@Katie Been using a Mac since the 128k.
Apple is maintaining the primary trend on focusing on consumers.
Upfront price has never been their strong suit. Overall value is there. Notably, many people encountered have bought Macs to not have Windows problems (virus, frequent updates, forcing off OSes, etc). Having been in higher ed and assorted design firms, Macs fit in the culture.
In recent times, Mac has been more about being in the Apple ecosystem—iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, etc. "Ecosystem" is mainly as it is the software, hardware, and peripherals. Can get nifty and smart benefits when drinking their purple kool-aid. Never have been "all in", so haven't been bit by their sudden changes in directions too much.
Have a good relationship with the local Apple rep and the Apple system engineer. No, they don't know what is coming next, either. Can be useful to get perspective on the "tips & tricks".
Mac Pro shows a nod to the pro users for design, video, audio, and associated fields. "Spendy" doesn't quite reach the appropriate expletive to describe the Mac Pro's price. The thunderbolt is one of the nifty things it is meant to exploit. It is not meant to use network resources, such as NAS or iSCSI (grr).
Thunderbolt, like firewire before it, is great & smart technology. Typical consumer won't understand the difference, and be easily swayed by lower price USB2/3 devices. Meanwhile, they miss slick options as daisy chaining monitors. Heck, am baffled at how many Mac users don't know what Time Machine is, and for the ones which have an idea that don't use it. Back to "target disk mode"? Might as well try to explain craps or the workings of the stock market.
OS X server has dropped to $19, and ARD has dropped to $79 ... odd, but use it. They have Configurator and the iPhone Configuration Utility, which can be used for interested results without added cost. (Probably still want a grown up MDM.) Updates to the iTunes VPP is helpful, if late. These bits point to limited support for limited deployments.
The non-repairability trend of the MacBook Retinas and other hardware is not a popular move. Certainly a hot button item, even among the Mac faithful.
As always, "usefulness" depends on the user, their needs, and their receptivity.