What to get the person with everything - Holiday Gift Guide
If your diamond-encrusted iPod case is wearing out, or you simply must coat your new MacBook in gold, this list is for you. Presenting the most expensive, ridiculous and sublime gifts for the Apple fan in your life.
18-karat gold iPod shuffle
It isn't enough to have a gold shuffle. How about a gold shuffle that cost you more than $10,000? Or even twice that? Well, here you go -- this coating will cost you plenty but it does come with a wooden box and a certificate.
Casa Gi Diamond Earbuds
There's an entire industry around diamond-and-gold audio headgear. Just check out this gallery over at Luxist. The Casa Gi set (from Italy, of course) wins points because I think they look like I would have seen them on "Falcon Crest," had earbuds been around in the 80's.
Beatles Collector's Box
Even though we may not see the Beatles in iTunes any time soon, you can still cram them into your iPod the old fashioned way: rip them. Yes, even this $795 set makes you put the music into iTunes yourself. It comes with 13 of the fab four's CD's, however and a 120GB iPod classic, but still... I guess you could throw in a Ripstyles offer?
The Ultimate Minimalist Desk
If you didn't already know, Steve Jobs doesn't like cords and clutter. If I bought him a gift, I'd send him this desk. In steel, definitely.
Keep reading for more diamonds, a fridge that acts as an iPhone accessory, and more.
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Well, this one still isn't available, but design firm Gorenje does have the go-ahead to make a fridge that "...features a docking station that enables charging the iPod, playing back music and video through built-in speakers, and connecting to the world-wide-web, if wireless connection is available in the kitchen." Hot dog!
iPhone in your pocket with diamonds
And here's the requisite "studded with diamonds" selection. Sure, there have been iPod shuffles and nanos and more accessories coated in diamonds, but this was one of the few I could find that was: a) actually available, and b) subtle enough to be attractive. Of course, they only made 50 of these, so availability might now be rather limited.
Mercedes-Benz iPhone pouch
Made from napa leather and a smattering of Swarovski crystal, this is a nice runner-up if you can't snag a diamond-encrusted iPhone for reals. Oh wait, they made even less of these than the diPhones -- 40, all of which were raffled off in Berlin this summer. There's always ebay!
Arista handcrafted case for MacBook Air
OK, this one you really can buy, and if you've got the $350 it would likely make a great gift. There's a padded inside to cradle the Air, and a simple harness and clasp to keep it on you. Stylish and useful, a refreshing break.
A platinum iMac
Not content with configuring a top-of-the-line 24" iMac? The crazy kids over at Computer Choppers will add a little platinum trim to that baby, boosting the cost significantly. If shiny silver tones aren't your thing, there's also gold and rose gold, plus you can wrap nearly any Apple product in the stuff. Makes aluminum seem so boring and cost-effective, doesn't it?
Louis Vuitton custom iPod trunk
Let's say you are rich, have an iPod and a bunch of accoutrements for said iPod. Surely you aren't stuffing all those wires in a plastic bag when you take the jet to Cabo, are you? Your pod can travel in style with this custom luggage from Louis Vuitton. Legend has it that Karl Lagerfield uses one to carry his umpteen iPods -- with each iPod having a different set of music (I believe split by genre). Neat.
And a Mac, in a tree
In this case, a money tree. I configured the most tricked-out Mac Pro I could on Apple's site. Throwing an iPhone, service, several apps and a maxed Air into the mix, we come to a cool $31,461.90 (not including taxes, surcharges, etc.). Seems pretty reasonable for such an assembly of power and portability, right? Here's what that money buys you:
Mac Pro
$26,288.90
Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
32GB RAM
RAID Card
2TB of HD space w/2 7200-rpm SATA drives
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600
2 SuperDrives
2 30" Cinema HD Displays
Wireless mouse & keyboard
Airport Extreme and a modem (hey, you might want to fax something)
Quad channel 4Gb FIbre Chanel PCI Express card
OS X Server (unlimited client)
Xsan 2
iWork, iLife family packs
FCE 4, Aperture 2, Logic Express 8, Filemaker Pro
1 year MobileMe family pack, AppleCare
Canon PIXMA MX700 All-in-one printer
iPhone
16GB white
$300
AT&T service for 2 years
$1,900
MacBook Air
$2,973
1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
128GB SSD
SuperDrive
DisplayPort to DVI, USB Ethernet, Airline power adapter, Apple Remote
AppleCare
Happy shopping out there, and don't spend more than you make per year.
