As an Apple and Linux user, all the people I know that will"throw money" at new apple hardware have enough to not care. They're not power users, they just want something simple and reliable, and apple hardware checks those boxes. The actual apple fans I know are buying refurb, using oclp to keep old machines going longer, or just wait until there's some form of price drop.
I think it's also worth noting to this person that the apple tv hardware costs LESS than a shield tv. But that head is likely so firmly rooted in their own ass that it'd take an auger to remove it.