Usually a little more, so those Macbooks are actually about 10% more expensive than in the US once you account for VAT, but it's not unusual for the exchange rate to vary by up to 10% in any given 12 month period.

Most goods are typically more expensive in Europe than in the US for all kinds of structural reasons. Transport costs are higher, labor costs are higher, power and real estate costs are higher. It just costs more to do business over here. The first time I went to the states I was shocked at how cheap _everything_ seemed to be.