I don't know how you would go about comparing the unit cost of hardware with the unit cost of software. I've spent $20k on a workstation and only put free software on it. read more
Software is more expensive becuase it is considerably more complex, has fewer constraints (thus more degrees of freedom), and because it is modified a lot more (sometimes to avoid spending enormous sums to modify hardware). read more
And Apple's cheapest computer is still several hundred dollars more than the least expensive PC you can find. For example, if you are in the market for a new laptop, the lowest-priced Mac starts at around $1,000, but you can get a small, base-model PC laptop for less than $500 or a desktop for around $300. read more