Right then the speculation over the UK iPad pricing can now be banished. I was hoping for something around £379 or £399 for the basic 16GB WiFi-only device, but no.
The Guardian is reporting that the price structure will be thus:
16GB WiFi only: £429
32GB WiFi only: £499
64GB WiFi only: £599
16GB WiFi+3G: £529
32GB WiFi+3G: £599
64GB WiFi+3G: £699
(All prices including VAT)
And of course, if you’re going with the 3G option, you’ll need to buy a data plan with that (see Orange UK pricing) or hack up your existing sim card to fit if you’re feeling a bit geeky.
So what’s your poison?
It's not too bad, but as a comparison, consider that for the base model US customers will be paying $499 + (average sales of say, 7%) = $534 = £363.
If you price that with UK VAT applied, then it's $499 + 17.5% = $586 = £399
So Apple are marking up about £30 for we lucky, electorally-uncertain Brits. It's a shame they decided no to hit that £399 price point.
Mind you, if you were considering importing an iPad from the US, then you'll pay about £30 to have it couriered over insured, plus extra import duty if it isn't shipped as a gift.
Rip off – not quite a laptop, not quite a phone, as you can tell i'm not an apple fan, mainly because i'm fed up of receiving text messages from friends with loads of misspellings due to the iphone keypad being naff.
Surely it's not a rip-off for those who find it convenient? 😉