Since when did the pros get crazy expensive?

[retta283]

Prices rose in 2015-16 across Apple's lines. It's crazy, the PowerBook and MacBook Pro 15" was a round $1,999 USD for ages.

I paid around $2,200 for my nearly maxed out PowerBook 15", and now the base model is $200 more than that. Crazy. Apple's always been expensive, but recently they've gotten a bit too wild.

 

[The Mercurian]

While the US price may not be significant to you, it is to Apple, a US based corporation.

They report all sales and earning figures in USD, not Euro, pounds, SGD, etc. So when it comes to how well the company is doing financially, that is based on USD.

So Apple is going to use USD as it's base currency and set prices based on conversion to USD plus any additional costs for longer warranties, country expenses, markup rates, etc. And as a result when exchange rate of a country falls against the USD, that country's prices are going up.

So what? I'm not writing my post from the position of Apple, I'm writing it from myself as an EU consumer. Because its a website for Apple customers from different countries, or have you forgotten? Stop trying to police others forum members point of view. As @BeamWalker pointed out other companies don't structure their prices internationally like this, but instead compete in the local marketplace - perhaps thats why very few people I know in Europe buy Apple anymore, when you can get similarly spec'ed Dell for almost half the price.

@mcpix What are these 'points' of which you speak ?

 

[ZeuSGoKiL]

We all know the answer to this -> with the introduction of the TouchBar.

Well maybe later models with Face recognition will see prices that results in more than arms and legs

 

[Thornblom]

Well, sure, there are a lot of ways to save money if one is willing to be "flexible" with the law.

Even if I had payed taxes I would have saved good money. And, at which point is it really "being flexible with the law"? If I stay in the US for 1 or 2 months, use my Mac, and then go back to Europe, is the Mac new or used by then? It's a whole different story if you go to the US over a couples of days just to buy a bunch of Macs.

However, I agree that this isn't adding much context to the topic. I just wanted to share that it is a good deal to buy Macs in the US if you live in Europe.

 

[mick2]

While the US price may not be significant to you, it is to Apple, a US based corporation.

They report all sales and earning figures in USD, not Euro, pounds, SGD, etc. So when it comes to how well the company is doing financially, that is based on USD.

So Apple is going to use USD as it's base currency and set prices based on conversion to USD plus any additional costs for longer warranties, country expenses, markup rates, etc. And as a result when exchange rate of a country falls against the USD, that country's prices are going up.

Yep, we get that. Apple are a US company so they conduct all their financial reporting, price setting etc in USD.

But to non-US consumers like the OP, this misses the point. Which is that Apple stuff got significantly more expensive around 2015/16 and has stayed that way. Eg around 2016 fthe cost for me to replace my ~ entry-level MBP 13 went from around GBP1000-1100 to around GBP1400-1500 in one increase. The fact that this is to do with Brexit (hadnt happened then) / weak Sterling / US dollar strength is really only of academic interest to my wallet.

 

[leman]

Even if I had payed taxes I would have saved good money. And, at which point is it really "being flexible with the law"? If I stay in the US for 1 or 2 months, use my Mac, and then go back to Europe, is the Mac new or used by then?

What I meant is that by EU laws you have to pay the import tax (which usually pays for things like pension funds etc.), and if you don't do it, of course the price is going to be lower. Prices in EU are 15-20% higher than in USA just because of that.
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The fact that this is to do with Brexit (hadnt happened then) / weak Sterling / US dollar strength is really only of academic interest to my wallet.

What you say is totally reasonable. And the reasonable follow-up to this is to vote with you wallet and not buy Apple until they change their international price formation practices and amortise the currently fluctuations with their profits (just like many other companies do). The problem for the EU customer is that people still buy Apple, even if the prices went up.

I am in Switzerland, so I am rather happy about Apple's policies — I benefit either way.

 

[matt3526]

The best thing you can do as a European is to buy your Apple computers overseas. Since 2011, I've bought my Macs while visiting New York (which I do quite often), the amount of money I've saved is insane. I've never even payed taxes when importing one (read: throw away the box). Warranty hasn't been an issue either.
I bought an iMac back in 2012, when I was a student. 10% discount, got away without the NYC state tax. Saved 500 dollar compared to what it would have been here in Europe.

Sadly I think you are right there. My wife got her mac in Washington DC and saved a fortune compared to the UK price. I guess this is the only viable option really. I'm not sure when I'm next going to the US, but I can definitely hold out on a new computer until I visit somewhere where apple prices are cheaper than in UK. I'll be in Malaysia in April, and a quick look on the apple website shows that there will be significant savings to be had...

 

[Howard2k]

What happens if you have a warranty issue with a foreign sourced Macbook?

 

[pshufd]

Get a 2015 with Maxed Out Specs to replace your 2014.

 

[sat24]

While the US price may not be significant to you, it is to Apple, a US based corporation.

They report all sales and earning figures in USD, not Euro, pounds, SGD, etc. So when it comes to how well the company is doing financially, that is based on USD.

So Apple is going to use USD as it's base currency and set prices based on conversion to USD plus any additional costs for longer warranties, country expenses, markup rates, etc. And as a result when exchange rate of a country falls against the USD, that country's prices are going up.

Someone needs to understand how currencies work... and that there is an exchange rate across them. Pound used to enjoy a very high (and stable) exchange rate but no longer due to the brexit fiasco. Is it just MBPs that have gone up in price? If u notice, everything that Britain imports will have gone by accordingly.

 

[willmtaylor]

Prices rose in 2015-16 across Apple's lines. It's crazy, the PowerBook and MacBook Pro 15" was a round $1,999 USD for ages.

I paid around $2,200 for my nearly maxed out PowerBook 15", and now the base model is $200 more than that. Crazy. Apple's always been expensive, but recently they've gotten a bit too wild.

The most recent PowerBook debuted circa 2005.

$2,000 then has approximate buying power of $2,600 today.

 

[retta283]

The most recent PowerBook debuted circa 2005.

$2,000 then has approximate buying power of $2,600 today.

I don't think inflation is the reason here. They kept the same starting price (even went lower) for another 7 years, and then it went up due to Retina panels. That price stayed similar for 4 years, and then it went up again with the Touchbar models.

The iMac has stayed the same price and in some cases gotten cheaper since the G4/G5 days, and the Mac mini was a very similar price until the 2018 model. Inflation may be a factor in some cases, but I don't think it's the main reason for the higher prices.

 

[ZeuSGoKiL]

So the main reason for the price hike is the newly introduce stuff like for example 16 inch Macbook Pro.

 

[Falhófnir]

Actually, prices have stayed stagnate, or actually have gone done. Here's the pricing from 2014 (before Touch Bar)

MacBook Pro (Mid 2014) review: Update offers slightly better CPU performance

If you have an older laptop, the latest MacBook Pro could give you a nice little speed bump. But if your MacBook Pro is more recent, that bump won't warrant an upgrade.

www.macworld.com

The 13in MacBook pricing is the exact same. For the 15in, prices are actually lower considering the $1999 15inch did not have discrete graphics. I remember paying $2499 for my base 15" (with dGPU).

Also, keeping in mind the 13inch (with the advent of quad-core) is more than sufficient for most everyone (non-creative folks), one could argue replacement prices have gone done.

It's the SSD capacities that are really punishing. The $2,499 2015 model had 512GB storage, the current $2,399 model only has 256GB, while the equivalent 512GB spec on the 2016-2019 models now costs $2,799. A $300 jump while in comparison to 2015 512GB is a lot less generous and 256GB is absolute bare-bones minimum, on a computer that certainly isn't bare minimum on price.

 

[The Mercurian]

It's the SSD capacities that are really punishing. The $2,499 2015 model had 512GB storage, the current $2,399 model only has 256GB, while the equivalent 512GB spec on the 2016-2019 models now costs $2,799. A $300 jump while in comparison to 2015 512GB is a lot less generous and 256GB is absolute bare-bones minimum, on a computer that certainly isn't bare minimum on price.

Especially when you compare to SSD upgrades on other manufacturers. Nowhere near as expensive and pretty much equivalent tech.

 

[Howard2k]

Someone needs to understand how currencies work... and that there is an exchange rate across them. Pound used to enjoy a very high (and stable) exchange rate but no longer due to the brexit fiasco. Is it just MBPs that have gone up in price? If u notice, everything that Britain imports will have gone by accordingly.

Although you clearly have some understanding of economics, that’s almost certainly not how Apple sets their prices.