Here Are The Unthinkable Prices For Apple Products In Brazil

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Following reports of insanely expensive iPhones in Brazil, we stopped by an Apple vendor in São Paulo to see for ourselves.

It's no joke.

A 64 gigabyte iPhone 5S costs 3,599 <span>reais</span>, or about $1,637, making it <span>the most expensive iPhone </span>in the world<span>. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The same product costs $849 out of contract in the U.S. - still expensive, but only around half as much.</span>

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Brazil's ludicrous prices, which extend beyond Apple products, can be attributed to transportation bottlenecks, protectionist policies, a history of high inflation, a dysfunctional tax system and an overvalued currency.

The Apple reseller we went to in São Paulo is located in the Bourbon shopping center, an upscale mall across the street from a hotel called "The American Loft." It's called iPlaces, and there are other locations all over the city.

<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">We didn't see anyone buy an iPhone 5s or iMac (before we were kicked out for taking pictures), but the store seems to get a lot of foot traffic.</span>

Brazil is in the top 10 smartphone markets with almost 50 million users, so the demand is there. <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Nevertheless, the iPhone 5S (which costs 2,799 <span>reais / $1,274 for the cheapest model) is</span> way too expensive for most people in a country where the average wage is about 2,000 reais / $910 per month.

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Now for more shocking Apple prices:

<ul>

<li>An iMac <span>with </span><span>3.4 gigahertz costs</span> about $4,320 in Brazil versus $1,999 in the U.S.</li>

<li>Apple TV costs $181 in Brazil versus $99 in the U.S.</li>

<li>Earbuds cost $67 versus $29 in the U.S.</li>

<li>A 16 GB iPad Mini with retina display and WiFi costs $681 and about $299 in the U.S.</li>

<li>A 13-inch MacBook Air (256 GB) run<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">s $2,455 in Brazil versus $1,299 in the U.S.</span></li>

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SEE ALSO: The completely outrageous cost of living in Brazil