> This is deeply concerning, as I see a future where Apple has a monopoly on personal computing devices
I doubt that is going to happen. Apple is a premium brand, for the premium segment of the market. It is never going to have a majority of the marketshare, it isn't interested in going down that path.
Apple Silicon offers great performance, but a massive chunk of the market cares more about price than performance – that chunk isn't really interested in Apple Silicon, and Apple isn't really that interested in them either.
I doubt that is going to happen. Apple is a premium brand, for the premium segment of the market…
I've seen the M1 Mac mini available for $625. There will come a point where the M1 is cheap enough for a broad range of consumers, especially compared to the quality of consumer PCs in that price range.
…but a massive chunk of the market cares more about price than performance
True until the price gap is small enough that it common sense says paying $100 more for a Mac is a no-brainer.
There's also the issue of no crapware preinstalled, ads everywhere and software that's free to use for 60 or 90 days, which is typical on low-cost PCs.
Apple is also playing with a 30-35% margin which gives them room to drop prices as needed.
If college campuses are open in the fall of 2021, many of those freshmen will arrive on campus with an Apple Silicon laptop…
I doubt that is going to happen. Apple is a premium brand, for the premium segment of the market. It is never going to have a majority of the marketshare, it isn't interested in going down that path.
Apple Silicon offers great performance, but a massive chunk of the market cares more about price than performance – that chunk isn't really interested in Apple Silicon, and Apple isn't really that interested in them either.