MBA/MBP UK Price Hikes £

[Darkashnet]

We in the UK know that the pound has taken a little bit of a beating recently. However, it has been hovering at around 1.25 (where it is now) since around 2019, excluding the early 2021 rally.

The Mac Studio came in at £1999 vs $1999. However, these new Macs today has gone above the USD price! £1249 for the Air (vs $1199) and £1349 (vs $1299) for the MBP 13". The MBP 14" is still under at £1899 (vs $1999) so at least they haven't adjusted prices elsewhere.

 

[Jamie's_Tech]

It is strange. Speccing a M2A vs a M1P 14" is only a £150 jump to the pro, which may have a slower single threaded performance but much better multi-core and GPU performance for the price. Plus active cooling & promotion amongst other things. That's marketing and the upsell ladder though!

 

[McScooby]

It is strange. Speccing a M2A vs a M1P 14" is only a £150 jump to the pro, which may have a slower single threaded performance but much better multi-core and GPU performance for the price. Plus active cooling & promotion amongst other things. That's marketing and the upsell ladder though!

As I've said a few times here, Costco is your friend - M1 MBP Pro 14" @ round about £1750 for entry model. Of course, the target market for the 2 models might be different. Of course it lets some retailers cut the margins like Amazon on both models.

 

[will0407]

The difference on education pricing is even less- prior to today it was 10% off macs, the m2 air is a flat £100 off. Spec up a 512gb with 16gb ram for £180 and it takes it to £1629, while the 14” retains the 10% discount making it £1709. So £80 difference for a whole lot more machine imo.

I have a 14” pro and have no need for the power, I like the look of the m2 air but price wise it just doesnt make sense

 

[Jamie's_Tech]

As I've said a few times here, Costco is your friend - M1 MBP Pro 14" @ round about £1750 for entry model. Of course, the target market for the 2 models might be different. Of course it lets some retailers cut the margins like Amazon on both models.

Yes absolutely, do not buy from Apple if it can be had cheaper elsewhere. I got a crazy deal on my M1 Air at Currys. They price matched Amazon's £899 deal and also had on at the same time trade any laptop in for a MacBook for an additional £150 credit. Plus my work discount got me 7% off. All in all, £536 - edit £557 actually - for a base spec after everything.

 

[Danfango]

Apple pricing is always arbitrary in the UK. Always wait it out for Amazon pricing. I paid £839 for my daughter's entry level M1 Air. I paid £1719 for my 14" Pro.

As for the pricing of the M2 Air, not interested. 16Gb / 512Gb configuration is actually more expensive than what I paid for the same spec 14" Pro.

 

[NewBench]

Ridiculous pricing really, especially with 8GB ram for the base M2 model, not even 16GB to justify the increase.

In the last year or two for Apple products the UK price has either matched or been cheaper by £50 for anything released over here. Now the price of the base newest MBA is not only higher than the previous generation, but higher for UK buyers too. Was thinking of upgrading my M1 MBA to the M2 MBA, but it's going to end up cost me £600-£700 for the pleasure, don't think I'll bother unless I can get the M2 for under £1k.

The final insult being the current M1 MBA stays at £999

Crazy prices. Expect we'll see the the cheapest iPhone 14 Pro will be tipping £1050-£1100+.

 

[casjohnr]

I'm very lucky in that I managed to get my Macbook Air M1 when Very were doing a discount code at the back end of last year, meaning I only paid £715 for the base model

...The cherry on top was I placed the order through cashback (Quidco) and it took several months to approve but the other week £45 cashback from the purchase came through into my bank account, so essentially I ended up paying £670 for a brand spanking new Air M1

 

[haydn!]

Given the current world economic situation, the general increase from Apple ($999 to $1199) isn't too unexpected. But yeah, given the current exchange rates its still around 8-10% more expensive in the UK. Even worse for Euro nations. Shows a total lack of confidence the situation in Europe will improve any time soon.

It's got me nervous about where future product refreshes may end up. I'm in the market for a new iPad Pro. I was holding out for new 2022 models in the fall (hopefully) but now I'm wondering if I should get a 2021 model to avoid a potential 25% hike there too.

 

[Drosera]

Yes absolutely, do not buy from Apple if it can be had cheaper elsewhere. I got a crazy deal on my M1 Air at Currys. They price matched Amazon's £899 deal and also had on at the same time trade any laptop in for a MacBook for an additional £150 credit. Plus my work discount got me 7% off. All in all, £536 - edit £557 actually - for a base spec after everything.

Geesh that's nicely done. Need to do look out for this!

 

[Dealmans]

Price is nuts, base model is $550AU more than Air1 have been selling for here last few weeks with 10% off.
That's 40% more, even at full retail near 30% rise.
Can't wait for new iPhone prices lol

 

[Dealmans]

I have a 14” pro and have no need for the power, I like the look of the m2 air but price wise it just doesnt make sense

Same as of today, I got a 14" pro 16GB/1TB on weekend for 20% off, actually $60AUD cheaper than the same config AIR 2, glad I pulled the trigger on it.

 

[navaira]

£1249 for the Air (vs $1199)

$1199 apparently equals €1519.

The final insult being the current M1 MBA stays at £999

In euro it went from €1099 to €1219.

*gently kisses his beloved M1 that cost 15% a year ago than it would now*

 

[kiranmk2]

Apple clearly thinks the £ is going to drop further over the next year. I agree that upcoming devices such as iPhone 14 and iPad Pro are also likely to to be over £1k.

 

[mtrm]

It’s not only in the UK. Pricing in Europe is also crazy. M2 MacBook Air starting at €1529 and MBP at €1629. Even excluding VAT and other taxes, the €1529 is €1242 which is still a lot over the $1199 US pricing. Even more strange, the upper tier MBA the one that comes with the 512GB ssd) is €20 more expensive than the equivalent MBP for some reason (when in the US they have the same pricing)
I was expecting a slight price hike given the latest developments of the Euro USD exchange rate, but this is a bit bonkers.

 

[CJM]

Apple’s so pessimistic with their pricing. They did a similar thing after Brexit then rolled it back when the £ didn’t drop as much as they thought. Now the $ is strong, but not that strong.

Also the sillily priced upgrades that just seem old fashioned by this point. £200 each for an additional 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD space? What planet are they on? Don’t they know people are starting to tighten their purse strings?

Even the 14” Pro, which I think is priced too high, is looking like a better value.

Edit: for comparison’s sake, you can get a Dell XPS 15” with an intel i5 12500H that has performance almost on par with the 10 core M1 Pro, 512SSD, 16GB RAM for £1550. I think I would pay the Amazon price for a 14” Pro at that point. £200 is worth it to go Apple, but not an additional £350.

Furthermore, have you seen how expensive the XPS 13 Plus is?! Whooeee. Perhaps this is just the market we’re in right now. They start at £1700 for the 4k screen option.

 

[ascender]

I'm sure its not just related to that, with all the supply chain issues and silicon shortages etc I wouldn't be surprised if they do adjust their other prices up the way this year.

 

[playtech1]

The M1 Air was a real bargain which I think Apple offered at that price to get traction for its first Apple Silicon laptop. I fear we will not see the same again.

As for the US/UK/EU pricing issues, this has been a problem so many times over the years. I remember a cartoon from a 90s edition of MacUser which showed a Mac relaxing in a first class plane seat, because at the time it was cheaper to fly to New York and pick one up than to buy locally.

I do think the cost of doing business in the UK and EU is higher than the US, so it makes some logical sense if Apple is unwilling to shave profit margins, as annoying as this is.

 

[GZR]

I love the design but the pricing makes it a no-no. If Apple had made the M2 Air 16GB base then it would be justifiable. As it stands the minimum spec I would want is the higher model upgraded to 16GB RAM, which is £1749. £150 extra buys the base 14".

 

[uczcret]

I love the design but the pricing makes it a no-no. If Apple had made the M2 Air 16GB base then it would be justifiable. As it stands the minimum spec I would want is the higher model upgraded to 16GB RAM, which is £1749. £150 extra buys the base 14".

The thing is, you don't even have to spend £150 more to get the 14" given how often it goes on sale on Amazon, John Lewis etc. But I'm sure Apple has their upselling ladder all figured out when pricing out new models.

 

[unssw]

If we compare unit prices, in each country's currency, yes there is a hike for EU and UK.
Which was not the same for iPhone13 Pro, MBP14" and MBP16":

Right now 1$=0.93€=0.8£
Please don't forget that VAT is included in EU and UK prices, but it is going to be added to US prices according to US states' tax policy.

 

[robotica]

If we compare unit prices, in each country's currency, yes there is a hike for EU and UK.
Which was not the same for iPhone13 Pro, MBP14" and MBP16":

View attachment 2016213

Right now 1$=0.93€=0.8£
Please don't forget that VAT is included in EU and UK prices, but it is going to be added to US prices according to US states' tax policy.

If you take the tax off and covert to USD we are getting a bonus £50 charge.

 

[mtrm]

If we compare unit prices, in each country's currency, yes there is a hike for EU and UK.
Which was not the same for iPhone13 Pro, MBP14" and MBP16":

View attachment 2016213

Right now 1$=0.93€=0.8£
Please don't forget that VAT is included in EU and UK prices, but it is going to be added to US prices according to US states' tax policy.

Even if you exclude tax effects, prices are higher in Europe. In the Portuguese store, the MacBook Air starts at €1529. Of those, and according to Apple, €287 is VAT and other taxes, which leaves you a base price of €1242. At current exchange rate that’s $1330.80, which is exactly 11% above US MSRP.

Yeah, I really wanted a new MacBook Air even though I have no need for a new laptop whatsoever (just wanted a new toy!). But at those prices it’s a no-go

 

[Danfango]

You shouldn't look at the up front retail price of it really. The optimum purchasing position is roughly:

monthly_cost = ((cost_of_item + cost_of_applecare - resale_value) / length_of_applecare_months)

Sell it when the applecare is up and buy another one quick so that you have no risk exposure otherwise you risk writing off the entire value of the resale_value instantly one day (I have done it so don't tell me it won't happen - it only takes a moment to burn £1000).

cost_of_item should be the retailer discounted price of it rather than the apple price. Never buy anything direct from apple!

If we apply this tritely to some estimates I do then this pops out:

Really the M1 Air is ASTONISHING value for money even now. I'm second-guessing my 14" MBP purchase if I'm honest. It's not that much better.

Also buying a 14" macbook pro is probably better value in the long run than the Air M2 because of the extra RAM and disk for the money!

 

[AJB1971]

I think we will see these discounted fairly quickly once the initial demand has been satisfied.

A problem for Apple is that the M1 Air is still a very good device. They’ve kept old models in the lineup before but there are usually some pretty big trade-offs, but I don’t think that’s the case with the M1 version.

It’s noticeable that they haven’t increased the price of the M1 in the UK - apparently, some other countries have seen increases - which suggests they still regard £1,000 as a psychological barrier. If price is a major consideration, I would say that the M1 Air offers better value for money and that’s before taking into account any discounts.

I think the base model M1 Air will still be a big seller.