Apple has announced an App Store price rise for Europe and a number of other countries.
According to the related Apple news post, the move will happen “As early as October 5, 2022”, when the price of apps and in-app purchases will be hiked in any country using the euro. Besides this broad swathe of Europe, App Store prices will also be bumped in Chile, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, and Vietnam.
As a result of this App Store price rise, European price tiers will be systematically shifted up. For example, apps that formerly cost €0.99 will, from October 5, cost €1.19. The price rise was somewhat predictable given the current strength of the dollar over the euro.
Apple is constantly changing its global pricing in line with currency fluctuations. Back in January 2017, Apple boosted the price of apps by 25% here in the UK due to the adverse effects of Brexit on the value of the pound.
More recently, we saw the result of a strong dollar here in the UK with the launch of the iPhone 14 family. While the smartphone line-up maintained its pricing over in the US, British customers have seen a nasty spike.
At the top end of the tablet, the iPhone 14 Pro costs an eye-watering £150 more than the iPhone 13 Pro did last year. Meanwhile, even the creaky old iPhone SE saw a stealthy £30 price bump immediately following Apple’s recent launch event.
Rest assured that this tends to work both ways, and Apple will undoubtedly reverse course when market conditions dictate. Eventually.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
