Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max buyers in India can take a flight to Dubai, buy the phone and still save Rs 24,000

Apple introduced its iPhone 15 series in India at a starting price of Rs 79,900. Now available for pre-order, the new iPhone series includes iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max. All four iPhone 15 series models are relatively expensive in India as compared to some markets like US, Japan, Dubai, Canada and more.

Here’s the country-wise price list of iPhone 15 series models

iPhone 15 Pro Max Price in Dubai 

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the cheapest in US i.e. Rs 99,411, however, in Dubai, it is available at a starting price of Rs 1,15,133. Notably, it is priced at Rs 1,59,900 in India. The disparity in price has led to a host of memes claiming that you could just take a flight to Dubai and purchase the iPhone 15 Pro Max and still save money.

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So, we try to do the calculation behind this claim to tell you if it can be done. First, you take a flight to Dubai that will cost around Rs 20,000 (round trip). The country offers visa on arrival for certain visitors from India. You can then go to any of the stores and purchase the iPhone 15 Pro Max (256 GB) for 5,099 AED (roughly Rs 1,15,133). Any further offers can help reduce the price further.  You will still pay around Rs 24,000 lesser for the iPhone model than in India.

You can also opt to stay the night in Dubai, but that cost could vary according to your stay. You don't even have to worry about the warranty of the device you've bought. Apple provides a global warranty for their devices sold in most countries.  

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Why is Apple iPhone 15 series expensive in India? 

In terms of pricing, Apple did not increase the price of iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus in India, but there was a significant increase of Rs 20,000 and Rs 5,000 in the prices of Pro and Pro Max models. This price is despite local manufacturing of iPhone 15 models.

Tarun Pathak, Research Director, Counterpoint revealed that the price hike is because even though these iPhones are being assembled in India, but most of the high-value components are still being imported and have duties, hence this has also impacted the price.

Moreover, the Pro models are not assembled in India, so 22 per cent custom duties are applied on them. Weak rupee has also contributed in making iPhones expensive in India. Pathak said that he is hopeful that in the future as Apple scales its manufacturing in India, we will see this delta reduce.

He also stated, “Apple is an aspirational brand in India. For some years, we have been observing that though the pricing remains the same, the frequency and magnitude of promotions and discounts have increased over the years for models that are being assembled in India. Apple is passing down cost benefits from manufacturing to consumers by reducing the effective price regularly across channels rather than changing the pricing strategy.”

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Apple iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max launched in India: Check price, offers