Apple Raises Product and Developer Program Prices in Some Countries

With the new year, Apple has made a few price adjustments to its products and services, led by an increased yearly fee for the company's developer programs in a number of European countries, as first noticed by German blog Apfelpage [Google Translate].

The Apple-focused blog reports that German developers are now facing a €99 ($119) per year subscription charge for Apple's various developer programs, up from a previous €80 ($96) subscription fee. The price changes presumably affect all EU markets, as Apple typically has consistent pricing across member countries except for occasional differences due to variations in tax rates. Apple's developer programs are priced at $99 per year in the United States.

Screenshot (54)
The price increase is also in effect for the UK, where the price has been adjusted from £60 ($92) a year to £79 ($121) as noted by 9to5Mac. Across the board, the European developer program has been about on par with or slightly above the cost in the U.S. when adjusted for currency rates. Following the weakening of many world currencies compared to the U.S. dollar in recent months, however, Apple's price increases in those countries will help reset the company's desired pricing matrix but increase costs somewhat for developers overseas.

Elsewhere, the prices of Apple physical products are seeing slight hikes in a few countries. Apple Toolbox reports Apple has increased the price of products like the Mac, iPhone, and iPod in Turkey, a country where the company's products are already among the highest priced in the world. And the increase in prices may not stop there, as the Turkish Minister of Economy recently announced a plan to gain favor for products made in Turkey by introducing taxes on imported smartphones, computers, and tablets.

A MacRumors reader has also pointed out that the Norwegian people will be facing higher prices for Apple products, with the new iMac with Retina 5K Display and iPhone 6 seeing 8.3 and 12 percent increases respectively. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display received the biggest price jump, going from 10,790 kr to 12,590 kr, roughly a 14 percent increase in the cost of the device.

Apple has been known to adjust the price of its products alongside fluctuating currency values, most drastically just last month when the Russian ruble saw a sharp drop in value, causing the company to temporarily shut down its Russian online store and return with significant price hikes days later.

Though far less dramatic, these price inflations seen in other parts of the world appear due to the weakening of the Turkish lira and Norwegian krone in recent months. Even so, it's not entirely clear why the company instituted the price change to these select few foreign markets, and whether or not other countries could see a similar price hike in the future, as many other currencies have also been weakening against the U.S. dollar.

Top Rated Comments

nepalisherpa Avatar
121 months ago
Developer program should be free. They already make money off of ads and app prices.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Paradoxally Avatar
121 months ago
This isn't about the money. This is about having a separation between developers who are not willing to pay anything (that's my home account), and developers who are serious enough to pay cash for a developer account (that's my company's account).

It is stupid that learning devs have to pay $99 to even be able to run their app on their devices without any workaround methods. Sure, you can buy a provisioning profile and UDID registration for $8-9 from some websites, but it's not the same thing.

They should only make you pay when you want to publish apps, not run them internally.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fzang Avatar
121 months ago
Developer program should be free. They already make money off of ads and app prices.

While I partly agree with this, you can bet that a lot of people get into developing for the sake of putting some rubbish into the App Store hoping to make a quick buck. Without this rather steep entry level pricing we might have more trash in the App Store than we do now.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
121 months ago
I'd have no issues if apple adjusted the prices when the U.S dollar falls, they do not, but are one of the first to put up prices when the dollar goes up. Profit profit profit. I agree with others, it should be free, or close to it, it's the developers that are a huge part of apples success.

----------

This isn't about the money. This is about having a separation between developers who are not willing to pay anything (that's my home account), and developers who are serious enough to pay cash for a developer account (that's my company's account).
If it was not about the money they would not be raising the prices due to a stronger dollar! Of course it's about the money, in relation to this tread.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
121 months ago
I suspect this has to do with new cross-border sales tax rules in the EU which have just come into effect.

"Information for businesses who make cross-border supplies of digital services to consumers in other EU member states. From 1 January 2015 the place of taxation for these digital services will be the location of the consumer, not the location of the business supplying the service."
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
niw3 Avatar
121 months ago
That is, and always has been the case.

Anybody can download Xcode, make apps, and put them on their own devices for free. The developer program is to have the capability to publish them to the app store.
You cannot put your apps on your own device for free, without jailbreaking. For free, you can run on the simulator only.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...