Little to love: Russians faced with much higher prices in the Apple online store
Apple’s store in Russia is finally back online after currency fluctuations forced Cupertino to close it down earlier this month. Russians aren’t going to be thrilled with the new prices.
The cost of the iPhone 6 has risen 54 percent. Before the shutdown, the 16GB iPhone 6 model cost 34,990 rubles. Today, the base model costs 53,990 rubles, which translates into about $980. In the United States, the 16GB iPhone 6 lists for $649, excluding taxes.
The entry-level iPhone 5c now costs 29,990 rubles, while the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus is listed at 77,990 rubles. The iMac with Retina Display is priced at almost 200,000 rubles.
As we reported previously, the price hikes in Russia are also reflected in the App Store.
During its most extreme fluctuation, the ruble briefly sank below 80 per dollar. Things have improved in recent days, with the Russian ruble now trading at around 55 per dollar.
See also: Apple’s Maps gains Flyover 3-D view support for additional locations in Europe, Apple reportedly opens first official retail store in the Philippines, and Apple to begin levying country-specific App Store taxes across EU on Jan. 1.
Update: When originally published, we said that the price for the 16GB iPhone 6 had increased 35 percent. In fact, it went up 54 percent. We thank our reader Krystian Kozerawski for bringing this to our attention.