New iPods – UK Prices and Release Dates
Apple announced today that the entire iPod line has been updated. The changes range from the minor, to the overhaul, to the completely new. So whilst those over in the states are chatting about the new toys on their iPhones (I swear I’m not bitter), what are us limeys to do? Well, we can look at the UK prices and release dates!
The Apple store went down during the keynote, but has already popped back online containing the new iPods, and the price comparisons aren’t favourable to us poor Brits. So let’s take a look.
The biggest announcement was obviously the iPod Touch (or the “i”, which is an iPhone minus the phone). You can see a nice video demonstration here. Over in the states the Touch comes in at $299 ( £148 approx.) for the 8Gb and $399 ( £198 approx) for the 16Gb. Compare this to the UK prices of £199 ($400 approx) and £269 ($543 approx) respectively. That’s a large premium to pay. The BIG announcement though, it’s out on September 28th.
Another big announcement came in the form of the iPod Nano, which changes shape and gets video and game support. In the US the 4Gb (silver only) will set you back a measly $149 ( £74 approx) while the 8Gb will cost $199 ( £99 approx). Compare this to the UK where the 4Gb is £99 ($200 approx) and the 8Gb is £129 ($260 approx). Once again, hefty increases. The new Nano is ready to ship in just 3 days (September 8th)!
The other announcement of note was the revamp of the iPod Classic. This was the old iPod with video. Basically, the storage capacity has been upped significantly and the interface has been tweaked to mirror that of the Nano. In the US the 80Gb will set you back $249 ( £123 approx) while the 160Gb will cost $349 ( £172 approx). In the UK, you will be £159 ($321 approx) and £229 ($463 approx) lighter respectively. Surprisingly, the 80Gb iPod classic fares up reasonably well, especially when you factor in things like VAT, the 160Gb, not so much. They, like the new Nanos are due out within the next 3 days.
Still interested? I thought so.
We get ripped off over here as well, similar pricing to you.
cheers from Australia,
– GoldCoaster
I’m tempted to go around the international stores and doing a fuller price comparison, but I fear I already know the answer! Sorry to hear you’ve been hit as well.
Danish prices on iPod Touch are extreme too..
8gb
US price: 299$
DK price: 2300kr = 432$
16gb
US price: 399$
DK price: 3000kr = 564$
Crazy!
Wow, Jonathan, those prices are even higher than the UK price comparatively. I wonder at what point it is someone at Apple sits down in a meeting and decides to charge 30% more outside of the US.
Ha ha yes.. 😛