Say the $1700 lasts 10 years. Someone could buy the $820, throw it away after 5 years and buy a new one (which would, by that time, either be much cheaper or have much more RAM and disk space) for the second five years and still save money !
I guess I will never understand Mac people, but I’m glad they are around to keep competition alive. Shrug. Buy what you like, like what you buy.