As Cyber Monday and the holiday season approach, Fortune notes that Macs are the most wished for computers (laptops and desktops) on Amazon. For laptops, the three “most wished for” products are the MacBook ($999), MacBook Pro ($1,499) and MacBook Pro ($1,199):

But wait… there is a big difference between the “most wished for” and the “bestselling”. It is as much Windows vs. Mac as it is price differential – a point that Microsoft highlighted in their successful Laptop Hunters commercials. To be fair, Apple has the third best selling laptop (MacBook Pro $1,199), the sixth (MacBook $999) and eighth (Macbook Pro $1,499). The Windows best-sellers average $500-$600 per machine… and that is a significant difference between the machines people “wish for” and actually purchase.

It is important to note that these are merely trends on Amazon, who does not sell Dell machines (a significant portion of Windows laptops) and does not reflect activity from the Apple Stores themselves (or for that matter, Best Buy and other major retailers). But, at the very least, it highlights the difference between ‘fantasy’ and ‘reality’: even for Apple-only machines, people “wish for” the high end MacBook Pros but buy the version the ‘entry’ level version ($300 cheaper).

It’s an obvious – but important – demonstration of consumer psychology.

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