The United States is the best (cheapest!) place to buy the new iPhones in the whole world
The new iPhones are here and they are clearly the most expensive series of iPhones Apple has ever released.
But just how expensive are they around the world?
It turns out that the United States has probably the best iPhone prices in the whole world, while people in Europe have to pay the the equivalent of nearly $1,000 for the base iPhone XR model, the same one that costs $750 in the US.
Take a look yourself to see the massive difference and we will explain why do we have such a huge variance in prices below.
| Prices in USA | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone XR | $750 | $800 | $900 | - |
| iPhone XS | $1,000 | - | $1,150 | $1,350 |
| iPhone XS Max | $1,100 | - | $1,250 | $1,450 |
And here are the prices of the new iPhones in Europe. There is some variation between different countries, and that is why you have ranges for each model.
| Prices in Europe | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone XR | €850 - €890 | €910 - €950 | €1,020 - €1,060 | - |
| iPhone XS | €1,150 - €1,190 | - | €1,320 - €1,360 | €1,550 - €1,590 |
| iPhone XS Max | €1,250 - €1,290 | - | €1,420 - €1,460 | €1,650 - €1,690 |
But why do Europeans have to pay so much for an iPhone, while people in the US get a much better deal?
The reason, as you might have guessed, is... taxes. "Nothing is certain, but death and taxes," the saying goes, and in the case of Europe, this is certainly true. Value Added Tax (VAT) varies from 18% in Malta and 19% in Germany to a whopping 25% in the Nordic countries. In Germany, that means that you pay around €690 for the base model iPhone XR, but then also pay around €160 euro in VAT, so the end customer ends up paying a lot more than the customer in the US.
Also, keep in mind that prices in Europe are listed with VAT included, while in the US, you have to pay state tax on top of the amount mentioned in the first table (unless you live in a tax-free state like Delaware).
And this is a quick breakdown of the price story and why the new iPhones are so f*king expensive in Europe.
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