Buying MacBook Pro in the US?

JH6

Hi there,

I've been looking to buy the new 2016 MacBook Pro and will happen to be in NYC at the end of the month. I've compared prices on the US and Irish Apple sites and the Pro in the US seems to be a good bit cheaper.

I'm just wondering are there any differences between buying a MacBook Pro over there and buying one in Ireland? As in specs or different requirements and such? If I buy one over there will it work fine when I bring it back and so forth?

Thanks.

Atlantic Dawn

Keyboard layout will be US, think it's about 3-4 keys different.

Creamy Goodness

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Keyboard layout will be US, think it's about 3-4 keys different.

It is possible to get UK layout, but it's a special order to an Apple Store, fine if you have a > 5 days stay, otherwise you're stuck with the crappy US layout. No amount of saving would get me to change.

PaddyFagan

Hi

(Disclaimer I've bought apple gear both here in Ireland and in the US)

A few differences:
1. The price on the apple store is ex sales tax - depends on where you buy - looks like it's 8.5% in NYC http://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/business-nys-sales-tax.page
2. You should declare any goods with a total value of more than €430 on your return to Ireland and pay the relevant taxes - http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1878a.html
3. The power supply will have a US adapter - you can get a UK/Irish one - it's included in this set for example http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MD837ZM/A/apple-world-travel-adapter-kit?fnode=8b&fs=f%3Dadapter%26fh%3D4595%252B45b0
4. As Atlantic Dawn pointed out it will come with a US keyboard - it's not wildly different.
5. The warentee will only be for 1 year (it's 2 in Europe, and in ireland you have a limited additional recourse using the consumer law) - http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/embedded-mac-warranty-us.html

Paddy

doctorchopper

Also unless you buy the apple care package you will not have any warranty guarantee over here, it will have to go back to the us for any warranty work. Also if you buy in ireland you are covered under the 6 year irish consumer guarantee with basically covers any problem you have with the mac

FourFourRED

doctorchopper wrote: »

Also unless you buy the apple care package you will not have any warranty guarantee over here, it will have to go back to the us for any warranty work.

Not true.

doctorchopper

FourFourFM wrote: »

Not true.

I'm just going from what i was told by apple canada as i was looking into buying one over there

Sad Professor

I think technically it's dependent on the warranty services available in your country, but Mac warranties are effectively worldwide, as are most Apple products these days. Buying in the US isn't a problem from an Irish perspective except that you miss out on the aforementioned EU consumer protections, which are considerable and not worth the saving you get from buying in the US. Maybe for an iPhone that you only plan to have for 2 years, but not a Mac that you might expect to get 6 years out of.

Having said that, most people don't bother evoking consumer law and usually just pay up for a repair. So I guess you have to weigh up how likely you are to take advantage of Irish consumer protection vs the dollar saving.

AndyBoBandy

Apple will generally look after an item for you here, regardless what country it was bought (though I would say buying from Apple direct helps)

doctorchopper

Sad Professor wrote: »

I think technically it's dependent on the warranty services available in your country, but Mac warranties are effectively worldwide, as are most Apple products these days. Buying in the US isn't a problem from an Irish perspective except that you miss out on the aforementioned EU consumer protections, which are considerable and not worth the saving you get from buying in the US. Maybe for an iPhone that you only plan to have for 2 years, but not a Mac that you might expect to get 6 years out of.

Having said that, most people don't bother evoking consumer law and usually just pay up for a repair. So I guess you have to weigh up how likely you are to take advantage of Irish consumer protection vs the dollar saving.

Very true, I recently had my mid 2010 MacBook pro in for repair, it was over 5 years old and they replaced the hard drive, screen and airport card all for free, they even upgraded the hard drive from 250 to 500 gig. For the couple hundred you save in my opinion its not worth it.

Sad Professor

doctorchopper wrote: »

Very true, I recently had my mid 2010 MacBook pro in for repair, it was over 5 years old and they replaced the hard drive, screen and airport card all for free, they even upgraded the hard drive from 250 to 500 gig. For the couple hundred you save in my opinion its not worth it.

Was this Apple? Did you have trouble getting them to repair?

doctorchopper

No trouble at all, brought the MacBook to compu b, needed to show them original proof of purchase and that was it,

doctorchopper

In fact it was compu B who informed me about the irish consumer law regs, i was just going to get them to repair it as i had no clue about it, so worked out very well in my case

DominoDub

Typing this on my still going strong (15" Early 2008 MBP) bought in Hawaii

Max'ed out with 4GB ram and 2TB drive. OS EL Capitan

No issues getting them fixed in Ireland ..Screen had an Issue once ..found out about an old outstanding recall on Nvidia GPU's ..was fixed by Compub no Problem ..so brand new logic board for free.

Shame it is not being supported by Apple no more with the release of OS Sierra..thanks to an older wifi card.

Was holding out to see what the new Pro's had to offer , but not too pleased with lack of connection port options , magsafe and crazy cost. ( The older Retina model looks like a better deal IMO).


**Reports today that New Pros Battery Life is Poor !

I have an 2009 iMac , 2015 Air and 2012 Mini to keep me going !