If you’re reading this in Germany and you waited until the New Year to buy a new iPhone or iPad, your device-to-be just got more expensive.
Content Tax Makes German iPhones, iPads (A Little) More Expensive
But boy were they expensive already.
The Verge
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
But not too much more expensive.
Apple has raised prices on its iPhones by five euros ($5.43) and its iPads by seven euros ($7.60) because of a new tax designed to distribute funds to German content makers. Apple confirmed the price hike to the AP today; MacRumors flagged the increase a couple of days ago.
You can also see it for yourself if you click around the German version of the Apple Store and tell Apple that you want to buy a new device. The additional fee is highlighted just before checkout (that’s “Does copyright levies in the amount of 5.00 €,” per Google):
That screenshot also helps illustrate the relative size of the new tax: On a new 64 gigabyte iPhone 6s, the five-euro fee represents 0.6 percent of the purchase price. (Related: It is much more expensive to buy Apple hardware outside of the U.S., which helps explain the demographics at Apple stores in cities like New York.)
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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