Apple is slashing the market retail price of its product portfolio including iPhones, iPads and Macs in India starting July 1. Apple has not confirmed whether the price cut is based on the new tax reform, but CEO Tim Cook recently appreciated the government's move to implement GST during PM Modi's visit to the United States. Under the GST regime, smartphones are now taxed uniformly at 12 percent, while they were previously taxed anywhere between 8 to 20 percent depending on the state.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is offering up to 7.2 percent discount on the iPhone range in India. Apple's iPhone SE with 32GB storage now starts at Rs 26,000, a discount of Rs 1,200, while the 128GB model gets discounted by Rs 2,200 to a retail price of Rs 35,000. The iPhone 6s 32GB and 128GB models are now priced at Rs 46,900 and Rs 55,900 respectively, while the larger iPhone 6s Plus will retail for Rs 56,100 and Rs 65,000 respectively for the 32GB and 128GB storage variants.
Apple is offering a maximum discount on its premium iPhone 7 Plus smartphone. The Apple iPhone 7 Plus with 128GB gets a price cut of Rs 6,600 and will now retail for Rs 85,400. The iPhone 7 Plus 128GB variant was announced in India at a retail price of Rs 92,000. The iPhone 7 starts at Rs 56,200 for the 32GB variant, Rs 65,200 for the 128GB variant and Rs 74,400 for the 256GB variant.
Apple is also cutting the price of its iPad lineup with the newly announced 10.5-inch iPad Pro getting a price cut even before it goes on sale. The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 512GB storage will retail for Rs 97,000, down from the 1 lakh plus price tag at the time of launch. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro now starts at Rs 50,800 for the 64GB WiFi-only variant and goes all the way up to Rs 84,500 for the 512GB variant with Wi-Fi and Cellular support.
The price of Apple MacBook Air remains unchanged, but the new 12-inch MacBook now starts at Rs 1,04,800, down from Rs 1,09,900. The 13-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, gets a discount of Rs 5,000 on the base model. The 13-inch MacBook Pro now starts at Rs 1,04,900 for the non-Touch Bar model, and goes up to Rs 1,64,100 for the 512GB variant with Touch Bar. The 15-inch MacBook Pro will retail at Rs 1,95,800 and Rs 2,28,100 respectively.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly stated that India remains one of the top priority markets for the company. With the new price cut, Apple seems to be passing the benefits of GST to consumers.