Apple’s fans eagerly await each product announcement. It’s a strategy that Apple pioneered with the iMac G3. The enchanting fusion of design, applications, and technology. As a result, Apple became the first company to reach $3 trillion in 2022.
All of that costs consumers money. You’re lucky if you live in the United States, which many don’t realize. Except for Canada and Cambodia, Apple’s premium products are more expensive everywhere else.
CashNetUSA wanted to figure out where premium Apple products cost the most worldwide. The team looked at the cost for “Apple superfans” with a suite of products, including an iPhone, Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Apple TV, and a pair of AirPods Max.
Argentina is the most expensive country to be an Apple superfan, with the price of an iPhone, Apple Watch, Airpods Max, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple TV totaling $24,117.
The United Steates is the 3rd-cheapest place to be an Apple superfan, with the above products coming to $9,794 in total.
The United States is the number one most affordable country to be an Apple superfan: it would cost 18% of the average annuaiPhl U.S. income to pay for the suite of products listed above.
Burundi is the least affordable nation for Apple products, with the superfan suite costing 10,319% (more than 100x) of the average annual income.
The Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium iPhone 14 Worldwide
More than half (52%) of Apple’s $394 billion revenue in 2022 came from iPhone sales, according to its annual reports. The company sold 232 million smartphones and launched its flagship iPhone 14 in September of that year.
When it comes to purchasing a top-of-the-range model, it won’t come cheap. iPhone 14 costs $1,599 in the United States, while in the United Kingdom it costs the equivalent of $2,174 in the United Kingdom. An iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB of internal memory will set you back $4,631 in Argentina and $2,964 in Turkey — the most expensive in South America and Europe, respectively.
The Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium iPad Pro Worlwide
It is often overlooked that Apple conceptualized the iPad long before many of their other well-known products, with Steve Jobs stating in 1983 that he wanted to create “an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you.”
Fast forward 40 years, and it’s possible to buy one with 2TB of internal memory — more powerful than the strongest of supercomputers of the 1980s. Yet they don’t come cheap, as a 12.9-inch iPad Pro will set you back $6,549 in Argentina and $4,929 in Nigeria, the most expensive in South America and Africa, respectively. Hungary is the most expensive European nation to buy an iPad nowadays.
The Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium MacBook Pro Worldwide
Personal computers are where it all started for Apple. It introduced the first ‘Mac’ in 1984 following the success of its first mass-produced computer — the Apple II. They sold more than 26 million Mac computers in 2022, with its premium MacBook Pro accounting for the majority of sales, according to Statista.
The most premium model — the 16-inch MacBook Pro with 1TB of SSD storage will cost Apple fans $9,789 in Brazil, more than three times the price of the same model in Cambodia ($3,099), where Mac prices are cheapest.
The Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium Apple Watch Worldwide
From paying bills to measuring heart rates, the Apple Watch can do far more than just tell the time. They are loved by Apple fans for their versatility, but where in the world do consumers pay the most for them?
An Apple Watch Ultra bought in Argentina will cost $2,250 — the most expensive from an Apple Store anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, consumers in the United States will pay just $799, cheaper than any other nation.
The Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium Airpods Max Worldwide
Apple’s AirPods have cornered the Bluetooth headphone market since their launch in 2016, and their launch of the AirPods Max range covers the high-end, putting the brand in direct competition with traditional market leaders Sony and Bose.
But in many parts of the world, they don’t come cheap. Music aficionados in Argentina ($1,335) and Brazil ($1317) pay more than anyone else for Apple’s flagship headphones, while consumers in Vietnam ($413) are treated to more affordable sounds.
World map of the Cost of Purchasing the Most Premium Apple TV Worldwide
Apple’s digital media box has been around since 2007, but while rumors of a full HD television set to rival Sony, LG and Samsung never materialized, the Apple TV has been a commercial success, boosted by the launch of its digital streaming service in 2019.
The analysis of Apple’s prices shows that Apple TVs are the cheapest in Canada and the United States, with a 128GB 4K model costing $148 and $149, respectively, in those markets. Meanwhile, Apple fans in Argentina will have to shell out $931 for the same model.
The Cost of Being an Apple Superfan Worldwide
Few brands have an affinity with their fans quite like Apple. Consumers line up in droves when they launch new products, often waiting outside their stores overnight to get their hands on the latest tech.
But where do Apple superfans pay the most for their loyalty? People in Argentina ($24,117) and Brazil ($22,292) shell out the most for a full set of Apple’s most expensive products, while those in Cambodia ($9,494) are treated to a relative bargain for the same range.
The cost of a premium suite of Apple products varies by $14,623 from Cambodia’s cheapest market ($9,494) to Argentina’s most expensive ($24,117). The cost of the item isn’t the only economic barrier superfans confront. Taking local incomes into consideration, Argentina is not among the ten least affordable markets.
The Least Affordable Countries to be an Apple superfan
African nations account for 5 of the most expensive territories. The cost of owning a full suite of Apple tech is the least affordable in Burundi, where you would have to spend 10,319% more than the average yearly salary.
The Most Affordable Countries to be an Apple superfan
Founded in California, Apple is now one of the Big Five information technology companies in the U.S. So perhaps it’s no surprise that fans on home turf get the most affordable deal, paying 18% of their yearly salary. Costs are also affordable for those in Luxembourg and Switzerland, where Apple’s premium products would set buyers back 19% of the average salary.
The Methodology Behind This Study
The CashNetUSA team defined the cost of being an Apple Superfan by analyzing the prices in every nation of the most premium Apple products and combining them into one overall cost. The most premium Apple products were defined as the iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB, the Apple Watch Ultra, the AirPods Max, the MacBook Pro 16-inch M2 Max 1TB, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch M2 Cellular 2TB, and the Apple TV 4K 128GB.
The prices were obtained in the local currency’s list price and inclusive of tax charges, before being converted into American dollars. The prices of Apple products were derived from Apple.com or the local country suppliers that the website recommends. For other nations that lacked this data, the team derived prices from local consumer technology retailers or international online retailers and technology providers, such as Amazon.com, where international delivery charges are included.
For each nation containing available pricing for each of the highest product specifications, the CashNetUSA team merged the cost into one overall price of being an ‘Apple Superfan.’ The team also studied the affordability of these Apple products by ranking each product’s separate and combined prices against a country’s annual national net income per capita available on the World Bank website.
The CashNetUSA team omitted nations from combined cost rankings if they did not have all 6 of the most premium products accessible to purchase. Nations were also omitted from the ranking of affordability that lacked data from the World Bank on annual national net income per capita.
