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Why is the MacBook pro so costly?

B

Bubble99

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 15, 2015
1,100
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Why is the MacBook pro really costly out side the US? I was looking at the release of the new MacBook pro coming out . The US price are not that bad in the US, but well out side of the US what has happen now? Even with duty tax it cannot be that expensive.

13 inch MacBook pro's price.

US $1,299 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD
CA $1,729 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD
US $1,499 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 256 GB SSD
CA $1,979 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 256 GB SSD
US $1,799 Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 256GB SSD
CA $2,399 Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 266GB SSD
US $1,999 Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 512GB SSD
CA $2,649 Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 512GB SSD


Even with duty tax it cannot be that expensive. Why are they more expensive in Canada?

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro

I remember before in Canada you could get the base model 13 inch starting at $1,200 or $1,300 going up to $2,000 on the high in spects. Now it seems to start at 1,729 go all the way up to 2,649.

They cannot be paying that much for duty tax or shipping into Canada. Even the Canadian currency cannot be that bad.

Why is Apple asking for such high prices in Canada compared to the US.
 
htc fan said:
It's the exchange rate, our Canadian dollar is weak compared to the US dollar.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? How can it be that far off?

US $1,299 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD
CA $1,729 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD

That is $430 more!! Just to ship it to Canada or the Canadian dollar that weak!
 
I'd say the MacBook Pro is expensive no matter where you buy it; outside or inside the US.

If it was made entirely in the US with all US produced parts and assembled with US labor, I wouldn't mind so much.
 
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Bubble99 said:
Are you sure? How can it be that far off?

US $1,299 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD
CA $1,729 non Touch Bar and Touch ID 8G RAM and 128 GB SSD

That is $430 more!! Just to ship it to Canada or the Canadian dollar that weak!
Click to expand...

Apple snapshot the exchange rate at a certain point and it stays like that till the next Apple event. They don't change price points between events. This supposedly lends the entire line a more premium outlook. It's a similar deal with European Euro and GBP prices. The price was set in the UK after the Brexit vote wiped almost 20% off the value of the UK pound. Apple rounded that up. The pound has recovered a significant chunk of those FX losses in the last 6 months yet the prices didn't budge when the 2017 Mac hardware bump arrived during WWDC. I understand some Euro prices even went up.

The fact of the matter is Apple set the prices. If you don't like it perhaps others will. It does make the prices of Macs hard to take these days. I guess there's nothing stopping you from buying from the US?
 
duffyanneal said:
I think you guys are actually getting a break. $1299 US is $1747 CAD. Better go buy one before they raise the price again. Don't expect this to change anytime soon. The dollar will most likely to continue to strengthen as the US economy improves.

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1299&From=USD&To=CAD
Click to expand...

Probably less people in Canada buying Macbook pros now if the Canadian dollar is this weak now. And than like you say the Canadian dollar is to get even weaker so if this trend goes on by next year or two a $1299 US Macbook pro may be over $2,000 in year or two in Canada.

If it already at $1747 in CA now.
[doublepost=1497223210][/doublepost]
sublunar said:
Apple snapshot the exchange rate at a certain point and it stays like that till the next Apple event. They don't change price points between events. This supposedly lends the entire line a more premium outlook. It's a similar deal with European Euro and GBP prices. The price was set in the UK after the Brexit vote wiped almost 20% off the value of the UK pound. Apple rounded that up. The pound has recovered a significant chunk of those FX losses in the last 6 months yet the prices didn't budge when the 2017 Mac hardware bump arrived during WWDC. I understand some Euro prices even went up.

The fact of the matter is Apple set the prices. If you don't like it perhaps others will. It does make the prices of Macs hard to take these days. I guess there's nothing stopping you from buying from the US?
Click to expand...

Like he said this has nothing to do with Apple it is the Canadian economy is really bad now in Canada that it is causing the Canadian dollar to be really weak now.
 
Yeah, as someone who just purchased a TB MBP I wouldn’t complain if I was you. I’m in the UK, and you might as well just flip the dollar symbol in a £ sign. Makes your point a little exaggerated.
 
It's even worse in New Zealand. The 15inch Macbook Pro costs $4699. Maxing it out with SSD and CPU and it costs $7079.

I can buy a nice car for $7k!!
 
http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1299&From=USD&To=CAD

Exchange rates, local taxes, national taxes, import/export duties, transportation. It's normally fair based on local currencies and global trends. Some currencies fluctuate more than others, some governments charge foreign companies more to operate in their territory (China). Some people live on a giant island (And less giant island...) in the middle of nowhere (Aus/NZ) and pay a fortune for absolutely anything imported. Some nations have better trade networks and leverage over taxes and import costs, or simply a bigger market/profitable region (EU).

It's a complicated global economy out there. US always appears cheapest, but their prices don't add local taxes (Although I'm not convinced people pay those anyway :p).
 
Why not go into the US and get one at Best Buy? So you can switch out your money to US Dollars, and you can hopefully buy it cheaper here than buying it in Canada.
 
CatherineVeraGat said:
Why not go into the US and get one at Best Buy? So you can switch out your money to US Dollars, and you can hopefully buy it cheaper here than buying it in Canada.
Click to expand...

OP would actually save money buying it in Canada. A $1299 (not including US state and local sales tax) US Macbook is $1747 in Canadian dollars. He can buy one directly from Apple Canada for $1729 Canadian dollars.
 
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If you look at the chart below Canadian currency started to drop in 2013 and continues to drop every year.

cp-10yr-noon-dollar-chart-jan-12-2016.png





Base on what I read the main reason is because Canada's economy is tied to oil and when it goes down so does the Canadian currency.


duffyanneal is right, if one is in Canada and thinking of buying a computer it will just be more costly by next year. Sad but that the way things are going in Canada. It not getting better but worse.

There is nothing that Apple can do about it.

It is even worse in Brazil.

A 1,300 Macbook pro would cost 4,283 in Brazil.

May be person buying in Gold would future proof currency problems. And when time to make purchases covert gold to US dollar.
 
I wonder what going to happen in future as we are moving away from fossil fuels. Is the Canadian currency going to be worthless in 10 to 15 years from now.

There was also talk similar to euro but the US does not want to support Mexico and Canada if the three countries join NAFTA type currency. Well It would help Mexico and Canada buy things like never before. But the US would really hate it.
 
I could stomach the price a lot easier if I knew the MacBook Pro was made with American produced parts and assembled with American labor. I make statements like this just in case Apple happens to be tuning in.
 
Merkava_4 said:
I could stomach the price a lot easier if I knew the MacBook Pro was made with American produced parts and assembled with American labor. I make statements like this just in case Apple happens to be tuning in.
Click to expand...
Then it be much more expensive
 
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Merkava_4 said:
No, they just wouldn't get the $1400 profit margin they're getting now. I'm guessing at the profit margin.
Click to expand...

Very big guess and in my opinion well wide of the mark. Look at how much the Mac Pro costs to assemble in the US, and even then there's been some manufacturing defects due in part to design but surely in part to less expertise from the US workforce.

The whole PC industry relies on cheap components built by the likes of Foxconn using labour that costs a fraction of a US workforce. Those parts would cost multiples more than they do now if they were manufactured in the US.
 
If I was to spec a 15" MacBook Pro today here in New Zealand with the new 3.1 CPU and 4GB gpu and kept the 512GB ssd (for my use as a location laptop all data would be going to dual external drives for redundancy).

The price would be a little over $5000NZD Which is just over $3600USD.
 
Labour costs will always be low, you want an economy based on designing and producing not manufacturing. Let developing countries do the remedial work while the educated country creates the work. If you built an economy around manufacturing, then other countries will be sending you the stuff to make whilst making all the profit.

Apple make around a healthy 30% profit margin. This isn't greed, it's how a company operates, if they didn't have a profit margin then they can't invest or fun future projects. If they can't make anything new then they go bankrupt.

Unless capitalism evolved into a purely not for profit system, you'll always have relatively high product costs over parts. Apple are a premium brand and likely will continue to be so. They want to ship relatively fewer high quality products over cheaper mass market ones. The differences between Windows and macOS these days is small, and I think a lot of people would benefit from reassessing their needs. You don't have to buy Apple just because it says Apple, you don't need a brand new computer every other year either. If it's too expensive then look elsewhere, if it's essential then make it happen. But Apple have always been this expensive, maybe because they've gone from the end of a product line to a brand new one, the cost difference is more visible. Either way they're premium, if you don't need it then don't spend the money.
 
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William Payne said:
If I was to spec a 15" MacBook Pro today here in New Zealand with the new 3.1 CPU and 4GB gpu and kept the 512GB ssd (for my use as a location laptop all data would be going to dual external drives for redundancy).

The price would be a little over $5000NZD Which is just over $3600USD.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the problem is in New Zealand or Brazil why the currency is almost worthless in those countries. But Canada is going to be like Brazil in no time if the currency keeps getting weaker and weaker every year.

Why the British Pound or Euro is doing so much better than Canada currency I have no idea.
 
Bubble99 said:
I have no idea what the problem is in New Zealand or Brazil why the currency is almost worthless in those countries. But Canada is going to be like Brazil in no time if the currency keeps getting weaker and weaker every year.

Why the British Pound or Euro is doing so much better than Canada currency I have no idea.
Click to expand...

New Zealand currency isn't worthless at all. It's just that we have a small population. Everything is expensive here.
 
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