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All iPads Disgusting £100 price increase on iPad Air, and it has no hardware updates!🤬
- Thread starter Jessica_23
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That's absolutely been my forecast for weeks too, I got my 14" MacBook Pro which is increasingly looking like Apple's best deal in the UK at the moment but not because it was great value to start with but because of the way that Apple update their prices on other options I might have considered - we all know how much an 13" M2 MacBook Pro costs once you spec up 16Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD - you may as well pony up the extra for the 14" M1 Pro in most cases.
Seriously folks, if you're in for a Mac in the UK get one of those because newer M2 Macs have had the price increase, the M1 Macs haven't had a unilateral price increase yet.
The evidence is stacking up for both arguments:
The M1 Air stayed the same price and stayed in the lineup when the more expensive M2 Air was released because Apple needed to keep a $999 laptop in the lineup.
Apple will be doing the M2 Mini soon and I have argued that they might keep the M1 mini in the lineup so that the range can still start at $699.
But Apple unilaterally putting the price of the M1 iPad Air (5) up puts this in doubt.
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I’m not sure that’s relevant. Apple can choose their desired profit margin. If they choose to raise prices as opposed to absorb inflationary pressure into their current prices, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Also, when it comes to Apple silicon, I imagine in the case of M-series chips, they’re baking in the R&D costs in the initial years, so I don’t actually know if they’re yet increasing their ultimate profit margins, per se. I imagine only Apple really does.
I’d rather pay lower prices, but I don’t think it’s some immoral scheme that Apple might increase prices based on charges in the supply chain issues that have existed for years now, factoring in R&D costs for newer designs, other economic pressures, etc. I dunno, that’s just how I see it.
I did not read the entire thread but saw your comment. Not sure what I should read?
the USD was stronger for the iPhone X and so we ate a bigger increase in price with the EUR price (1.65 instead of 1.5). Anyway, Appreciate the dialog
I did not read the entire thread but saw your comment. Not sure what I should read?
the USD was stronger for the iPhone X and so we ate a bigger increase in price with the EUR price (1.65 instead of 1.5). Anyway, Appreciate the dialog
In September 2018, the exchange rate for euro to USD was 1.16.
iPhone Xs was $999 in the U.S. and €965 in Europe.
Yes, Apple charges a 5-10% premium during currency exchange.
Yes, Apple also lowers the price when foreign currencies are high compared to USD.
I bought my 256gb cellular mini, albeit on sale for £699 (regular price then £759) a few months back. It’s now £929 on Apple’s store. Up £170! A 22.4% increase!
From a global economy perspective, this is a feature not a bug. If you can't afford foreign products but your products are more attractive to foreigners, then your economy will see an increase in demand and thus an increase in jobs. In theory, when the demand starts to heat up your economy and inflation becomes a risk the central bank should raise interest rates which should increase the value of your currency and reduce demand within your economy and make foreign products more affordable (but your own products less appealing for export).
People are getting way too hung up on the maths here. Apple picks and chooses what products they apply the conversions too, look at the new AirPods Pro, they have the same price as the last generation here in the UK. Apple has decided that they will not convert that. Meanwhile Apple has decided to increase the price of the 12.9 inch iPad Pro by 25%.
Pure and simple they are doing what they think they can get away with.
On a personal level I don’t think the market will sustain these prices for long though given significant other factors at play here in the UK.
Pure and simple they are doing what they think they can get away with.
On a personal level I don’t think the market will sustain these prices for long though given significant other factors at play here in the UK.
Same here I got my 256 GB cellular model for just under £700 the other week. I think I would’ve thrown up if I waited.
I was waiting for the new pro but on seeing the prices I’ve bought a 5th gen iPad Air from Amazon at the old price instead. the is no way I would pay the price of the M2 pro but even the M1 pro at the original price when I started to think about it wasn’t really worth the price hike over the air for my usage. I would have bought the air direct from apple at the original price but no chance at the new one! I knew the price of the new iPads would go up but very shocked they put the price of existing models up too
Look the price hike makes sense versus the weakness of the pound ?
To be honest I think Covid (supply chains still not normal and cases rising again) is a bigger factor. At these prices they won’t have massive queues like they did for the Mini 6, Air 5 and the 9th Gen.
On March 8th (the day the iPad Air 5th gen was released), the cost in the UK was £569 for the base spec and the exchange rate was $1.31:£1.Without UK sales tax, the price at launch was ~£475.
The exchange rate has been all over the place over the last few weeks but let's be kind and say that the current rate of $1.13:£1 is accurate. This means that £1 is worth 16% less than it was when the iPad Air was launched and priced for the UK market. If you increase the original without sales tax price of £475 by 16% you get £550. Add the 20% sales tax back on and the final price is £660. That last little difference could be an import duty, but I think it is more likely that Apple is likely hedging on the £ falling further towards parity with the $ before the next iPad prices update.
Apple only update the price of a line to account for forex changes when the lineup changes. We saw the iPhone and Apple Watch prices go up when those line ups were updated last month, we're now seeing the same for the iPad range and next month we will likely see the same for MacBook range next month (perhaps just the Pro range, but we'll see). This has happened time and again over the years and could be seen in the UK especially on product launches after the £ fell heavily after the Brexit vote (I think it fell from ~$1.6:£1 to ~$1.3:£1) .
Bottom line, Apple is not taking extra money for nothing, it is merely emphasising that your monry is worth less. In fact, the iPad range has been undervalued in the UK for the last few months (and especially the last fortnight) so Apple was offering you a bargain - even if it didn't feel like it from the UK perspective.
Sadly, as a UK resident myself I'm bracing for more painful increases of imported items that are more essential than an iPad.
The exchange rate has been all over the place over the last few weeks but let's be kind and say that the current rate of $1.13:£1 is accurate. This means that £1 is worth 16% less than it was when the iPad Air was launched and priced for the UK market. If you increase the original without sales tax price of £475 by 16% you get £550. Add the 20% sales tax back on and the final price is £660. That last little difference could be an import duty, but I think it is more likely that Apple is likely hedging on the £ falling further towards parity with the $ before the next iPad prices update.
Apple only update the price of a line to account for forex changes when the lineup changes. We saw the iPhone and Apple Watch prices go up when those line ups were updated last month, we're now seeing the same for the iPad range and next month we will likely see the same for MacBook range next month (perhaps just the Pro range, but we'll see). This has happened time and again over the years and could be seen in the UK especially on product launches after the £ fell heavily after the Brexit vote (I think it fell from ~$1.6:£1 to ~$1.3:£1) .
Bottom line, Apple is not taking extra money for nothing, it is merely emphasising that your monry is worth less. In fact, the iPad range has been undervalued in the UK for the last few months (and especially the last fortnight) so Apple was offering you a bargain - even if it didn't feel like it from the UK perspective.
Sadly, as a UK resident myself I'm bracing for more painful increases of imported items that are more essential than an iPad.
There’s an awful lot of economic theory being banded about here, but I’m not sure it considers the full picture. Defending Apple for price rises citing currency fluctuations is a little short sighted. Yes, like all multinational companies Apple is exposed to a good deal of foreign exchange rate risk. How it deals with this risk is a strategy choice. There are multiple options available from use of financial instruments for hedging such as options and futures, to moving liquid funds abroad and relying on interest rate parity. There is also the option, should margins allow, to simply accept the risk and take reduced profits. The one Apple chooses is to transfer the risk to their customers. The benefit of this approach is that it costs Apple nothing, and all other approaches would have some form of cost attached. The drawback is that it affects demand. If you raise the price of a product, a proportion of your potential customers will either no longer be able to afford it or will believe that it no longer represents good value, and will not buy it. This will reduce your sales volume so, even though your margins remain the same or greater, your actual profits can fall. Apple clearly believes that any reduction in profits from decreased demand will be lower than the cost of dealing with the exchange rate risk themselves.
If in times of inflation salaries also increase, people will be more likely to accept the higher prices. From the point of view of the consumer, the majority of us in the UK have not seen our salaries increase at all. As a result, an iPad which once cost x times our disposable income now costs 1.2x times our disposable income, yet we see no tangible increase in the value of the goods being transferred to us. That is why these price increases are so difficult to swallow. The fact that it is being done at a time when people are least able to afford such an increase due to increased gas and electricity bills makes it feel like Apple are out of touch with their customer base and will lose them a good deal of goodwill.
As an aside, it is a fallacy to talk about inflation and exchange rate fluctuations as if they are two separate things. They are inextricably linked - differing rates of inflation in differing countries drive a change in the relative values of their currency, and hence cause exchange rate fluctuations.
If in times of inflation salaries also increase, people will be more likely to accept the higher prices. From the point of view of the consumer, the majority of us in the UK have not seen our salaries increase at all. As a result, an iPad which once cost x times our disposable income now costs 1.2x times our disposable income, yet we see no tangible increase in the value of the goods being transferred to us. That is why these price increases are so difficult to swallow. The fact that it is being done at a time when people are least able to afford such an increase due to increased gas and electricity bills makes it feel like Apple are out of touch with their customer base and will lose them a good deal of goodwill.
As an aside, it is a fallacy to talk about inflation and exchange rate fluctuations as if they are two separate things. They are inextricably linked - differing rates of inflation in differing countries drive a change in the relative values of their currency, and hence cause exchange rate fluctuations.
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It’s not inflation. It’s that the British pound has lost about a sixth of its value against the US dollar since one year ago, and Apple sets its prices relative to the US dollar. The £100 increase corresponds closely to the depreciation of the British pound.
Right .it’s pretty obvious they won’t ,the euro dollar parity is merely an excuse
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I believe people should stop using inflation as an excuse for Apple. It's one thing to up the price point of a newly released product, but for an existing product that were already made? A price hike is a price hike. And these are not for newly made products, it's for existing products that were already made a year ago with whatever cost Apple put in the contract even years before that.
If inflation is a factor, than those retail prices should be floating, changing every minute depending on exchange rate and inflation. But they don't. It's fixed. So it's purely Apple's decision.
They are still manufacturing the existing products on sale, but they cost more to build, ship, and support. It is only fair these costs are passed onto consumers.
In the US it's less of an issue because costs and sale price are all in USD. Overseas they've got to navigate the forces of forex and inflation.
This inflation cycle is only getting worse I recommend buying your goods now if you really want them otherwise they’re just gonna become more expensive. Or Buy an older model or consider not buying one at all. You tell your money where to go not Apple.