Apple starts rolling out international iPad pre-orders

What's that, you say? The iPad pre-order button is now propagating itself over on Apple's global assortment of online stores? The Australian retail is already taking your hard-earned change, while we just saw first-hand the UK variant go down, go up with an iPad pre-order icon on the front page, then subsequently hidden again behind a yellow sticky note within minutes of this writing. We imagine the rest of the stores will be following suit (if they haven't already). Ladies and gentlemen of the pro-Apple persuasion, better double check your bank accounts -- in case you forgot, the full launch is May 28th.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[DoctarPeppar Posted May 9th 2010 8:02PM]

Yeah iPad!!!!

[tklr08 Posted May 9th 2010 8:24PM]

@DoctarPeppar
I'mma be, I'mma be, I'mma I'mma I'mma not gonna be watching Hulu

[DoctarPeppar Posted May 9th 2010 8:27PM]

@tklr08
Hulu sucks...I use it at work sometimes when I'm bored but 99% of all my tv shows -- I get from torrents.

[tklr08 Posted May 9th 2010 8:28PM]

@DoctarPeppar
Hulu is awesome..
And I get most of my tv shows from TL.

[DoctarPeppar Posted May 9th 2010 8:32PM]

@tklr08
Heh :P TL > *
But if ur on tleech then what u need hulu for!?

[tklr08 Posted May 9th 2010 8:33PM]

@DoctarPeppar
When I'm on the go...My Windows Mobile phone does flash wonderfully.

[Gregorian Posted May 9th 2010 8:53PM]

@tklr08

Cos you can't watch Hulu outside the USA anyway.

[d0mth0ma5 Posted May 9th 2010 9:02PM]

@Gregorian You can (and I do) but it costs to hide your IP on a phone I believe.

[shotta Posted May 9th 2010 9:29PM]

@DoctarPeppar: A $1000+ (amount other prices) for a device that has no productive value, Jobs must be out of his ef-ing mind.

[uckApple Posted May 9th 2010 9:34PM]

$850 for a large iPod touch?

You can take your stupid large iPod touch and shove it up your iAss.

I will refuse to pay this kind of money for an extremely crippled device.

The iPads only eye catching feature is its screen size. This is perfect for web browsing, but thats it..
I mite as well get a touch monitor because I dont plan on walking around with a $850 glass tablet..

[Ducman69 Posted May 9th 2010 9:38PM]

@DoctarPeppar $1050 + tax.... pfffbbbbt! :D

[statickeith Posted May 9th 2010 9:44PM]

@Ducman69 looks like the rumors did turn out to be true. The Apple "tablet" is a $1000!

[Saad the other one Posted May 9th 2010 10:18PM]

@DoctarPeppar

funny how across the pond you can pre-order but in Canada you still can't even do that!

[DoctarPeppar Posted May 9th 2010 10:22PM]

@Saad the other one
Canada isn't a real country.
There's no doot aboot it, eh?

[Miakandogadget Posted May 9th 2010 10:38PM]

The iPad is too expensive in my opinion. At the higher end it's price point is too close to the cost of a Mac and at the bottom end it's price point isn't close enough to the cost of a net-book.

If you're a student you can get a MacBook for £767.28 in the UK, 2.26GHz : 250GB.

iPad (for which no student pricing is available) at the top end is £699.00, 1GHz : 64GB.

One estimate put the cost of building the top end iPad at approximately £234. And so, even after tax and other costs are deducted from it's £699.00 price point, the profit margin is massive - we're talking in the region of 100%.

At the bottom end you can expect to buy a reasonable net-book for between £200 and £300 in the UK, 1.6GHz : 160GB.

Compare that with the lowest end iPad which is 1GHZ : 16GB for £429.00.

The prices I've given below are based purely on the influence that iPad pricing is having on my decision on whether or not to fork out the money for one. As it stands, I'm only interested in the 6GB 3G version but good sense tells me to hold out because I could buy a MacBook for less than a hundred pounds more. I might be pushed to consider buying one if the prices looked a little more like this:

WiFi
16GB - £359
32GB - £419
64GB - £519

3G
16GB -£459
32GB - £519
64GB - £619

I expect iPad pricing to come down within the next six to twelve months. Whether the pricing I've put here is just wild fantasy or whether it'll happen - who knows? All I know is I want an iPad, but not for £699.00. Not even the Pope could sway me for that much, even if it guaranteed my entry to heaven.

[sl86 Posted May 9th 2010 11:06PM]

@Miakandogadget "One estimate put the cost of building the top end iPad at approximately £234."

And where did you get this estimate from? I hope it wasn't through your own imagination.

The iPad is too expensive for us students, but I doubt Apple had us in mind just yet. By the 2nd or 3rd generation the price would have dropped, and it may have a greater role in education, in which case a student discount will be available. I am waiting till then as I did with the iPhone.

[David Bailey Posted May 9th 2010 11:13PM]

@DoctarPeppar I know only one person that's getting one, and only a few that even know what it is. Seems like less advertising than usual UK side. I wish them luck with it though. That said, a luxury item might be a hard sell during financial crisis...who am I kidding, they'll sell loads.

[Punisher Plum Posted May 9th 2010 11:19PM]

@tklr08

i see no reason for your downranking, windows mobile phones DO run flash fine. I wonder why their batteries last longer than 12 minutes... magical?

[Miakandogadget Posted May 9th 2010 11:20PM]

No, this figure is according to research from ISuppli which puts it at $348.10 (£234.17)

Via Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a6fOHHpcJv7w

[Arkv2 Posted May 9th 2010 11:45PM]

@Miakandogadget
UK prices are insane. You guys always get everything so overpriced.

[meekalokan Posted May 10th 2010 12:10AM]

@DoctarPeppar could be great, i just hope those ipad-ban hammers won't materialized when we reached our borders. http://j.mp/apple-ipad-banned-in-prestigious-universities

[Atkins Posted May 10th 2010 1:16AM]

@Miakandogadget Did you really just compare the processor speed in the Macbook and the iPad??

[Atkins Posted May 10th 2010 1:18AM]

@Miakandogadget It's 260$ for the lower end. Although this only includes parts and labor.

[Vdek Posted May 10th 2010 1:23AM]

@Miakandogadget

It's just supply and demand. Even at the current price the things are flying off the shelves.

Once the people who are willing to pay a premium slows down, they will drop the price to $299/399 and people like you won't be able to say it's too expensive anymore!

I actually expect them to release an updated iPad in January for $499 while dropping the price of the current iPad to $299.

[SeeKo Posted May 10th 2010 5:03AM]

Thanks to Apple's 1:1 $/€ policy, high taxes and a new copyright fee for all computers, Germany can now claim to sell the most expensive iPads in the world. Lucky us!!!

iPad WiFi 16 GB
US = $ 499
D = $ 668
(but as I say "happy", six months ago it would have been $ 771)

[SeeKo Posted May 10th 2010 5:12AM]

@Vdek
You should know from the past that Apple simply won't do that. It's against their price policy and would be counterproductive to position themselves as a premium manufacturer. They DON'T DROP PRICES! They will update their products just a tini tiny bit as they always have, stay on the same price level and slowly take their old devices off the market.

[Miakandogadget Posted May 10th 2010 8:47AM]

@SeeKo

Not ture at all:

In 2007 the cheapest iPod Touch was priced at $299
In 2010 the cheapest iPod Touch is priced at $199

[IPADISHORRIBLE Posted May 9th 2010 8:02PM]

apple selling their bigger ipod online now, cool

[DoctarPeppar Posted May 9th 2010 8:14PM]

@IPADISHORRIBLE
Can i ask u a question...how much of your life to you dedicate towards refreshing engadget and trolling the comments?

[yulebellow Posted May 9th 2010 9:25PM]

@FUCKFACELIVESINHISMOMSBASEMENTANDSHOULDSTOPUSINGCAPSLOCK

Just wanted to say hi

[Wesscoast Posted May 9th 2010 10:03PM]

@IPADISHORRIBLE

Nice username......LOL

[tylersmyler Posted May 10th 2010 12:04AM]

I have to admit.. I did have fun playing chess and air hockey on the ipad. .. but not 600 dollars worth of fun.

[hey buddy Posted May 10th 2010 2:15AM]

@IPADISHORRIBLE That IS cool, actually

[Almo Posted May 9th 2010 8:03PM]

ORDERED! :DDD

iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G 32GB
Part Number: MC496B/A

[IAMKITTY Posted May 9th 2010 8:39PM]

@Almo Have fun with that?

[Punisher Plum Posted May 9th 2010 9:34PM]

@IAMKITTY

i think there is an error in the pricing, what you bought costs the same as my hp touchsmart tm2

[Almo Posted May 9th 2010 10:12PM]

@Punisher Plum

It very well may do, but so what? I don't see it as anything more than a gadget toy to enjoy a massive multitude of apps and online connectivity features in a sleek slim keyboardless touchscreen form. I don't want a netbook, I don't want a touch-laptop. This serves fine and paying of my own free will. Why is that so wrong?

We all buy premium toys in our lifetime.

[assb10yr Posted May 9th 2010 10:54PM]

@Punisher Plum You can have your shitty hp touchsmart

[Punisher Plum Posted May 9th 2010 11:25PM]

@Almo

well sir i apologise,

you are the first person i have ever seen rationalize an ipad in a way that actually makes sense. bravo.

@ that other dbag

shut up steve.

[Atkins Posted May 10th 2010 1:27AM]

@Almo Well, that was well summarized.... :)

[Jayden Posted May 9th 2010 8:05PM]

I just ordered my iPad 3G 64GB so excited!!

[GenericMessage Posted May 9th 2010 8:10PM]

Sucks for people over-seas. Takes the already outrageous price and makes it even more nuts? ouch

[Wesscoast Posted May 9th 2010 8:55PM]

@GenericMessage

Hmmm...Are you referring to VAT or.... you just don't know what an Australian Dollar is...?

[schultz Posted May 9th 2010 9:08PM]

@Wesscoast

Its not american dollars, I thought so at for a moment too.

Notice its A$ 629.99 etc... They aren't charging a premium for people overseas... that would be excessive even for Apple.

[GenericMessage Posted May 9th 2010 9:12PM]

@schultz

So thats what the A stands for?
So by "over seas" they mean "just Australia"?


@wesscoat

Usually when Australian dollars are represented it says AUS then the amount. Please forgive my ignorance for not understanding the significance of the letter "A"

[artstate Posted May 9th 2010 10:02PM]

@schultz
That's funny, cuz i think they ARE charging a premium... 629 australian dollars is about 565 US $... so i'm thinking that's already more expensive, no?

Those charges could be partially (or all) government electronics import duties though. Still not sucks for Australians to have to pay a lil more, but I doubt that's gonna be a deal breaker

[xenon73 Posted May 10th 2010 2:28AM]

@artstate Keep in mind that not many buyers paid $499. the majority of the US had to add tax to that, pretty much everywhere else you see the tax in included so the Oz price isn't that far off the US one

[Pearl Jam Posted May 9th 2010 8:10PM]

What a iFlapping rip-off!

But for those who purchase, enjoy!

[htd Posted May 9th 2010 8:12PM]

@Pearl Jam for those suckers, yeah!

[Pearl Jam Posted May 9th 2010 8:15PM]

@htd

I'm Aussie, and the import tax on electronic goods smashes us.