Or because, you know, they find that paying a little more up front gives them a better overall product - longer usable life, less maintenance, etc.

Just because you don’t see the point of an Apple product beyond “ooh shiny” doesn’t mean others don’t.

I work for a global company where > 50% of people work from home offices and > 90% of our staff use Macs. I can only actually think of 2 specific people (out of 200+) that use Windows, but Im sure there are a few others, and some Linux users.

Are you suggesting that all these people, many of whom are in countries with lower wage standards, pay “extra” just to have a shiny apple logo on their desk at home that no one but them sees?