass
- digital [optical] audio out
- thunderbolt (limited usefulness so far, as no devices that can really exploit it, but still cool)
- built in bluetooth
- small footprint
- Magic Trackpad (and gestures in general)
- build quality
- Applecare
As you've probably noticed, that 27" IPS display costs around $1K on its own (not just from Apple, either -- it's not much cheaper anywhere else except for special sales). That's a huge factor IMO.
As you point out in the (edited) list above, TB has ENORMOUS potential and pro video people are already pretty excited about it. This year's NAB might was well have been called ThunderFest. The new BT 4.0 is going to make a HUGE impact on portable devices over the next few years. The sound card in iMacs is exceptional compared to the norm. Etc.
Pros for PC:
- internal bluray burner and/or multiple optical drives
- eSata ports
- Larger power supply
- More cooling options
- front facing USB/eSata/Firewire/audio ports
- 5.1 audio out
I don't see "larger power supply" and "more cooling options" as Pros at all. PCs need a larger power supply because they are less efficient, which in turns leads to the NEED for more (and louder) cooling options. Those two items are definitely "cons" in my book, along with the constant and ceaseless over-commercialization of everything in Windows-world. Everything has to have an ad. An animated ad. That you can't turn the sound off. It's like a clown car most of the time, and to have that crap ON YOUR MACHINE the moment you take it out of the box ... maybe I'm too picky, but I like to focus, and Windows and most PCs never let me do that (hardware AND software).
Apart from that, I do grant you most of the items on the list above ARE genuine PC advantages (I don't personally think much of Blu-Ray BUT I recognise that many consumers do).
The same on both:
- firewire port
- ?? motherboard ?? ( I don't know what's in an iMac or who makes it)
I've never seen a Windows PC that *came* with Firewire, which I've always thought bizarre as some of them were quite specifically geared to video production where FW has always been king until recently. I am pleased to see that PCs coming soon will likely do for Thunderbolt what the iMac did for USB back in the day, but I'm sure consumers will stick with USB 2 and eventually USB 3 and that's fine.
As for the motherboard, Apple designs its own custom motherboards. See point #1.