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> The new M2 MacBook Air is clearly better in every regard. The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live, so I would argue i

> The new M2 MacBook Air is clearly better in every regard. The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live, so I would argue it is not better in every regard. For most people the M1 MacBook Air is a much better investment while Apple has them in stock.

newsclues 4y ago
If you are judging based on price and inflation continues to go up, the value will stabilize or improve.
throw0101a 4y ago
> The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live […] Where do you live? Currency value changes perhaps?
- Macha 4y ago
  It's €1599 here for the M2 air, compared to €1229 for the M1 air. This is compared to US prices of $999 and $1199. The euro has weakened relative to the dollar for sure, but that's as much driven by the dollar being relatively strong and let's be real, most of apple's costs are in yuan anyway. And also the difference between $1 = €0.90 and $1 = €1 is not sufficient to account for a 25% increase in costs. If Macs were already low-margin items you could say it's just adding in padding for future currency movement that had been diminished over a longer time period (say 5 years ago when $1 = €0.80), but it's not like they are low-margin.
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    Don't think of it as a 25% difference. Think of it as a 15% difference, since in many places, Americans will also have to pay up to 10.5% sales tax.
  - least 4y ago
    Is VAT included in that markup or is that an additional cost? In the US, we don't have VAT, though most states do have Sales Tax which is not included in the price of the device.
    - powerhour 4y ago
      VAT is indeed included in Apple's list prices.
  - benreesman 4y ago
    I hate to disagree with a highly knowledgeable and basically sound comment. To perhaps add some context: I pay for my own health insurance under ACA/Obamacare, and the most expensive one is also the minimum one where I can keep my doctor. It’s around 1200 USD a month counting dental. I’m not rich off stock options or anything, I fucking notice it missing every month, but in a world where healthcare/internet/phone/etc. is more than the rent I split with one other guy 10 years ago? It’s not 200-500 USD every few years for the big SSD from Apple that’s breaking my back. I can get the best personal computer ever for less than my healthcare and phone bill? It’ll still be pretty great 3-5 years from now? This is one of the few places where I don’t feel economically over a barrel.
    - beanjuice 4y ago
      I think you forgot to add your original point, there is an EU import fee for Apple to sell products in Europe, compared to the US, which is why tech is generally more expensive in the EU compared to the US.
  - kybernetyk 4y ago
    The 20% increase or so is the VAT. The US shop shows prices without sales tax. In the EU the prices are VAT included.
    - Macha 4y ago
      VAT is in the old price too...
      - morberg 4y ago
        The US price increased 20% (999->1199). The change in exchange rate between USD and EUR adds another 10 percentage points. So the new price in EUR should* be about 30% more. The old price was €1229. Add 30% to €1229 and you end up at €1598. So yes, Apple stiffed us for one Euro on the M2. *Assuming the old EUR price was "correct" in some sense.
  - baxuz 4y ago
    In Croatia it's 1700€!: https://istyle.hr/13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8-core-cpu-and-8-core-gpu-256gb-starlight.html https://istyle.hr/13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8-c... This is insane.
  - sbuk 4y ago
    The US price doesn't include tax. Take the tax off and you'll see that the pricing is much closer.
raydev 4y ago
> The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live I grew up in the US and have now lived in Canada for more than 15 years. Unless your country has VAT or other import taxes, you can easily just take the USD value of the Apple product you are trying to buy and convert it to your currency. The price of the product will match up exactly with the value of your dollar in the last 2-4 months. 2011-2013 was a great time for Apple product buyers in Canada, the dollar was nearly at parity for a short time. And then 2 years later, every Apple product increased in price by 20%. My salary didn't go up. Inflation didn't hit Canada particularly hard. Apple has a strict profit margin they are targeting, and if your dollar goes down in value, and they will simply ask you to pay up.

newsclues 4y ago

If you are judging based on price and inflation continues to go up, the value will stabilize or improve.

throw0101a 4y ago

> The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live […] Where do you live? Currency value changes perhaps?

Macha 4y ago
It's €1599 here for the M2 air, compared to €1229 for the M1 air. This is compared to US prices of $999 and $1199. The euro has weakened relative to the dollar for sure, but that's as much driven by the dollar being relatively strong and let's be real, most of apple's costs are in yuan anyway. And also the difference between $1 = €0.90 and $1 = €1 is not sufficient to account for a 25% increase in costs. If Macs were already low-margin items you could say it's just adding in padding for future currency movement that had been diminished over a longer time period (say 5 years ago when $1 = €0.80), but it's not like they are low-margin.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  Don't think of it as a 25% difference. Think of it as a 15% difference, since in many places, Americans will also have to pay up to 10.5% sales tax.
- least 4y ago
  Is VAT included in that markup or is that an additional cost? In the US, we don't have VAT, though most states do have Sales Tax which is not included in the price of the device.
  - powerhour 4y ago
    VAT is indeed included in Apple's list prices.
- benreesman 4y ago
  I hate to disagree with a highly knowledgeable and basically sound comment. To perhaps add some context: I pay for my own health insurance under ACA/Obamacare, and the most expensive one is also the minimum one where I can keep my doctor. It’s around 1200 USD a month counting dental. I’m not rich off stock options or anything, I fucking notice it missing every month, but in a world where healthcare/internet/phone/etc. is more than the rent I split with one other guy 10 years ago? It’s not 200-500 USD every few years for the big SSD from Apple that’s breaking my back. I can get the best personal computer ever for less than my healthcare and phone bill? It’ll still be pretty great 3-5 years from now? This is one of the few places where I don’t feel economically over a barrel.
  - beanjuice 4y ago
    I think you forgot to add your original point, there is an EU import fee for Apple to sell products in Europe, compared to the US, which is why tech is generally more expensive in the EU compared to the US.
- kybernetyk 4y ago
  The 20% increase or so is the VAT. The US shop shows prices without sales tax. In the EU the prices are VAT included.
  - Macha 4y ago
    VAT is in the old price too...
    - morberg 4y ago
      The US price increased 20% (999->1199). The change in exchange rate between USD and EUR adds another 10 percentage points. So the new price in EUR should* be about 30% more. The old price was €1229. Add 30% to €1229 and you end up at €1598. So yes, Apple stiffed us for one Euro on the M2. *Assuming the old EUR price was "correct" in some sense.
- baxuz 4y ago
  In Croatia it's 1700€!: https://istyle.hr/13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8-core-cpu-and-8-core-gpu-256gb-starlight.html https://istyle.hr/13-inch-macbook-air-apple-m2-chip-with-8-c... This is insane.
- sbuk 4y ago
  The US price doesn't include tax. Take the tax off and you'll see that the pricing is much closer.

raydev 4y ago

> The price has gone up dramatically, well above inflation, at least where I live I grew up in the US and have now lived in Canada for more than 15 years. Unless your country has VAT or other import taxes, you can easily just take the USD value of the Apple product you are trying to buy and convert it to your currency. The price of the product will match up exactly with the value of your dollar in the last 2-4 months. 2011-2013 was a great time for Apple product buyers in Canada, the dollar was nearly at parity for a short time. And then 2 years later, every Apple product increased in price by 20%. My salary didn't go up. Inflation didn't hit Canada particularly hard. Apple has a strict profit margin they are targeting, and if your dollar goes down in value, and they will simply ask you to pay up.