Apple products are always a bit more expensive in other countries, since they tend to set the price to allow for currency fluctuations down the road. I got the 14 Pro 256GB, and before taxes, it cost me about $70 USD more than the US model, but since HST is a whopping 13%, I also paid about $65 USD more in taxes compared to what I would have paid for the US model. Overall, I paid about a $135 USD premium to have a SIM slot but lose mmWave, which carriers in my area don't offer anyway. And my prepaid plan doesn't even support 5G. Sure, you also have to figure the cost of gas, tolls, and time, but I also took my family with me and had a nice lunch in Canada on the way back. Overall, I think it was worth it to keep my sanity for the few overseas trips that I already have planned in the next 9-12 months.
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Apple Removes SIM Card Tray on All iPhone 14 Models in U.S.
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Thanks. Not having visited Canada in a while, I wasn’t sure about their taxes. Last time I bought something Apple it was one year ago when I happened to be driving across no sales tax Oregon. Also, depending on a currency rate in a respective country at a given time in EU for example, some stores will issue a VAT invoice to non-EU passport holders with a 3 month period to return a customs item proof removal, and upon your next visit te select stores will refund 100% VAT - effectively lowering the cost below US prices. I’ve done this “experiment” somewhat inadvertently, once a few years ago buying two iPads I needed at the time saving several hundred bucks.
Which country can you buy iPhones or iPads in with lower cost than the US, even when claiming back the tax? Last I looked it wasn't possible, assuming you buy in a US state with low tax.
I'm going on a trip to Italy today, and the eSIM options aren't nearly as good as what you can get with a physical SIM. This is likely the case in almost all countries globally, for now. You made the right call. Most Americans never travel overseas, though.
There used to be a GST rebate program when returning back to the US from Canada to at least get some of the tax back, but that was terminated 10+ years ago.
I think this is possible only when there’s a significant currency exchange fluctuation, and you catch it before Apple adjusts the prices. But when Apple releases new products, the US prices will always be the lowest.
I've been in Russia and Turkey when their currencies have taken hits, but it's hard to take advantage of, because the likes of Mastercard respond incredibly slowly in such situations, to their benefit. You'd need to draw cash out in your own currency and exchange it, which isn't typically straightforward.
It is variable and largely currency exchange dependent. In my case it was a non euro currency country in EU. The reimbursed VAT was 23%, a tax which is typically incorporated within all retail advertised prices. Currently, at the same market the iPhone pro 14 1TB would be approx $250 more than a US price not inclusive of sales tax. Some stores, oddly, will sometimes discount an Apple product if asked.
You are correct re currency fluctuation and product release time with adjusted local pricing. However there are also discounts given by Apple authorized resellers and with the VAT refund, assuming it’s 100%, sometimes one can get lucky and beat the US cost.
When I saw people at the Pasadena Apple Store last Saturday patiently lined up in a well confined and tightly secured area to get their newest life important gadget while losing composure over the new purple color, I knew right away that none of them ever had a passport.
While most may not travel, those that travel and business are the ones Apple is cutting out.
This is what pisses me off about this move from Apple. If they're going to push this, I wish they had pushed it globally. What's the incentive for telecom's in countries where the physical sim slotted 14's were still sold this year? It's at least one more year of them not switching to e-sim.
It’s more like a warning to the carriers, it seems. If Apple released all US iphone 14 models without a SIM tray this year, that means they’re likely to expand the change to the rest of the world next year with the iphone 15. Apple’s message is clear: any carrier not supporting eSIM within the next year (or at least not supporting it for iphone, like Mexico’s Telcel) likely won’t be able to sell and/or activate any iphone 15’s.
They have 50% market share in the US and about 10-20% in the rest of the world. They started with the market where they can dictate terms to the carriers. It will take a little while longer outside the US.
They don’t. China alone buys more iPhones than the US. And then there is the rest of the world..
I actually took advantage of the Turkish currency drop in 2018 when Apple released the new MacBook Pros. I remember upgrading to 1 TB NVME when I only wanted 512 GB initially, and saved around 300 USD despite the very high Turkish customs (18%).
When I placed my order, Apple charged my card a few hours later and Visa used the correct exchange rate. Apple then updated the pricing on their products 2 weeks later.
China buys mostly cheap iPhones. And clearly Apple treats them as a separate market.
That's lucky! During the large crash they suffered in 2021, Mastercard didn't get near the correct exchange rate.
Well. I remember calling my bank and they insisted I’d get charged a very bad rate and not the real one but I didn’t take their word for it. I bought something very cheap and checked my banking app and found i was charged the real rate so went ahead, and it worked! I checked my statement after the transaction posted and it was at the best rate I could ask for.
Arguably, Apple treats not China but the US market separately from the rest of the world by depriving it from a said provision. If the Chinese customers have access to the entire product range, they are in fact not any different than the rest of the world (except the stripped US product). It would be interesting to hear a statement from Apple “why only in the US was this functionality removed?”. With emphasis on the word “only”.
They do. More than half of the americans have an iphone, which is why they don’t use whatsapp as opposed to the rest of the world, China included. China buys more iphones in number because they have a huge population (over 1 billion), but percentage wise that is still a less than 50% market share.
And the answer is easy: US carriers are more ready to work with eSIM than carriers elsewhere. In the US they’ve supported the eSIM for years and make it easy to activate one, switch phones, etc. Carriers in the rest of the world aren’t as ready. Some still don’t activate any eSIMS, others only offer eSIMs for certain customers such as only postpaid service customers, others still require you to go to a store and get a card with a QR activation code, and a few others in some countries such as China, Taiwan or, until not long ago, Egypt, just can’t support eSIM because the government prohibits the use of eSIMs.
Then it would be logical to assume that Apple’s no-sim tray solution will in fact impede the world‘s largest (US) user base from the ease of communication when traveling internationally. Unless, of course, if one assumes that Americans are to sit tight in their purple haze man caves content and not even think of going anywhere. Your answer still does not clear why only the US?
As all know, the EU telecoms are often not only ahead of the game technologically, they are also of much higher standards and specifically end performance! Yet, they all are equipped with a tray in addition to two e-sims. Why?
It is also important to remember a vast number of other countries, (in fact all countries!) other than the US and the frequently mentioned China.
Apple's New iPhone 14 Will Pose A Problem For American Travelers
Apple's iPhone 14 lacks a SIM card tray, generating concerns among international travelers as some countries may not have eSIMs yet.
www.traveloffpath.com
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That’s already happening and several people have complained about it in this forum.
The other part of the explanation that I forgot to mention is that Apple seems to believe that international travelers are a small minority of the US user base not worth caring about. Thus, under that assumption the vast majority of the US users would be unaffected by the lack of a SIM tray. And it seems to be a safe assumption: indeed the vast majority of americans don’t travel outside their country. Selling the iphones without a SIM tray would harm a lot more users, and hurt sales much more, in other regions of the world than it does in the US.
Also, there may have been some kind of agreement between Apple and the US Carriers because it actually benefits them: if international travelers can no longer buy a local prepaid SIM wherever they go, at least for now they’ll have no choice but to use roaming.
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