Who's buying the new Macbook Pro?!

scifan57 · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Just done the calculation on pricing using the British Apple website and the American one. The 15" model retailing for US$2799 works out to be US$59 cheaper in the UK, using the present exchange rate of GBP1=USD1.21838

An iPad Pro 12.9" 256Gb works out to be $85 cheaper in the UK than in the US.

In addition, a visitor to Britain can get a refund of the VAT they paid when buying the MacBook Pro after they take it home.

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

scifan57 said:
In addition, a visitor to Britain can get a refund of the VAT they paid when buying the MacBook Pro after they take it home.

Many retailers in the UK subscribe to "Tax free for tourists" meaning you don't have to pay the VAT component in the first place. I notice that Apple have started providing the breakdown on their UK website. It is actually illegal in the UK to show the price without including VAT, presumably so that people don't realize the quite shocking amount that their government is hosing them for. Still...could be worse. I believe that in Denmark, VAT is 26%.

scifan57 · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Many retailers in the UK subscribe to "Tax free for tourists" meaning you don't have to pay the VAT component in the first place. I notice that Apple have started providing the breakdown on their UK website. It is actually illegal in the UK to show the price without including VAT, presumably so that people don't realize the quite shocking amount that their government is hosing them for. Still...could be worse. I believe that in Denmark, VAT is 26%.

I'm assuming that there's some paperwork to fill out to satisfy the government that the item was exported from the U.K. They had tax free tourist shops in Japan when I visited. You were provided with a special receipt that had your passport number attached and had to show the devices and receipts to customs on demand when leaving Japan.

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

scifan57 said:
I'm assuming that there's some paperwork to fill out to satisfy the government that the item was exported from the U.K. They had tax free tourist shops in Japan when I visited. You were provided with a special receipt that had your passport number attached and had to show the devices and receipts to customs on demand when leaving Japan.

Probably. I don't know how it works. I assume you have to show a passport and some proof that you are exporting the goods.

I just did the calculation on the Canadian price. Scary. The price differential of the MBP based on the CAD is a whopping US$190. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some price rises here if the CAD doesn't do some recovering soon, although the outlook for the currency is quite a bit better than it is for the GBP, which could suffer a massive fall if it loses its status as a reserve currency.

ardchoille · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Seems to me that quote could be useful in most areas of life. How much simpler things could be if people just got on with things the way they are instead of attempting to change the world to fit their agenda?

Yep, acceptance is one of the stages of grief at which some people never arrive.

ardchoille · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Just done the calculation on pricing using the British Apple website and the American one. The 15" model retailing for US$2799 works out to be US$59 cheaper in the UK, using the present exchange rate of GBP1=USD1.21838

An iPad Pro 12.9" 256Gb works out to be $85 cheaper in the UK than in the US.

Clearly I'm living in the wrong country

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

ardchoille said:
Clearly I'm living in the wrong country

Perhaps, but in the right part of the wrong one. If you have to live in the US, you can't do better than Washington or Oregon.

Pinkpoison · Oct 31, 2016

Wherever you live the new MacBooks are very expensive, It will be interesting to see just how many sell.

ardchoille · Oct 31, 2016

Poisonivy said:
Wherever you live the new MacBooks are very expensive, It will be interesting to see just how many sell.

Well, I know they'll sell at least one.. that is if I can save up the money before Apple move on to something else. I rather see the price as an investment more than anything.

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

ardchoille said:
Well, I know they'll sell at least one.. that is if I can save up the money before Apple move on to something else. I rather see the price as an investment more than anything.

Could be worth a trip to Vancouver to take advantage of the Canadian price. Just don't take any hand grenades. (Local joke, before anyone asks)

ardchoille · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Could be worth a trip to Vancouver to take advantage of the Canadian price. Just don't take any hand grenades. (Local joke, before anyone asks)

I like the way you think! It would definitely be worth the $2.00 for the ferry ride over.

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

ardchoille said:
I like the way you think! It would definitely be worth the $2.00 for the ferry ride over.

Ah, Victoria, eh? If you do, make sure you claim your GST back. As far as I know you should be able to claim that and PST. Watch out for US import duty though. It should be duty free as a NAFTA commodity but it would be worth checking. My numbers were based on an exchange rate of $1.34 or thereabouts. Paying by Visa would get you the best exchange rate. You get the commercial rate and no commission, rather than the tourist rate.

Pinkpoison · Oct 31, 2016

I've been spending quite a bit of time reading comments on the new Macbooks on various sites and in general people are very unhappy with what has been done to the Macbook. The consensus seems to be that Apple have sacrificed the features we loved in favour of a thinner lighter Macbook.
Most people aren't that bothered about thinness, What people want is what we already had, A Macbook that was versatile and a Macbook that had all the ports we needed.

I have to agree too.

KevinJS · Oct 31, 2016

Yes. Too much, too soon. Two USB-C ports by all means but HDMI, SD and one USB 3 too. Also they could have kept MagSafe.

Pinkpoison · Oct 31, 2016

KevinJS said:
Yes. Too much, too soon. Two USB-C ports by all means but HDMI, SD and one USB 3 too. Also they could have kept MagSafe.

I agree, I seriously worry now that one day I won't have a Macbook, I really think that Apple have lost the plot.
Like everyone else I watched the event and thought wow! But no, digging deeper I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Apple have taken away everything that was great about the Macbook.