[acchow]

Apple does not charge an arm and a leg. Their prices are quite competitive with similarly performing alternatives

For the lower end, you can get a refurbished from various resellers all over the internet.

[duped]

Unless you want a reasonably sized disk or enough memory, that is. The charge for disk storage is particularly egregious.

[baq]

They really do for extras. The base config is IMHO on the contrary best price/experience ratio available on the market even including the subpar macOS.