The cheapest place to buy an iPhone 15

The iPhone 15 turned out to be every bit as impressive as we expected —the iPhone 14 was a powerful handset that measured up to any Android phone on the market, and its predecessor is no less stellar. We also know how much it will be in each different country. This led us to ask, where is the cheapest place to buy an iPhone 15?

It’s worth asking this question because the pricing of the iPhone 15 can be considerably different when you cross borders, and we’re also thinking of it from a US resident’s perspective. Most nationals buying in the States have to pay sales tax when purchasing the iPhone 15, but that isn’t the case when you’re abroad. In fact, if you’re passing through a country as a tourist, you may even be able to claim a rebate on the sales tax when you buy the phone in that country. This is one reason that some people like to shop when they’re abroad.

How does that affect the amount that you’ll be paying for the iPhone 15 outside of the US? Let’s crunch the numbers.

What are the cheapest countries to buy an iPhone 15?

We looked up the price of the iPhone 15 in dozens of countries to make this comparison, based on the price of buying the unlocked model from the official Apple site of each region. There will be ways to get the phone for less than the retail price via carrier plans or by trading in your old phone, but these aren’t without caveats. You may even encounter vendors trying to sell you the handset at a much better price while traveling, but we’d advise caution on such offers. If it’s not from an official Apple retailer and it’s suspiciously cheap right after the phone launched, you might be looking at a stolen or fake model.

The table below shows how much a US resident would pay for the iPhone 15 in each country in US dollar terms. We’ve spared you the calculations, but the prices you’re seeing are the cost of the phone in the relevant country, less the amount of tax you can claim back as a tourist, and then converted into USD on the date of publication. The United States is the exception here in that the sales tax has been added. This varies depending on your state, but with the iPhone 15 retailing for $799 in America, we’ve used $875 as the price plus tax as an average benchmark for how much you’d end up paying at home.

The cheapest place to buy an iPhone 15 is Japan, and by some distance. The phone will cost you $760 there if you claim back the 10% sales tax before you leave. The next cheapest countries are China at $835 and Canada at $836, with a handful of other countries being marginally less expensive than the USA.

On the flip side, Brazil is by far the most expensive country to buy the iPhone 15 in dollars. While the majority of the territories are in the $800 to $1,000 bracket, the South American nation has the phone priced at over $1,800. There are a few possible reasons for this that we’ve touched on below.

Should I buy an iPhone 15 from another country?

It certainly isn’t worth a US resident traveling to Japan or any other country with the main intention of buying the iPhone 15. The very most you’ll save is around $100, and the cost of your trip will be many times that amount. A Brazilian who could literally buy two of the devices for the price that they would pay for one at home might be more tempted to make the trip.

If you just happen to be passing through one of the cheaper countries for business or pleasure, you might think it’s worth buying the iPhone 15 at a marginally lower price. You’d have to be sure you have time to claim your rebate and know the process involved. You should also be aware that the phone may be differently configured out of the box, and any manufacturer guarantee could be much more difficult to utilize once you get home. Our advice would be not to bother.

The price of the iPhone 15 in each country will depend on lots of market forces specific to that region. These include the various taxes, import duties, and delivery costs to get the phone on the shelves, plus the consumer demand for the device. The profit margin Apple feels it can add on based on the spending power in the country is also a factor. It may seem crazy that the phone could be double the price in some parts of the world, but the company will have done its market research.

For example, the seemingly extortionate pricing in Brazil is probably down to the tax system in that nation. There’s a huge import tax on foreign-made tech items like the iPhone, sometimes as much as 100% of the product’s value. When this cost is passed on to the consumer, you can see how it could double the price.

We also have to come back to the main caveat of this article, which is that we’re running the comparison by converting the price in each country into US dollars. This brings exchange rates into the discussion, and the global economy has been more than a little turbulent in recent years. Exchange rates could have fluctuated quite a lot since the prices in each country were decided by the Apple team, and they may even have ideas about how such rates could be expected to change in the future. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a different country at the top of the list when we revisit this article in the coming weeks and months.

If you are in the US, you can save some cash when buying the iPhone 15 by shopping carrier deals. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have some excellent deals running. In some cases, you might even be able to get the iPhone 15 for free.