iPad, iMac, Mac Mini, and hard drives to get even more expensive in Nepal

By
Aarohan Niraula
-
Apple Price Hike Nepal 2023 iPad 2023 iPad iMac Mac Mini Pro
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Well, this is disappointing—the Nepal government has decided to slap a 5% excise duty tax on iPad, iMac, Mac Mini, and hard drives. So expect a price hike on these Apple products and hard drives in the coming days.

What is excise duty?

Excise duty is basically a kind of indirect tax levied on the production and sale of goods like tobacco, alcohol, and luxury goods. Honestly speaking, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. An excise tax should be levied on luxury items, not smartphones, computers, and hard drives that have become essential today. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, the “iPad”  might be a “luxurious” device but something like the iMac or the Mac Mini are work machines for content creators and businesses.

Even more absurd is considering hard drives a luxury. Hard drives are the most economical and practical way of storing large amounts of data for any organization. Most of the time, it’s essential for storing customer data, work files, and media. It makes no sense why it would be a “luxury” item.

Regardless I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by this decision as the government already has a 5% excise duty on smartphones.

Price Hike on Apple iPad

Known for their sleek design, friendly UI, and versatility, iPads are by far the most popular product in the tablet space. Everything from the base iPads to iPad minis and iPad Airs, and iPad Pros are often unrivaled in their respective price segments. Currently, you can purchase the latest 10th Gen base iPad, 6th Gen Mini, and M2 iPad Pro from authorized stores. But with the new excise duty, they will get more expensive now.

Apple iPad Model Current price New Price (estimate)
iPad 10.2 (2021, 9th Gen)
64GB, WiFi only Rs. 55,000 Rs. 57,750
64GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 77,500 Rs. 81,375
256GB, WiFi only Rs. 81,900 Rs. 85,995
256GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 104,900 Rs. 110,145
iPad 10.9 (2022, 10th Gen)
64GB, WiFi only Rs. 78,000 Rs. 81,900
256GB, WiFi only Rs. 99,500 Rs. 104,475
iPad mini 6th Gen (2021)
64GB, WiFi only Rs. 85,000 Rs. 89,250
64GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 108,000 Rs. 113,400
256GB, WiFi only Rs. 115,000 Rs. 120,750
256GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 135,000 Rs. 141,750
iPad Air 5th Gen (2022)
64GB, WiFi only Rs. 95,000 Rs. 99,750
256GB, WiFi only Rs. 119,900 Rs. 125,895
iPad Pro (2020)
11” 1TB, WiFi Rs. 168,900 Rs. 177,345
1TB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 188,900 Rs. 198,345
12.9” 256GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 168,900 Rs. 177,345
512GB, WiFi Rs. 168,900 Rs. 177,345
512GB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 188,900 Rs. 198,345
1TB, WiFi Rs. 188,900 Rs. 198,345
iPad Pro M1 (2021)
11” 512GB, WiFi Rs. 185,000 Rs. 194,250
1TB, WiFi Rs. 225,000 Rs. 236,250
1TB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 250,000 Rs. 262,500
2TB, WiFi Rs. 295,000 Rs. 309,750
2TB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 310,000 Rs. 325,500
12.9” 256GB, WiFi Rs. 180,000 Rs. 189,000
512GB, WiFi Rs. 215,000 Rs. 225,750
1TB, WiFi Rs. 270,000 Rs. 283,500
1TB, WiFi + Cellular Rs. 298,000 Rs. 312,900
2TB, WiFi Rs. 325,000 Rs. 341,250
iPad Pro M2 (2022)
11” 128GB, WiFi Rs. 132,500 Rs. 139,125
256GB, WiFi Rs. 149,000 Rs. 156,450
512GB, WiFi Rs. 184,500 Rs. 193,725
12.9” 128GB, WiFi Rs. 184,500 Rs. 193,725
256GB, WiFi Rs. 199,500 Rs. 209,475

Price Hike on Apple iMac and Mac Mini

Similar is the story with the iMac and Mac Mini. With the excise duty, they too are getting more expensive too.

Apple Mac mini (2023) Performance

iMac, Mac Mini Model Current price New price (estimate)
iMac 24 (M1, 7C GPU, 8/256GB) Rs. 205,000 Rs. 215,250
iMac 24 (M1, 8C GPU, 8/256GB) Rs. 235,000 Rs. 246,750
iMac 24 (M1, 8C GPU, 8/512GB) Rs. 265,000 Rs. 278,250
Mac Mini (M1, 8/256GB) Rs. 110,000 Rs. 115,500
Mac Mini (M1, 8/512GB) Rs. 140,000 Rs. 147,000
Mac Mini (M2, 8C CPU, 10C GPU, 8/256GB) Rs. 102,000 Rs. 107,100
Mac Mini (M2, 8C CPU, 10C GPU, 8/512GB) Rs. 135,000 Rs. 141,750
Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 10 CPU, 16 GPU, 16/512GB) Rs. 217,000 Rs. 227,850

Finally, hard drives are getting pricier too. Some popular hard drive brands in Nepal are Toshiba, Kingston, Transcend, Seagate, and Adata. They will also be affected by this 5% price increase due to the new excise duty.