> Also, there's no real reason Lenovo, Dell, etc. can't start shipping higher quality displays, keyboards, etc. While Apple's products are apparently solidly engineered, most of it is perception and design.
I disagree with this statement entirely, for one big reason: you're leaving out Apple's mastery of the supply chain.
There are certainly component makers out there that will build stuff and slap it together for you, but Apple is the champ of running the whole stack with a relentless eye towards quality control. Think about the design and manufacturing of an iPhone, iPad or MacBook Pro. These are not things that you can compete with easily.
There is a massive amount of effort involved in order to build a machine of comparable quality to an Apple device, and that remains one of their key advantages in the market. This is also an advantage they are dead-set on keeping. Most competitors don't have anywhere near the supply chain controls that Apple commands, and often don't even design their own devices (Dell).
Finally, quality is a very important component of design. The prettiest laptop in the world is bad design if it falls apart or feels flimsy. Think less about design being the way something looks - instead, add how it feels, sounds, smells even, and every other part of the way you interact with it. That is design.