Apple is trying to sell Mac Pro wheels for almost twice the price of a new iPhone SE

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$699 for some wheels?

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple is known for releasing some pretty pricey products, but it might have gone too far with the asking price for the Mac Pro Wheels Kit – which offers four wheels for the new Mac Pro for a staggering $699 (around £560, AU$1,100).

That’s almost twice the price of the newly-announced iPhone SE update, which is on sale for just $399 / £419 / AU$749. For the price of nearly two of its latest smartphones, Apple is offering Mac Pro owners a kit with four wheels, a 1/4-inch to 4mm hex bit tool and an installation guide. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘value for money’.

Apple describes the wheels as “custom-designed stainless steel and rubber wheels [that] make it easy to move your Mac Pro around”.

We previously reported that Apple was going to ask for $400 for wheels for the Mac Pro, and that these ultra-expensive wheels don’t even come with locks to stop the PC from rolling away, but it seems Apple thought $400 was too cheap, and is asking for even more money.

Burning cash

The new Mac Pro is an extremely powerful (and expensive) PC for professionals, with the highest end model costing a huge $52,748 (£47,588, AU$84,778). To be fair, that comes with a 28-core Intel Xeon-W processor, 1.5TB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, but while Mac Pro customers are going to be parting with a lot of money anyway, that doesn’t mean trying to flog wheels for the PC for nearly $700 is a good idea.

If you want to raise your Mac Pro off the ground or desk, but don’t want wheels, then Apple is also selling a Mac Pro Feet Kit. This is for people who bought a Mac Pro with wheels installed and have changed their mind.

Think adding feet – something that comes as standard for most PCs – will be cheap? Think again, as Apple is asking for $299 (around £240, AU$470) for the kit.

Again, these are stainless steel and come with a free tool, but Apple’s pricing strategy for these is baffling. The company has deservedly won plaudits recently for releasing new versions of its MacBooks with starting prices that are lower than the older models launched at, and the new iPhone SE is the cheapest smartphone Apple has ever made – so why is it sticking with such ridiculously high prices for Mac Pro add-ons?

We've reached out to Apple to find out more about its justification for the high price of these kits, and we'll update this story as soon as we hear back.

Via NeoWin

Matt Hanson
Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.