The real crime is that it starts at 1799 euros, which is $2100, vs $1599 in the US, I know US prices are before tax but even with 20% VAT you're far off...
> Under EU rules, if the goods you buy turn out to be faulty or do not look or work as advertised, the seller must repair or replace them at no cost. If this is impossible or the seller cannot do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, you are entitled to a full or partial refund. You always have the right to a minimum 2-year guarantee from the moment you received the goods. However, national rules in your country may give you extra protection.
> The 2-year guarantee period starts as soon as you receive your goods.
> If a defect becomes apparent within 1 year of delivery, you don't have to prove it existed at the time of delivery. It is assumed that it did unless the seller can prove otherwise. In some EU countries, this period of “reversed burden of proof” is 2 years.
Apple overprices everything in the EU on top of not shipping new features. Currency risk is a thing but nowhere near the premium they charge. I personally vote with my wallet and stopped buying anything from them.
Those regulations don't prevent apple from shipping anything, they prevent companies from abusing their users. Apple is free to ship without abusing anyone, but explicitly choose otherwise.
ASUS’s ZenBook Duo (UX84060) is over 50% dearer in Australia than in the USA.
When it was announced, I expected it to be at least 4000 AUD (~2600 USD). When I heard it was starting at 1500 USD instead (~2300 AUD), I was astonished and very excited. And it still is that price… but only in the US. In Australia it is 4000 AUD (the 32GB/1TB model, which is 1700 USD, ~2600 AUD). So I sadly didn’t get one.
Is the rest of the world subsidising the US market, or are they just profiteering in the rest of the world?
Australia has actual consumer protections such as mandatory warranty repair for years on most high end electronics. This is the “real price” that includes the vendor’s estimated failure rate and cost to repair.
Americans pay the same amount, but… stochastically.
PS: Health care is similar. Australians pay a fairly predictable amount via taxes and Medicare, Americans gamble with bankruptcy every time they break a leg. But hey, if they don’t break a leg then the “system works”!
I think you read him backwards. It’s still cheaper in the US. Tariffs certainly exist in Europe but I’m unaware of any on these laptops and US Tariffs on goods from China don’t apply to goods from China to anywhere else that isn’t the US.
Macbooks shipped to Europe don't ever touch US ground (and I'd wager 99.9% of their parts don't either). So US tarriffs should be irrelevant - and the EU doesn't have big China tarriffs outside of EV and solar panel anti-dumping retaliation.
I have a strong feeling Apple is raising prices elsewhere in order to avoid pissing off the notoriously sensitive consumers in America. Sony is doing similar things with making the PlayStation expensive everywhere to make it affordable for Americans. The world is essentially subsidizing the tariffs for Americans.
People in other countries will get pissed but ultimately suck it up and buy a product. People in America will take it as a personal offense due to the current Maoist-style cult of personality, and you'll get death threats and videos of them shooting your products posted onto social media. Just look at what happened to that beer company. No such thing would happen in Germany.
