Apple's New MacBook Pricing Removes the Australia Tax

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Apple's New MacBook Pricing Removes the Australia Tax

Post by Dan @ 11:05am 14/06/12 | 52 Comments

Following Tuesday's WWDC announcement of their new line of MacBook laptops, tech giant Apple has revised Australian pricing for the new hardware, narrowing the disparity from North American price-points to far more reasonable margins.

Tech blog Delimiter reports that Aussie prices on the new 15 inch Retina Display offerings are now set at AU$3,199 for the 2.6GHz model and AU$2,499 on the 2.3GHz model, which they convert and calculate to a mark-up of only 13.65% and 13% respectively over their US dollar equivalents.

When we consider that the AU prices include our 10% GST and the US prices actually exclude their various state-specific sales taxes, the regional price differences are almost non-existent -- in stark contrast to the grossly inflated local prices on previous MacBook models.

This adjustment conveniently arrives as the Australian Federal Parliament is in the process of conducting an inquiry into IT price hiking practises -- often referred to locally as the "Australia Tax" -- and Apple had featured prominently among the names of companies listed as examples by the inquiry's figurehead Federal MP Ed Husic.

The move is undoubtedly a good PR exercise for Apple in Australia that will distance them from any negative findings of the inquiry and we can only hope that it might encourage manufacturers and publishers other tech products such as games consoles and software to follow suit.

apple regional pricing australia tax

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Midda
Posted 12:54pm 14/6/12

Still stuck with the Apple Tax though.

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teq
Posted 01:04pm 14/6/12

Apple tax? that's like saying you're stuck with the BMW tax when a Commodore will get you from point A to point B
The BMW does it in style

Billet aluminum aint cheap y0

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Scooter
Posted 01:09pm 14/6/12

But the chinese kids they get to put it together are. Zing.

Seriously though, why does a laptop with the same (or slower) performance cost more? Looks? Guess thats important to some people in a laptop/electronic device.

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mission
Posted 01:10pm 14/6/12

why does a laptop with the same (or slower) performance cost more?

How do you measure that and what's the definition of 'performance'?

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paveway
Posted 01:16pm 14/6/12

how do you measure how hip you look with a laptop cased in billet aluminium?

combined with you ipad, ipod and iphone next to you

i don't think there is a single word that could describe how hip you would look

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teq
Posted 02:17pm 14/6/12

my macbook pro has left my house all of 2 times and that was when I went away on holidays, so it aint about posing
anyone who owns one will tell you the actual experience of using one is so much nicer than anything they've ever used from dell/ibm etc

you feel like you're using a cheap plastic piece of shit when you use those old bulky things
not to mention, how many other laptops could be run over by a car and still boot up?

I dropped my MBP and dented the fuck out of it, but it still works perfectly
if it were made of plastic it would have shattered

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3dee
Posted 02:19pm 14/6/12

You pay for R&D.

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Monkeez
Posted 02:22pm 14/6/12

not to mention, how many other laptops could be run over by a car and still boot up?

Yes, because the one thing I can't stand is not being able to run over my laptop in a car.

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Deviouz
Posted 04:10pm 14/6/12

My old G4 powerbook pro still runs like a dream recording cubase like a pro

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reso
Posted 04:17pm 14/6/12

Normally I'd agree that a MBP is a bit more expensive for similar hardware when compared to an ASUS or a Dell. But are there any other notebooks on the market with that sort of screen? I can't think of any.

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TufNuT
Posted 04:25pm 14/6/12

lol @ the new Mac book pros having the RAM soldered on to the board

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Caveboy
Posted 04:29pm 14/6/12

$2500 for this piece of shit....LOL

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Mosfx
Posted 04:31pm 14/6/12

You pay a premium for a product to a company that has made close to $1 Trillion, yep I'm all for successful companies especially in this economic environment but seriously they should be able to move their prices down slightly...

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/apple-set-to-be-first-1-trillion-company-20120409-1wjzr.html

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fpot
Posted 04:33pm 14/6/12

frothing at the mouth Apple fanboyism

hahaha oh dear.

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Whoop
Posted 05:15pm 14/6/12

anyone who owns one will tell you the actual experience of using one is so much nicer than anything they've ever used from dell/ibm etc

Can't say I was too impressed with my friends' dell laptop, it felt cheap and plasticy even when compared to an equally made-of-plastic toshiba that I had at the time. The toshiba felt more chunky, like it was made of tougher plastic. Not that it made an ounce of difference though because my toshiba crashed every few minutes because it was broken out of the box. I'll never touch another toshiba laptop as long as I live, so I fucked it off & bought a macbook pro. I'll never regret that move. Will I ever buy another one? Probably when this one breaks. Do I feel a need to upgrade just because the new ones are shiny and have a fancy screen? No. Of all the computer devices I've used, my MBP has given me the least amount of trouble.

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copuis
Posted 05:19pm 14/6/12

Apple tax? that's like saying you're stuck with the BMW tax when a Commodore will get you from point A to point B
The BMW does it in style

Billet aluminum aint cheap y0

er you might have that the other way around,
BMW well built, hi tech, long lasting, does the job with easy, and without using much power

commodore cheap, overpriced because of the badge, and using old/standard tech as new

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Rhys84au
Posted 09:46pm 14/6/12

so copuis your bmw line seems to describe my MBP...

im no apple fanboy, i have a pc i use strictly for gaming and i have a MBP for everything else.. i find for work/study/media.. everything not gaming the mac is far far superior. i dont have any problems with it playing any games with mac clients.. they run quite beautifully but i do admit to needing the pc there for the vast majority of gaming.

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Infidel
Posted 12:41am 15/6/12

If I had the choice of:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x/pd

or

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air/select

Definitely would go the apple again. You get OS X and only a couple clams more.

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Whoop
Posted 12:45am 15/6/12

You get OS X and it seems cheaper.

yeah
windows upgrade: hundred bux or whatever
osx upgrade: $31.99 in the app store

:)

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kos
Posted 01:04am 15/6/12

yeah
windows upgrade: hundred bux or whatever
osx upgrade: $31.99 in the app store

:)

Not really comparable in that way, Apple releases smaller upgrades more often.

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Jayman
Posted 03:28am 15/6/12

That price isn't per device either. It lets you legally upgrade all your devices.

Apple's entire notebook line is top notch and worth the extra.

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jmr
Posted 07:00am 15/6/12

Shit might need a new MBA before the EOM.

i7 2.0
8GB RAM
512GB Flash
Thunderbolt to Gigabit (Finally)

$2534, ouch

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jmr
Posted 07:06am 15/6/12

Man I can't wait to see windows on that retina display with the right drivers

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Spook
Posted 07:07am 15/6/12

my macbook pro has left my house all of 2 times and that was when I went away on holidays, so it aint about posing
anyone who owns one will tell you the actual experience of using one is so much nicer than anything they've ever used from dell/ibm etc

you feel like you're using a cheap plastic piece of shit when you use those old bulky things
not to mention, how many other laptops could be run over by a car and still boot up?

I dropped my MBP and dented the fuck out of it, but it still works perfectly
if it were made of plastic it would have shattered

wow, sounds like you need a super expensive under performing laptop if you are going to be that unco with it and let it get run over and drop it all the time.

me? i prefer to spend my money wisely and get performance for my cash, and then look after my laptop, not leave it sitting under cars or dropping it willy nilly.

why the fuck would i care what my laptop feels like?! (oooohnooooo it feels plasticy, this just wont do!)

u apply guys are hi-larious.

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jmr
Posted 07:18am 15/6/12

Haha they're going to need to change their wording here

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Rhys84au
Posted 09:24am 15/6/12

Why? It's 220 dpi iirc. Retina... Only slightly lower than iPhone but it's all dependent on viewing distance

It's retina

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mission
Posted 09:32am 15/6/12

Unless I'm missing what you are saying, I think jmr means that the laptop screen has more pixels than the external monitor... so by connecting a MBP with Retina display to an external monitor you won't gain any more pixels, you'll actually lose them.

Also, spook is too bitter about using inferior equipment, it can't be healthy :)

last edited by mission at 09:32:06 15/Jun/12

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Spook
Posted 09:46am 15/6/12

completely unbittar.

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jmr
Posted 11:41am 15/6/12

Huh Rhys?

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natslovR
Posted 12:15pm 15/6/12

No you get nearly twice as many. you have all the pixels in your MBP and all the pixels in your 27".

You wouldn't believe how many pixels we have in this house, when you factor in our 2 tvs, 3 monitors, 2 iphones and my GameBoy!!

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teq
Posted 12:29pm 15/6/12

i dont plan on running over my laptop, but the point remains that a plastic laptop certainly wont hold up as well as one made from aluminium
and yes, I do need a high powered laptop because I am a high powered man, mang

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Nakor
Posted 12:59pm 15/6/12

If I had the choice of:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x/pd

or

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air/select

Definitely would go the apple again. You get OS X and only a couple clams more.

A couple of clams after the $200 extra you already spent on a comparable laptop. And these are the Macbook Airs, which are the best comparable Apple laptops available (for good reason, I imagine it was easy to make a laptop this thin/small after already making iPads)

Start looking at the MBPs (as the hip people seem to call them these days) and the price compared to a similar spec just keeps jumping.

Retina display hopefully takes off, but didn't Apple have heaps of issues with apps not supporting it on the first iPad that had it? To the point where they were thinking of locking certain apps from being able to be run on them. Is this going to happen on a new laptop as well?

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reso
Posted 01:06pm 15/6/12

Unless I'm missing what you are saying, I think jmr means that the laptop screen has more pixels than the external monitor... so by connecting a MBP with Retina display to an external monitor you won't gain any more pixels, you'll actually lose them.

Also, spook is too bitter about using inferior equipment, it can't be healthy :)last edited by mission at 09:32:06 15/Jun/12

You'll lose pixels but gain in actual usable real estate by getting a 27" ACD though. The Retina Display even though it is 2880x1800 or whatever still only provides a usable space of 1440x900 in OS X. Not sure if you can disable the HiDPI mode in Lion or not? Might be locked if it identifies a screen like that.

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TicMan
Posted 02:02pm 15/6/12

I don't get all the fuss over Retina. I have a 'new' iPad and can't notice any difference with how things look on it - sure they are pretty but nowhere near as boner inducing as the fan bois lead us to believe.

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Spook
Posted 04:28pm 15/6/12

ticman, you are obviously doing it completely wrong as its the new awesome.

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Pinky
Posted 04:37pm 15/6/12

Can't wait to "gain possibilities"! I knew there had to be more than just a screen at that price!

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parabol
Posted 11:38pm 15/6/12

Can't wait to "gain possibilities"! I knew there had to be more than just a screen at that price!

You should claim you gained no possibilities and ask for a refund. False advertising.

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step
Posted 01:03am 16/6/12

my macbook pro has left my house all of 2 times and that was when I went away on holidays, so it aint about posing

Sounds like getting a laptop was the wise investment...

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mooby
Posted 07:03am 16/6/12

i just bought a 27" mac. love it. if i need to do windows dev, i rdp into my hyperv server or run a virtual box vm.

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Tepid
Posted 08:36am 16/6/12

my cpu fan clamp broke somehow while i was overseas, not using my PC (i have no idea how) and i was all up in a huff thinking about buying a new PC, an all in one, a small little one, or a mac even. i figured my PC had lasted me 4 years so far and is getting a bit old, and i was tired of screwing around with it with little problems like this. another time my power supply died.

then i started looking around at prices. honestly i didnt even want to spend 1000.

a mac would have been nice but for similar performance of my 4 year old pc, would have cost over 1500 for an iMac.

then i just bought a new CPU fan and replaced it for 40 dollars.

yes I'm cheap. but my old PC still works great. and i still use a cheap netbook when im travelling.

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Jayman
Posted 12:26pm 16/6/12

You'll lose pixels but gain in actual usable real estate by getting a 27" ACD though. The Retina Display even though it is 2880x1800 or whatever still only provides a usable space of 1440x900 in OS X. Not sure if you can disable the HiDPI mode in Lion or not? Might be locked if it identifies a screen like that.

Here's How it works: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5996/how-the-retina-display-macbook-pro-handles-scaling

Apple offers five scaled settings including the default pixel doubled option: 1024 x 640, 1280 x 800, 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200. Selecting any of these options gives you the effective desktop resolution of the setting, but Apple actually renders the screen at a higher resolution and scales it to fit the 2880 x 1800 panel. As a result of the upscaled rendering, there can be a performance and quality impact. It's also worth noting there's no default option for 2880 x 1800, which is understandable given just how tiny text would be at that resolution. I suspect it won't be long before users figure out how to manually add a zero-scale, 2880 x 1800 option.

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Nitro
Posted 01:16pm 16/6/12

If I could run all my games on OSX I'd probably switch to mac full-time. Just sayin'.

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Skitza
Posted 04:25pm 16/6/12

just got an air, whats the best player for divx, mkv? needs to be able to play dts audio?

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reso
Posted 04:27pm 16/6/12

I just use VLC.

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Jayman
Posted 04:44pm 16/6/12

just got an air, whats the best player for divx, mkv? needs to be able to play dts audio?

VLC or MPlayerX. I have both installed but MPlayerX is really slick.

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Spook
Posted 06:27pm 16/6/12

vlc? wow, its just like you are running a pc, except you paid twice as much!

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simul
Posted 06:47pm 16/6/12

vlc? wow, its just like you are running a pc, except you paid twice as much!

Except the VLC mac layout is a lot nicer.

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Spook
Posted 06:52pm 16/6/12

Except the VLC mac layout is a lot nicer.

whats that? it plays media better on a mac than it does on a pc? no?
oh

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Whoop
Posted 06:54pm 16/6/12

mplayerosx is the ducks nuts. VLC works too.

One thing I forgot is that I love how metal things stick to my MBP. One night I left my dinner plate next to it*** and when I picked it up the fork was stuck to the lid of the macbook. Fucking magnets.

***by next to it, I meant on top of it. Try that with your plastic laptops. I use my fucking macbook as a table, bitch.

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Skitza
Posted 02:41pm 17/6/12

fuck yeah thanks boys!!

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EniGma
Posted 03:16pm 17/6/12

One thing I forgot is that I love how metal things stick to my MBP. One night I left my dinner plate next to it*** and when I picked it up the fork was stuck to the lid of the macbook. Fucking magnets.

***by next to it, I meant on top of it. Try that with your plastic laptops. I use my fucking macbook as a table, bitch.

Surprised you're not using plastic cutlery after what you had to pay for a MBP. :O

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jmr
Posted 06:14pm 18/6/12

Taking expressions of interest on my MacBook Air. Might upgrade before EOFY

13" MBA purchased 25/03/2011. Making it the longest lasting laptop for me
4GB RAM
256GB SSD
Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit
Core 2 2.13

Most solid laptop I've ever owned

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