I agree with all you said except the software being the icing on the top part.
Apple knows its the end to end experience (software to hardware).
Apple is just fortunate to be in the very small category (if not the singular player) of companies that have great depth of talent in both the hardware and software realms.
This and the market they cater too (those with the money to spend) allow them to pick either pushing the hardware or the software forward and make a killing not having to move on the other end.
I say this as a person who hasn't bought an Apple product in 10 years in protest of some of their business practices:
- draconian App Store developer policies,
- 1984- esq lockdown on their platform and employees,
- the ridiculous markup on their devices, etc.
but who isn't dumb enough to not pay attention to them because they are some of the sharpest folks in the industry.
People bring up the "ridiculous markup", but when you compare the MacBook Air vs. the ASUS Zenbook, Apple really is competing on price in the "Ultrabook" market. When the form factor and construction are similar, the Apple version only adds about $150.
Apple knows its the end to end experience (software to hardware).
Apple is just fortunate to be in the very small category (if not the singular player) of companies that have great depth of talent in both the hardware and software realms.
This and the market they cater too (those with the money to spend) allow them to pick either pushing the hardware or the software forward and make a killing not having to move on the other end.
I say this as a person who hasn't bought an Apple product in 10 years in protest of some of their business practices:
- draconian App Store developer policies,
- 1984- esq lockdown on their platform and employees,
- the ridiculous markup on their devices, etc.
but who isn't dumb enough to not pay attention to them because they are some of the sharpest folks in the industry.