Gartner Study Says Macs Cost Less To Maintain Than PCs

by , 12:00 PM EDT, June 13th, 2002

Macworld UK noted this morning that a new Gartner study backs up what Mac users have known for years: it's cheaper to operate a Mac than it is a Windows-based PC. According to the Macworld UK article, the study was conducted at Melbourne University's Faculty of the Arts. That facility uses some 4,676 Macs and 5,338 PCs, and:

It compared direct costs such as hardware and software for desktops and mobile computers, servers and peripherals, upgrades, service and support and depreciation. It also examined the indirect costs of supporting end-users, training time and non-productive downtime.

Gartner found that Macs cost $1,114 to support per year, while PC-based systems cost $1,438. Macs also needed less technical support and hardware and software costs were lower, the report explains.

You can read the full article at Macworld UK's Web site. Macworld UK's article says that there is a 36% difference maintenance costs between the two platforms, though our math says it is actually a 29% difference.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It can also be used by Macheads in the every day world debating with Wintel lemmings who try and pull out the "Macs are too expensive" card. The difference in support costs is significant, and very quickly eliminates any perceived price difference within a year or two, even at the low end.

Macworld UK Article