I'm not disagreeing but those in countries outside the USA see the tax less pricing the USA has and thinks that the US buyers are getting a bargain. The reality is as you say it's just not including tax.
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I'm not disagreeing but those in countries outside the USA see the tax less pricing the USA has and thinks that the US buyers are getting a bargain. The reality is as you say it's just not including tax.
Very true, I've seen countless posts like this on here. Including one person comparing Canadian prices to US prices without even factoring in Exchange rate.
In spite of this the price gap is still quite large and was partially justified before the Euro made a bit of a recovery, now though a 500 Euro difference is a bit much.
Like anything I don't mind paying extra for a product that will last me many years. My 2011 MBA was expensive for what it was when I purchased it but here it is over 6 years later still running like new. Its a pity Apple have started to drop the ball in the QC department, the keyboard issues on the current model MBP's means the high price is no longer worth it, im hoping they get this sorted by the next revision.
The iMac is also a very good price-to-performance ratio for entry models. And you get to save space and the electrical bill. Makes a lot of sense in office environment.
It’s to do with currency not EU. Switzerland doesn’t use the euro and hence Apples pricing is based on exchange rate to CHF.
I haven’t checked but assume all countries using the Euro would have the same pre tax pricing.
The Swiss Frank is tied to Euro these days, so its unlikely. There seems to be an additional 5% or so surcharge in the EU prices.
This is ridiculous. It is the very definition of a straw man argument.
I expect more logical analysis from pickle rick.
I can tell you that within Europe and UK - the price increase of MBP's in recent years far outstrips that in US. In the past i always bought top-spec machines. If I were to buy now I could not do that as it is out of my price range.
Pro tip: Stop caring what other people are spending their money on and get on with your life.
I can justify my purchase because I love the Touch Bar MacBook Pro and want to spend my hard earned cash on it. It's that simple.
It was until Jan 2015 when they unpegged the CHF from the Euro. Hence the difference in pricing.
People have been saying that since at least the original Macintosh (and Lisa) but decades later they're the world's most valuable company, so clearly not. Even before they iPhone and even before the iPod they were still massively profitable relative to most companies.
Personally I somewhat agree, in my case I think the low end of the MacBook Pro have gotten very expensive, enough to give me pause even though I can well afford them. Once you get fitted with a reasonable amount of RAM and SSD especially. But they keep selling so no reason for Apple to cut prices. There is a big risk there in the "race to the bottom" so they don't even pretend to play that game.
Even more to the point. I can drive 200 miles to the next state and pay 0% tax on a MacBook in an Apple Store. If I buy it at my local Apple Store I pay 9.2% tax. Or I can mail order from a company that does not have a location in my state such as B&H and pay 0% sales tax. But if order from Amazon I pay the 9.2% tax because they have their shipping facilities in my state. Oh, and 9% of my tax is for the state. The 0.2% is for my county.
Oh, you are right, sorry, I was confused. Just looked at pricing data now and it really seems like USD/CHF has been more stable in the last year or so than USB/EUR, which can explain the differences I guess...
The funny thing, even though I have a background in mathematics and stats, I could never get finances. Its like voodoo to me
But from what I gather, euro has been performing better relative to the usd, so last price adjustments done by Apple are no longer accurate?
Uh...
Even if you somehow could run whatever off an Android tablet, what Android tablet can be supplied under a 24/7 maintenance agreement?
I'm not disagreeing that the price increase of the MacBook Pro is changing differently by area. I am saying that different expenses factor in that absolutely can influence what constitutes "value".
Admittedly, I haven't looked at the data very recently, but IIRC our annual individual healthcare expenditures were something like $3,800 US an individual several years ago. My out of pocket costs last year was about $7,500 US - factor such expenditures like healthcare, childcare, and education into income to calculate an adjusted standard of living and this paints a very different picture than average income (which is extremely misleading due to extreme cases) and median income (which is somewhat less misleading but doesn't paint a full picture). Expenditures by country can differ significantly - heck, expenditures by US State can differ significantly so I imagine there is huge variance across other Nations as well. (IIRC, at least several years ago, the UK was ranked as having a higher standard of living than the US - even though I believe you do pay more for consumer goods, on average, with the MBP being an example of some goods having considerable variation.)
Why am I comparing the MacBook Pro to things like healthcare, childcare, education, or basic consumer goods? If one needs an Apple computer for success in their profession, that makes it extremely relevant as far as important expenses go, IMO.
Oh, you are right, sorry, I was confused. Just looked at pricing data now and it really seems like USD/CHF has been more stable in the last year or so than USB/EUR, which can explain the differences I guess...
The funny thing, even though I have a background in mathematics and stats, I could never get finances. Its like voodoo to me
Yep thats whats happened. They made the price changes a while back from I remember, but recently Euro and GBP for that matter have recovered a lot of those losses and as a result the pricing now has a much larger gap and has not be recorrected by Apple.
Is that legal? I.E a loophole or would you theoretically be responsible to report that you bought the product with no sales tax and then pay your state?
If you were physically in another state I don't think there is any requirement to pay the sales tax in your home state. Think about buying food or some other items that are taxed in your state A, but not taxed in state B, where you bought the item. For example, some states tax food in grocery stores, others do not, and some tax based on what the item is. What happens when you are driving along a highway and pick up some sodas, if you buy it in a grocery store it might be taxed or might not. And then what if you buy sandwiches which are prepared food, versus lunch meat and bread to make a sandwich. And in various states and taxes are applied based on heated, not heated, etc.
However, if you buy something out of state over the internet for delivery to your state, you are supposed to pay your state sales tax, in most states.
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By law, you’re supposed to register all out of state purchases and pay any differences in levied taxes to your home state. Mostly though, only real estate and vehicle purchases are large enough that cross-state sales adhere to these laws by default.
People are supposed to file use tax returns for out of state purchases that don’t charge state sales taxes. In my state for example, there is a line on the annual tax return that covers out of state purchases and this is where all these tax free purchases should be marked to charge tax. Whether or not one files these taxes due is left up to personal honor basically. If one did get caught somehow, they would be subject to perjury charges.
Definitely not the only one.
I refuse to buy a touchbar macbook at the current pricing.
it’s not just the touchbar model though. Basically the cost of my 2015 went UP after they released the touchbar models - the 2015 was still one sale in 2016, for significantly more than i paid for it 12 months prior.
Sad as it is, the only Macbook i’d currently buy is the Macbook air. And I hate the screen on the thing.
But i think i’m done with macbooks altogether. iPad for the portable stuff, and currently PC for anything more serious. Maybe i’d be tempted by an iMac or similar but i’m guessing that moving forward the only machines with expandable memory will be the imac Pro and up, which is just way over priced compared to what i can build.
It’s a shame.
Macbook/iMac pricing didn’t used to be so bad, but apple are just charging way too much for computers at the moment.
Well I guess if Burger King can keep a whopper at .99$ then Apple should Lee the price of their Mac lineup to be exactly the same.
Honestly as a long time windows user, short term mac user. Mac OS is just so user friendly and easy to use. Finder is a piece of cake, the dock system is an awesome idea and while people may say its "dumbed down" I dont think so. Its just been refined to its bare essentials.
Windows is a bloated maze of search tabs and files in comparison.
PS: Time machine is such an awesome idea. Why doesn't every operating system have a factory backup software like time machine?
I would need some third party thing on windows.
Windows is a bloated maze of search tabs and files in comparison.
PS: Time machine is such an awesome idea. Why doesn't every operating system have a factory backup software like time machine?
I would need some third party thing on windows.
The thing that annoys me most about windows is that the settings are scattered all over the place. And then you find an advanced tab and theres even more drawers to look through. And then! You set all the settings up, get an update and the settings change! Infuriating.
Not more powerful. More convoluted.
The thing I find is that with windows you practically had to be an IT guy to do anything technical. Mac OS is a little easier for the average joe to do stuff with.