[redler]

I agree, but I wouldn't characterize polish as "marketing". Polish includes design cohesion, build quality, choice of materials, a philosophy of engineering in service of the user experience (consider the comment elsewhere in this thread about how Apple has bespoke handling for Thunderbolt to allow it to power down at idle), and software/hardware integration. It's arguable that Apple has slipped in some of these areas, but none of them are "marketing", and all of them contribute to the sense of quality (and to cost).

[superuser2]

I agree, but I think most critics of Apple would claim that only specs are real, and what we're talking about here is an illusion created by branding.

[redler]

I think we're on the same page. Apple's relatively costly products will be seen as an especially bad value by those who do not see value in polish and attention to detail (or who believe polish and attention to detail -- particularly Apple's --- are a marketing illusion).