Assume, for a moment, you’ve always been an Android guy but yesterday’s spintastic Apple Watch presentation sent you over the edge.
Now you’re a freshly minted Apple fanboy with money to burn, and you want to go from zero to full-on Apple hero. How much is it going to set you back if you’re ready to go all in with the latest, greatest gear Cupertino has to offer?
First, you’ll need a gorgeous new Retina MacBook, the high-end model with 512GB of flash storage and the faster 1.2GHz processor. That’ll cost you $1,599.
Then for the phone. You’ll need the bigger-than-big iPhone 6 Plus for all your phablet-size needs. You’ll want the 128GB model. And let’s assume you’re not quite ready for an upgrade from your new Samsung Galaxy Note 4, so you’ll need it unlocked and contract-free. That’s another $949.
When it comes to an Apple Watch, nothing but the best will do. So you’ll be sliding an Apple Watch Edition onto your wrist. The most spendy model listed on Apple’s site is the 18-karate yellow gold Apple Watch Edition with a bright red modern buckle, which will set you back a cool $17,000.
You’ll also want a lighter-than-light iPad Air 2 (128GB, obviously), with Wi-Fi and cellular. That’ll run you $829.
And for good measure, add an Apple TV to replace your aging Roku. It’s a steal at the new low price of just $69.
The grand total to get decked out for exploring your new Apple-centric universe? You’ll pony up $20,446 to start swimming in the deep end of the Apple ecosystem.
That’s not including a desktop computer or any semi-mandatory accessories like a case to protect your precious new iPhone. The new USB-C port on the Retina MacBook will save you some dough, but don’t even think about all those micro USB cords you’ll have to swap out for Lightning cables to connect all your new Apple gear.
The good news, Mr. Moneybags? Shipping is free.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
18 responses to “This is how much it costs to upgrade from Apple zero to Apple hero”
I agree with the notion that apple is very expensive to switch to, but throwing in the apple watch edition made this a pretty stupid article. non-millionaires can afford most Apple products – only the super rich can get the Watch Edition. You can be an “Apple Hero” with the $1000 Apple Watch.
Agreed. This article presumes everyone needs the best of the best (or at least, the most expensive version of everything–that is not necessarily “best” for any given person). I personally don’t even need or want the watch at all, and 64G is plenty of storage for my iPad (with cellular). Furthermore the 6+ is too unruly for me, so I go with the 6, also with 64G (unlocked, no contract). Keep the specced out new MacBook, and my price of entry is somewhere around $3100. I paid more than that for just my MacBook Pro back in 2008. Quoting a price of entry that’s north of 20K is just stupid.
I agree; you don’t need the ultimate Apple Watch; c’mon Guys, this final price became really weird after that poor choice.
Hmmm.
Sorry to say but I’ve never heard anything more stupid.
First why do you think someone will opt in with MacBook Retina and not let’s say one of Airs or PROs?
Second, why is it important to get iPhone 6 plus with 128GB? I guess 64 will be enough for the vast majority of users.
Third, why should one want to get Apple Watch Edition and not let’s say sport or one of the watches in regular edition ?
Fourth, what makes you think one will need 128 GB iPad and not 64 again same as the iPhone 6 Plus?
You know I can be all in to apple ecosystem but I don’t have to spend 20k just to start.
With 20K I can get really far with Apple Eco system and include many accessories and apps.
Sorry to tell you that, but even if I’ve got spare cash it doesn’t make me super blind and totally insane.
What a stupid article
This article is a pointless waste of time.
You forgot to include the decked out iMac for $4500 ;)
You really don’t have anything interesting to write, do you? What a waste of my time :/
So how much does it take for one to switch to PC as the ultimate gaming machine with multiple graphics card and monitors?
How much to own a top of the line gaming PC?
I’m sticking with my 2011 iMac, 27inch – iPhone 6 (128) iPad Air 2 (128) and my Michael Kors watch. I don’t see myself buying anything Apple for awhile. Hopefully USB-C doesn’t go into other products like the MacBook Pro or any iMac
A bit ludicrous, this article. So let’s go intelligent on this:
1) MacBook Pro Retina – 13″. Top of the pre-configured line: $1799. Reason: You’ll want something portable and backward compatible. New MacBook is nice, but without even a Micro SD slot to pull in your GoPro videos – even you know that Apple went 1-step too far. You don’t want the 15″ version because that didn’t get the new TrackPad update.
2) iPhone 6+, 128 GB, unlocked and off-contract: $949. Reason: Having a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, you know you don’t need an in-between device for productivity – so you show intelligence for not buying an iPad. In lieu of the iPad, you opt for the largest phone screen you can get (and from my personal experience, it is the perfect size.) You want to carry a fair amount of videos, documents, and music for those times you go camping and can’t get a signal, so the 128 makes sense so you never have to compromise.
3) iPhone Case, Apple: $49. You got the 6+ and now you need just bare bones protection because it’s quite slippery. But you don’t want to make it a behemoth so you avoid the full protection of an Otterbox.
4) AppleWatch, 42mm: $399. Here’s where your intelligence really saves you. You know this is a first generation item and prone to production issues and unthought of design problems. You don’t know how Apple will treat clients about legitimate issues. Will it burn up in the sun? Will the battery last a year or even 6 months? Will Apple not support it in 2 years and tell you to upgrade? Will there be fancy new features next year? Get your foot in the door with the cheapest model you can, but guys don’t want to seem dainty, so they go for the $399 42mm version. Ladies may opt for a $50 discount to the 38mm version if it suits their fashion.
Total cost to be an intelligent, reasonable Apple Hero? $3196 + tax + AppleCare for any desired product. Remember, AppleTV is just a hobby and your xBone already does what AppleTV does and more!
Nice click bait article. Were you trying to pointlessly fill space reciting the costs for each item category the current product lineup or is that just how things worked out?
Agree with the other commenters here. What the hell is this article all about. Frankly, many android folks are already sporting MacBooks, but that is beside the point. Most converts start small and with one thing. An iPhone or an AppleTV, or a MacBook… It grows from there and they buy reasonably not stupidly.
That said as I continued through the article I started thinking about the snarkiness of some other recent Cult of Mac articles… You guys shifting to Apple haters or is it just this particular author?! While we need balance in writhing the recent trend is not great for continue readership…
A bargain at twice the price.
Thought this would be a cool article to see what the average fanboy would spend. Got to the part about a $17,000 watch and stopped reading. What a waste of time. This article is stupid.
1TopSpy is the ultimate smartphone spying software that you can find on the market. It provides reports on literally everything that you can do with a smartphone. It is easy to install and it provides live cell phone usage statistics for you to monitor. The user interface is very simple as well. Most people buy this program for one of two reasons: either they want to monitor what their children are doing with their phones or they want to make sure that employees are not spreading confidential information. If you have recently bought a smartphone for your child and you want to monitor his phone calls to make sure he does not get himself into trouble, this application is perfect for you. A lot of parents have used Mobile Spy to gain insight into the lives of their children. Of course, this application is more suitable for minors. You can disable the application whenever you want. So if you want to keep track of everything that someone does with their phone; buy and install 1TopSpy.
My kids are all teens and they all have a tendency of pushing the limits. If you tell them not to go somewhere, they’ll go and lie. Tell them not to do something, they’ll do it and lie. I found 1TopSpy after a long search for something that could help me. It’s now installed on all the iPhone sets my kids use. I’d recommend it to other parents who aren’t able to take out a lot of time for their kids. You can: track GPS location, spy on text messages, web history, images, calls logs and spy call recording, spy on Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook messages, Snapchat, Line, BBM messages… of someone.