I think there's a far simpler explanation. It's fashionable and writers are not technical people who are aware of the differences.
With a laptop, any old laptop will do 99% of what the typical user needs and do it well enough most of the time, regardless of whether you spend $3k on a pretty MacBook or $1k on something else.
I suspect there's a good deal of overlap between the kind of person who buys a Macbook and the kind of person who buys Beats earphones even though for the price they are subpar (at least earlier iterations were). It's the same concept - status signalling with expensive and outwardly pretty tech.
>your case is that you think people will spend significantly more money for something that looks nicer.
Is this not a fact? Why do you think people buy diamonds? Are you aware that their role as a symbol was also purely manufactured by commercial interests? Look up the dealings of the diamond cartel in the early 1900s.