Even has iPhones, iPods and MacBooks have become ubiquitous, the fact has remained that the Apple products are generally pricier than similar products from Apple's competitors. That may be changing.

Some recent products, including the brand new iPhone 4S and the ultra thin MacBook Air, are priced more competitively than in the past, according to the New York Times.

They're not cheap, but I don't think they're viewed as high-priced anymore, said Stewart Alsop, a longtime venture capitalist in San Francisco, to the Times.

The Air, for example, is priced at $999. A similar product from Asus is the exact same price, the Times reports. This is compared to just three years ago when the original MacBook air-which did have a larger screen- was priced at the high-end mark of $1,799.

Similarly, the new iPhone 4S will be priced at $199, a price that is the same or even lower than popular Android phones, CNET reported.

The Times reported taht analysts said Apple could set such low prices due to their ability to use its growing manufacturing scale to push down costs for the crucial parts that make up its devices.

The Times notes that all of this is percieved as a marked difference from the 1990's, when Apple simply could not comete with other companies when it came to making their products affordable.

Monday, Apple announced the newest line of MacBook Pros. They will range in price from $1119 to $2499 based on screen size and capacity.

Iphone The New York Times Manufacturing New York