As a mac user for 20+ yrs id say The quality of hardware is superb. I had a G4 tower that a ran for 7 yrs without one problem. That said, my 27″ iMac has been less reliable, having had the video card replaced twice in the last 8 months. They also only offer 90 days warranty on replacement parts which is abysmal. The difference with apple is customer service. I did get them to replace it FOC in the end though, customer service is king.
Oh and the comic strip is brilliant