[awalton]

DSL6540s are $10 in 1000 quantity if you're not Apple. If you're Apple or another OEM integrator, you can probably get Intel to give you a pretty healthy shave off that even. $15-20 bucks to make all four ports Thunderbolt is nothing to Apple's bottom line, especially when they can (and probably will) just tack on another $100 to the price to cover it.

This is Apple hardware - even if it's not the best, most advanced hardware out there, it will still fly off the shelves because of the fans/fanboys/startups.