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Brazil has by far the most expensive iPhone 12 in the world, at least for now

While the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max went up for pre-order last Friday, the company also announced that its full lineup of 2020 iPhones is coming to more countries on November 20, including Brazil. While this may sound irrelevant, Brazil will once again have the world’s most expensive iPhone by far — but it might lose first place in the ranking over the next few weeks.

Pre-orders of the iPhone 12 will begin on November 13 in Brazil, a week before the phone reaches the stores. The company has revealed the local prices and they’re not quite exciting for Brazilians.

More than that, the Brazilian website Tecnoblog found out that Brazil has the most expensive iPhone 12 in the world when compared to other countries where Apple’s latest smartphone is already available.

Customers who plan to acquire a 64GB iPhone 12 mini in Brazil will have to pay R$6,999, which is equivalent to US$1,270. Italy comes next in the ranking for the same model, but with a considerably lower price: €839, or US$996. In the United States, iPhone 12 mini starts at $729 if you consider the full price.

When comparing the 512GB iPhone 12 Pro Max prices, the differences become even more striking. Brazil once again has the most expensive phone in this category, which costs R$13,999 — or the equivalent of US$2,535 — at Apple. This time, however, India comes in second place for the same model with the price set at ₹1,59,900, or US$2,159. In the US, the most expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max model costs $1,399.

Here are some highlights of Tecnoblog’s report for the price of the iPhone 12 mini (64GB) around the world:

  • Brazil: US$1,268
  • Italy: US$996
  • Portugal: US$984
  • Mexico: US$967
  • France: US$961
  • India: US$944
  • Japan: US$795
  • Hong Kong: US$774
  • United States: US$729

And for the iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB) price:

  • Brazil: US$2,535
  • India: US$2,159
  • Italy: US$1,946
  • Portugal: US$1,934
  • France: US$1,911
  • Germany: US$1,851
  • Japan: US$1,602
  • Hong Kong: US$1,523
  • United States: US$1,399

It’s worth mentioning that Brazil may lose the first place in the ranking soon as the iPhone 12 hasn’t been launched yet in Argentina, which generally has even higher prices. Apple doesn’t discuss how they set their prices around the world, but they vary according to the taxes and currency of each country.

In Brazil and India, for instance, the government establishes high taxes for devices that are not manufactured in the country. Apple has been assembling iPhones in these two countries to get some tax incentives, but even so there are other high taxes besides import fees that impact the price of these products.

The local currency of these countries also has a huge impact on the prices of products like the iPhone, as Apple needs to set higher prices to ensure that they’ll not have any losses with constant currency fluctuations — which is something extremely common in Brazil.

If you’re visiting any of these countries, be sure not to lose your iPhone as a walk to an Apple Store there can cost you twice the price.

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.