[fluoridation]

>Saying "Dell could make a higher-quality laptop for the same price" is exactly my point

You understood the exact opposite from what I said. Dell couldn't make a much better laptop for the same price, the same way Apple couldn't make the same laptops for much cheaper.

>Price is an extrinsic property.

No, it's not extrinsic. That was my point. Do you think materials and R&D are free for manufacturers and OS developers? The price is not merely correlated, it's a direct consequence of the build quality. You can't sell a product for less money than it cost to make it. Higher quality -> higher cost -> higher price.

>By contrast, whether you paid $50 million or $500 for the laptop doesn’t change its display quality, weight, or battery life.

In what world could you pay either $500 or $50M for two products which are otherwise equivalent? How do you think the latter one could be viable? Are you serious? Do you actually think cost and price are literally independent variables?