[Apple](http://www.apple.com) announced some shiny new things today. Given that the Australian dollar is around 92 cents, we’d hope for a good exchange rate. What has Apple actually done?
* iMac 22-inch: US $1,199, AUS $1,599
* iMac 27-inch: US $1,699, AUS $2,199
* Mac Mini Base: US $549, AUS $849
* MacBook: US $999, AUS $1,299
* MagicMouse: US $69, AUS $99
* Apple Remote: US $19, AUS $25
It’s important to remember that the US prices are before sales tax, so I’ve taken the GST (10%) off the Australian prices to work out the exchange rates.
When we do that, the exchange rate ranges from 71 cents (on the Mac Mini, which is sad because that’s the one I want to buy) to 85 cents on the MacBook. The average is pretty much 81 cents. Clearly there’s some rounding going on to hit nice price points.
Why is it so much lower? Because Apple (like most other companies) isn’t silly. They know that the exchange rate fluctuates, so they don’t set prices based on what it is this week. Rather they look at longer run averages. And if you look at the average exchange rate over the last six months (excluding October, as they would have set prices a few weeks ago) it’s also around 81 cents.