Or the HP Spectre, which is a more innovative product than any current MAC laptop anyway
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Apple Raises Mac Prices in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey
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Or the HP Spectre, which is a more innovative product than any current MAC laptop anyway
So you just want to whinge.
If you think we are being ripped off, import. I buy stuff in from overseas all the time, its not hard. I imported my first Mac mini server from B&H Photo in New York, again , not hard.
You either pay locally, or you import those are the two choices if you want Apple gear.
The 3rd choice is to buy something else, there is Windows, there is Linux. Again choice, and again, not hard.
The price rise is reasonable, its based on the change in exchange rates of which Apple has zero control.
Get over it, put on your big boy undies and cope with the reality of the world and the way it works.
Might? Just wait for Q4 on 10-27-15. Won't be pretty for the Mac.
And it will actually no make a difference. Apples sales will be higher than last years.
I am more productive on a Mac, my time has value (to myself and my family), when my laptop needs replacing I will buy another Mac laptop. End of story.
Mac sales were NOT in decline, they actually out performed the PC market which has shrunk year over year by having about a 1.5% increase in sales.
If you want higher end features, buy a higher end laptop.
On the bright side: No one "needs" to buy any Apple product nowadays because there are loads of good (enough) alternatives out there.
Personally, I've decided not to replace my nrMBP because:
- I don't need Apple to decide for me which ports I do or do not need,
- I want choice in screen sizes and a keyboard with a Num block,
- I really hate Apple's attitude to solder user-replaceable parts!
Let's face it: For today's Apple MACs are merely a legacy/cash cow product, which they keep making because they always have. But other than that, it's all about the iDevices nowadays...
Personally, I've decided not to replace my nrMBP because:
- I don't need Apple to decide for me which ports I do or do not need,
- I want choice in screen sizes and a keyboard with a Num block,
- I really hate Apple's attitude to solder user-replaceable parts!
Let's face it: For today's Apple MACs are merely a legacy/cash cow product, which they keep making because they always have. But other than that, it's all about the iDevices nowadays...
[QUOTE="sir1963nz[/QUOTE]
Dude, you need to get off your Kool Aid.
NZ Consumer Law give you an additional year warranty on top of the standard 12 months, not an 3+!
Apple only replaced your MLB likely because they got sick of dealing with you. We get people like you often where I work as well.
As for importing, well you keep ignoring that big elephant called CUSTOMS, try purchasing a $3000 overseas and have it shipped here, check how much you will owe customs.
Dude, you need to get off your Kool Aid.
NZ Consumer Law give you an additional year warranty on top of the standard 12 months, not an 3+!
Apple only replaced your MLB likely because they got sick of dealing with you. We get people like you often where I work as well.
As for importing, well you keep ignoring that big elephant called CUSTOMS, try purchasing a $3000 overseas and have it shipped here, check how much you will owe customs.
What ports, a thunderbolt hub gives you everything you need and more.
A full size USB keyboard is far more useful than any laptop keyboard.
Apple I am sure has a ton of statistics from millions of machines so they will know what percentage of users actually update, and my guess is that its really low, so why add cost to the 95% who dont upgrade ?
NZ law does not state any period go read about it
https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/consumer-guarantees-act#article-the-guarantees
If you buy a cheap Chinese crappy product, the CGA will not extend the warranty much, if at all. If you buy a premium product (e.g. Apple) it will extend it significantly, and significantly does NOT mean just an additional 1 year. Its not hard to argue a 3 years minimum simply because Apple will supply an extended warranty for this period in countries that do not have a CGA and the products in NZ are slightly more expensive in NZ to cover this.
Telling people it is limited to 2 years it factually wrong, grossly misleading and could be in breach of the fair trading act too.
I have been to the small claims court and won against a number of small companies who had no real understanding of the laws, and I have assisted others who have gone to court and they have won too. So if by "people like you" you mean people who read and know their rights and are willing to fight for them, then yes, that is me.
I have imported expensive goods and I have paid the shipping and I have paid the GST (which also applies to the shipping cost). GST applies to goods in NZ too. I pointed out in previous posts that the US price is tax free, so a direct comparison to NZ tax included prices is not a fair comparison. So when you add up the cost of currency conversion, shipping, gst you get something very close to the NZ price and there is a margin added for the CGA and other regulatory factors.
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Another factor iscwarranty costs. In countries that require longervwarranties than Apple's standard 1 year Apple will add the estimated costs to the price. That may not account for all of the delta bit it explains some.
The US prices are quoted tax free, however depending on what state you are in there are various local/state taxes to pay
http://taxfoundation.org/article/state-and-local-sales-tax-rates-2014
so if you were to add on 9.45% taxes for Tennessee it comes to $4103, or about $90 difference
UK/EU regulatory requirements will add on a small margin too.
Shopping in the USA is ****, the prices you see quoted in shop windows, on top of stands and even on the ticket prices themselves is without tax, and depending on where and what you buy the end price can be quite different.
Apple has minimal presence in NZ, it is mostly run out of Australia.
Until recently the "importer" was just considered a "reseller " so the Aussies added a margin to the Aussie prices before the were shipped here. That has now changed for the better.
When taxes are taken into account (for the US prices) and for the NZ prices + a ,margin for the CGA/regulatory situation in NZ the prices are very close. At times its even worked out cheaper to buy in NZ.
I use Apple products because I am far more proficient/productive compares to Windows/linux. The extra cost of Apple products gets repaid very quickly when I take my time into account. At this point I dont think its Apple who is penny pinching.
Phew, I managed to beat the price hike on a maxed out 15" retina! That saved me $440.
You're right, sales taxes (and other related taxes) in the US are a hoot. They vary from state to state and in some cases on a county or city basis. Exemptions are all over the ballpark (sometimes food, but the definition varies; sometimes clothing, but sometimes depending on who it's purchased for or how much it costs; lots of other examples). Hospitality industry goods and services are often subject to different meals and lodging tax rates. Very chaotic.
Short thinker, blaming forex is easy, how to make products reach to user is hard. Unless china booming in cost, they can give reason to hike price. Maybe they will get lower margin in some country, but isn't that to indirect promotion to users? & looks like less selfish & honest. When Microsoft come back to user, apple just isolated them. & the apple vs ms circle will turn back. The different?, no more steve jobs to cure the company.
Regardless of how much we whinge about it I seriously doubt anything will be done about the price hike in the short term. Outside of the US (or possibly China), the rest of the world is not Apple's biggest markets. The reason we're so frustrated is because our levels of income do not match the cost for buying an Apple product and our spending capacity has taken a massive hit.
Apple seems to be adamant we'll keep paying exorbitant prices for their goods but is it sustainable? I don't think so. We won't be buying more often, that's for sure.
Apple seems to be adamant we'll keep paying exorbitant prices for their goods but is it sustainable? I don't think so. We won't be buying more often, that's for sure.
I'd love to share with you guys this amazing deal for the Mac Pro configured with top spces here in Brazil:
That's the same of buying a 2011 BMW.
That's the same of buying a 2011 BMW.
Hopefully they are adding more than the currency difference. This would be a good time to sneak in some extra profit so people wouldn't notice. Who cares about the consumer? All that matters is Apple makes the most money possible.
Antagonise you user base, bring out products that have forced upgrades, downgrade the quality of your products, add in gimmicks but no significant upgrades - sounds like a way to make the cost of producing the products cheaper, and the profits higher - no wonder Apple is the most valuable company in the world.
Unfortunately, this also seems like a classic way of creating a boom / bust scenario. Apple are simply aggravating too many of their long term users. Now, I'm not saying they will go out of business anytime soon, but Apple rely heavily on their reputation as a producer of premium goods, and that reputation is steadily being damaged. The current strategy may be creating record profits, but there is a fundamental principle of doing business that is being violated here. It's a lot like if you were running a restaurant and you suddenly cut the quality of your ingredients and watered down your drinks. Your profits would initially soar and people would keep coming back for a while based on the reputation of the restaurant. But in time the reputation would be damaged, and customers would simply take their business elsewhere. Profits would then bomb, and it would take years, possibly decades to fix the damage to how people perceived the business.
There is always a balance between keeping your customers happy, and producing profits. A wise company makes sure they do both to ensure ongoing sales. It is almost always better to have less profit on an individual product, than to make things as cheaply as possible for a short term gain, especially when the cost cutting is getting into petty territory (think the difference in cost to Apple between building 16gb and 32gb for entry level iPads and iPhones).
Too bad for them, their sale will eventually drops. I stopped my idea to upgrade my early 2011 MBP here in Canada.
Honestly Australia has been pretty lucky that we don't pay state based taxes on our purchases, we pay low on our get from our wallets. Even then the prices are not to bad, but if the government did add a new tax on top of the gst..
At the end of the day this is how Apple have done it. And I'm pretty sure Microsoft have done this too, jacked up the price mid cycle to make more profit.
The problem that Australian consumer has is we are paying the double asked price thRn the Us, and on top of the gst. That goes across the board with,Microsoft and Adobe. If memory serves me correctly the ACC was investigating why this was so. Will have to dig further into this.
I like my apple products and I wil buy when there's and if a new release interests me, and then do a budget analysis to see if I can afford it. With the iPad pro, I will have to wait that's going to put a hunt dent in my budget and the wifey wont like that.
The Mrs won't let me spend any more then $1,000 on tech. lol
But anyway that's my two cents
At the end of the day this is how Apple have done it. And I'm pretty sure Microsoft have done this too, jacked up the price mid cycle to make more profit.
The problem that Australian consumer has is we are paying the double asked price thRn the Us, and on top of the gst. That goes across the board with,Microsoft and Adobe. If memory serves me correctly the ACC was investigating why this was so. Will have to dig further into this.
I like my apple products and I wil buy when there's and if a new release interests me, and then do a budget analysis to see if I can afford it. With the iPad pro, I will have to wait that's going to put a hunt dent in my budget and the wifey wont like that.
The Mrs won't let me spend any more then $1,000 on tech.
lol But anyway that's my two cents
Agreed. There is an important precedent under the CGA in computers (specifically a Toshiba) which was covered after four and a half years as it was judged to have had a life expectancy of five years as it wasn't a "cheap" computer. There is no doubt that the CGA covers at least as much as the warranty a manufacturer will offer (three years in the case of Apple), but there is also little doubt that an Apple laptop should be considered at least as "premium" as a Toshiba and probably should be expected to last five years at the very least, possibly more.
The problem is usually that the first port of call is the retailer, and the big box retailers are trained to blank you as most people will eventually give up. As long as you go in hard and insist on speaking to the manager and not leaving until you do (and recording what you are saying), they will tag you as "to be covered" and you'll be ok.
Obviously if you buy from Apple online you should have an easier time as they understand their obligations and are a lot easier to deal with. I usually buy online for this reason, but also because Yoobee don't often have stock of a product until about a month after I've received mine
And, obviously, they don't have BTO versions.You probably voted for the PT and is now complaining about the prices Apple charges there. Why don't you say that the corrupt Government of Brazil charges the most exorbitant import taxes of any country in the world and then you get the price Apple is charging for its products in Brazil. Apple is 100% correct. They are not a non profit organization and have to keep their margins otherwise they should just not sell in Brazil. You want a cheaper Apple product? Go complain to Dilma, Lula and the gang that is laughing at you right now.