iPhone 15: Fly from India to Dubai to buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and still save ₹24,000

Apple's latest iPhone 15 series has sent tech enthusiasts in India into a frenzy, but for those looking to snag the top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max, a surprising money-saving strategy has emerged – take a flight to Dubai. The price gap between the iPhone 15 Pro Max in India and Dubai has prompted netizens to create memes about the potential savings.

In India, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is priced at a staggering ₹1,59,900, while in the United States, it's available for a more reasonable ₹99,411. However, the real steal can be found in Dubai, where the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at just ₹1,15,133. To put it simply, you could potentially save around ₹24,000 by purchasing the same phone in Dubai.

To break it down, a round-trip flight to Dubai may set you back around ₹20,000. Once you arrive, you can purchase the iPhone 15 Pro Max (256 GB) for approximately ₹1,15,133. Any additional discounts or offers could further sweeten the deal. Plus, you need not worry about warranty issues, as Apple provides global warranty coverage for its devices sold in most countries.

So, why is the iPhone 15 series more expensive in India?

Despite local manufacturing of iPhone 15 models, the Pro and Pro Max models saw significant price hikes of ₹20,000 and ₹5,000, respectively. This increase is attributed to the importation of high-value components, which incur additional duties. Additionally, the Pro models are not assembled in India, resulting in a 22% customs duty.

Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint, told Business Today, "Apple is an aspirational brand in India. For some years, we have been observing that though the pricing remains the same, the frequency and magnitude of promotions and discounts have increased over the years for models that are being assembled in India. Apple is passing down cost benefits from manufacturing to consumers by reducing the effective price regularly across channels rather than changing the pricing strategy."

While the prospect of jetting off to Dubai for a new iPhone might seem extravagant, for some Indian consumers, the substantial savings might just be worth the adventure.

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