American stuck in UK need a Macbook

[Corncab44]

I'm over in the UK for a few months. I'd attempted to get a Macbook 16 prior to coming over but had to return a few models for various reasons. I thought I could swing it with an old dual core windows laptop but I'm have real productivity issues (I have a desktop in the states).

Now, the UK Mac store is much more expensive than the US one, once you account for the currency. I also can't seem to use my corporate discount here.

The refurbished store is still more expensive than the US one, but it's easier to swallow. As for the UK-specific attributes, the charger, the keyboard, is there anything I should be worried about? I know I can switch the plug in the charger so not concerned with that, but somehow worried about having a foreign keyboard if I want to resell it at some point. Or if that might present repair issues in the US.

Im super annoyed that due to quality control issues I was unable to secure a model prior to leaving, but here I am.

The final note is I thought if I could make it through this trip I could probably stick it out a few more months to see if they release a refresh in the fall. Maybe if they even iron out the dGPU issue.

 

[0128672]

I'm over in the UK for a few months. I'd attempted to get a Macbook 16 prior to coming over but had to return a few models for various reasons. I thought I could swing it with an old dual core windows laptop but I'm have real productivity issues (I have a desktop in the states).

Could a family member or friend buy it in the US and ship it to you?

 

[Corncab44]

Could a family member or friend buy it in the US and ship it to you?

You have to pay a huge VAT charge upon import which makes the price difference moot -- in fact you're double taxed then.

 

[McScooby]

Welcome to buying apple in the UK. Don't see your problem as you just appear to be having a moan about the price that everyone else in the U.K has to accept. Couple of options i can see, you say that you're working over here, are you seconded to a corporate over here that has a UK discount scheme / know someone either within a company or can get a student discount? If so, use that. You want to have a US keyboard so either buy a UK model and change the keyboard layout in software & get used to that or maybe grab something like one of these from eBay / buy an external US keyboard. Could also consider just get a cheaper/secondhand model from eBay/Gumtree. Should you wish to keep the MB on your return to the US, sure you can get a charger, other probable more preferable option is just to suck it up, sell it here & account for the cash you'll lose on the time/cost saved worrying/losing productivity about buying it in the first place.