I know what Apple does, they go to these factories and sprinkle magic Apple Fairy Dust on their components to make them special!
Because the parts are the same, you are buying hot air.
I have bridge in Brooklyn to sell you? Interested? I can let it go for a great price. Let me know ok?
Dell, HP, even companies like Acer and other 2nd and Third tier manufacturers like Apple and Gateway put their logo and part numbers on the drives, big deal. But the OEM also puts their part numbers on the drives as well.
And yet, Apple still has repair centers and “genius bars”. The infallible apple never need repair but they have repair centers sitting idle across the nation. Haha you guys are a joke
You haven't a clue what you are talking about. Every part run produces components which have a bell curve of quality which can be tested to determine which components fall into what sigma of the curve. Those that are in the 95% percentile are considered the most reliable for speed and data seeking. Even components such as resistors and capacitors which come off the same assembly line will be rated 1%, 3%, 5%, and 10% according to how precisely they meet the specified resistance or capacitance rating on repeated tests. The higher percentage ratings are "good enough" for most usages and are priced accordingly, higher ratings are required for more precise usage and are "rarer" and priced accordingly.
I am certain you have not done a part for part comparison between an Apple product and any low end Windows PC as you claim. You've looked at drive capacity, speed, and perhaps seek time and maybe cache and nothing else in making your comparison, which you based on specs alone. Meanwhile you ignored the Apple logo added by the manufacturer after testing, which you will not find on any generic off the shelf drive found in any Windows PC.
Your snide, off-the-cuff claim that Apple is a "third-tier" manufacturer is specious and idiotic. No qualified rating puts Apple products as third tier anything. All reviewers put Apple at the top tier of quality and many PC Windows reviewers rate Apple's quality and performance when running Windows as the best. So, no, Apple is not by any stretch of fact "third tier." Only you Apple hate merchants push that line of bilge.