alfrombarking

Do they have a place where all the usual stupid sheep flock to in DXB? I mean like the ones we say few days ago at Regent Street.

I'm told the price of previous version Mac Book Pro has gone down but cant decide if I should get that "thingy" here in UK or DXB. It wont hurt to know if they have a BOSE shop as well...

The Dean

There's an Apple shop in Ibn Battuta...........

Purdey

Buy Apple and Bose stuff in the US or failing that, UK, esp if you can do a VAT refund.
Prices are extortionate here and there's no 'Apple' owned store as you find in London; there are suppliers like iStyle, Virgin and Jumbo in MOE.
The Bose store shut down and it was very expensive.

nottmbantam

Yeah, I'm off back to the UK for a short break tomorrow and I'm after a Macbook Air, will be buying it there and claiming back the VAT. THe particular model I'm after isn't available here anyway in KSA.

THere a few Apple Premium Resellers in the region though, iStyle has already been mentioned.

Usually, when they bring out a new model, they price of the old stock will reduce, so it's a good time to buy one although I do fancy a newer one to replace my 2009 MBP, maybe go for a for 15" MBP with the new Sandy Bridge processor.

NorthernLad

Virgin in MoE now has an 'official' Apple Store inside - it looks pretty much the same as before. When it opened a few weeks ago I got the MacBook Air for pretty much the same price in Europe as it had 10% off. I've not checked prices in there since.
iStyle generally through freebies in - when I got my MacBook Pro from there I got mouse, casing, bag and deskstand for free.

Autonomy

It's not owned and operated by Apple.... it's not the same - it just *looks* similar....

Prices - for example - I'm looking a Mac Mini. UAE 3,199dhs ($869), USA 2,204 dhs ($599 Amazon).

Think of setting up a shop and ship account with Aramax and shipping. With 5% customs and the courier fee - will save about 700dhs.

Spugsy

Ibn Buttua, Dubai Mall and near the York Hotel is the authorised shop that sells everything and fixes your stuff for you.

Spugsy

Oh yeah teh apple shops never have any stock, I had to buy my iPod and macbook Pro from one of the electric shops.

And the new mouse. And a full size keyboard.

nottmbantam

I have set up an Aramex Shop and Ship account, and did think about buying it from a Apple Premium Reseller in the US and having it shipped over here. But I bottled it at the last minute, didn't want a grand's worth of computer being chucked around by the luggage monkeys.

Settled for buying it in the UK, with the VAT reclaim, it'll cost around another 70quid more than it would've cost from the US, which I'd rather pay to have peace of mind.

Oddly enough, the MBA I'm after isn't sold on the Apple Store online, only sold by Premium Resellers.

Blue Cat

Isn't the shop in Dubai Mall a proper Apple shop?

norsk

http://www.emiratesmac.com/forums/forum.php has a lot of information on mac and other apple gear in UAE...

or if you're in saudi try http://www.saudimac.com/


I personally have a love/hate relationship with apple. I bought my first mac in the 80's, but only rekindled my relationship a couple years ago when I bought an iPhone and a nice alu macbook pro. the problem is that however much I love their stuff it is also the worst crap you can find, for example the iPhone is simultaneously the best and worst phone I have ever owned.

Blue Cat

why is it the worst phone you have ever owned? I love mine

norsk

mostly as it keeps losing the signal entirely at random times (and this is especially bad when moving between countries and networks). and no, this is not just an iphone 4 problem. my first iphone was a 3G and that did the exact same thing.

also they keep issuing new firmware. now i don't have a problem with this from a user point of view as it brings vital bug fixes and new functionality, but i have bricked my phone twice when upgrading. and then it takes at least 4 hours to get it back to the stage it was before you attempted the upgrade..

on the other hand it is the best phone i have owned as well. i love the user interface. however i had the pleasure of testing an android phone lately and to be honest i think i will switch to android next time around...

Blue Cat

I have the 3GS and husband has the 4, both of us have never had a single problem with them. I used mine in UK no problems at all, and he has used his around the Middle East with no issues. Sorry to hear you have had these problems though.

Autonomy

What's the roaming data charges like?

The only reason I'm with Blackberry is for the global international roaming otherwise I'd have an iPhone...