In Ireland, vat is 23% on electronics. Businesses basically don’t pay that but it still is there for the ordinary buyer.

My m2 air 24/1tb from work was 2300 or so, my personal m1 air 16/512 was 1850 a year earlier. Don’t see a huge difference between them, but the work one in particular is a giant leap ahead of the 5tr old mbp it replaced.

No doubt they’re pricey

I'm not advocating evading customs tax or anything illegal but I know many people who bring a laptop or phone back home for a relative everytime they go to the US.

Our Hyderabad associates tend to do that every time they come visit our office. Or they did, when we still had an office. It also helps that we don't have sales tax in Oregon.

Yes, average European VAT is 21%, which is built into the price. Unlike American sales tax which is added at the register.

So to fairly compare prices by exchange rate you always need to discount the European price to subtract its VAT first.

> to fairly compare prices by exchange rate you always need to discount the European price to subtract its VAT first.

Even then, it's imperfect. Some of us in the US do not pay sales tax.

That seems pretty perfect to me.

Because then you're simply comparing the price without tax in both places, the money Apple actually receives.

It's usually US price + VAT (20-24% depending on country) + exchange rate and then rounded up to nearest "xx99.99" price for margin.