Think Apple is expensive? Think again.

11 Dec 2025

Apple as a cost‑saving investment

For many New Zealand SMBs, Apple looks “too premium” at first glance. But once you factor in financing, support costs, productivity, and resale value, Apple often works out to have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than a comparable PC rollout over a typical three‑year lifecycle. Forrester’s independent analysis, commissioned by Apple, found organisations saved around NZD $1448 per Mac over three years compared with a traditional PC estate, largely thanks to fewer issues, less hands‑on IT time, and longer usable life.

Apple devices also tend to hold their value. Studies and partner data show Macs usually command a much higher residual value at the end of their term than many Windows laptops, which directly reduces the real cost over time. When you add in modern management and streamlined provisioning, organisations have reported up to an 80% reduction in provisioning time versus traditional Windows builds, which means less disruption and lower operational effort for your team.

As an added bonus, allowing employees to choose their own devices boosts satisfaction, retention, and productivity, with many opting for Mac due to its performance, reliability & longer battery life.

How Apple Financial Services helps SMBs

This is where Apple Financial Services (AFS) comes in. Instead of a big one‑off purchase, SMBs can spread the cost of Apple hardware over 12–48 months. AFS offers flexible “plan to upgrade” or “plan to own” options, with monthly, quarterly, annual, or even single‑upfront payments, plus lease‑end choices such as returning, refreshing, or purchasing devices at fair market value. In practice, that means you can keep people on current hardware, smooth out cash flow, and take advantage of Apple’s stronger residual value to lower overall cost.

Because Mac, iPad, and iPhone typically maintain performance, secure, and supported for many years, you can run devices confidently across the full lease term without the constant break/fix and replacement cycle that often comes with cheaper hardware. Together with Apple’s integrated hardware–software design and the efficiency of Apple silicon, many organisations see fewer support tickets, less downtime, and happier users day to day.

Why Apple often wins on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

When you look beyond the sticker price, a few elements really move the needle:

Support & IT overhead: Forrester’s work shows Mac deployments cutting IT support costs over three years because there are fewer incidents and they’re easier to manage at scale.
Longevity & reliability: Case studies and partner data highlight that Macs often stay in reliable front‑line use longer than equivalent PCs, which lets you extend refresh cycles or benefit from higher resale value at the end.
Residual value: Over a three‑year period, MacBook devices typically retain more value than many competing laptops, which can offset a chunk of your original capex or lease cost when you return or resell them.

Turn premium into an advantage with Imagetext

So the real question for NZ SMBs isn’t just “Is Apple too expensive?”—it’s “Are we measuring the full cost of ownership?” With the right financing structure and a partner that understands how to integrate Apple into your business, Macs and other Apple devices can become a cost‑saving, lower‑risk platform for your team.

Book a consultation today → Imagetext.co.nz