Apple MacBook Pro UK price pushed up £500 by Brexit-related currency chaos

The new computers are already far more expensive than their predecessors, even without a weaker pound

Apple executive Phil Schiller introduces the new MacBook Pro on Thursday (Getty)

The new MacBook Pro was always going to be expensive. But it is very expensive indeed in the UK, after the prices were shifted because of the falling pound.

The computers are as much as £500 more expensive than previous models, because of a combination of the currency changes and the upgrades introduced by Apple.

Buying the cheapest version of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that was released yesterday will cost customers £1,749. Customers can spend as much as £2,699 on stock models of the computer, if they buy the 15-inch version.

The computer is already highly-priced, even in the US. The new MacBook with its Touch Bar represents a significant price hike on the existing version, apparently because of the extra screen and other new technologies.

But the currency fluctuations caused by the aftermath of the Brexit vote appear to have made the computers more expensive. They are priced roughly the same as the equivalent models in the US – with the price converted to pounds, tax added and a small premium included – but the value of the pound means that conversion is more expensive than it has been before.

The effect can be most clearly seen in comparisons between the old computers. The tiny 12-inch MacBook sold for £1,049 before the event – but after the new computers were introduced and the price changes came into effect, it now sells for £200 more, at £1,249.

The older MacBook Pros saw similar increases. The old 15-inch model could be bought for £1,599 before the event, but has had £300 added to the price.

None of those increased prices bring any increased specifications and the computers are the same ones that were being sold for as much as £300 less just days before.

Apple has also discontinued its cheapest laptop, the 11-inch MacBook Air. The company instead just offers the tiny 12-inch laptop, and said that it hopes that it can encourage people who would ordinarily buy the bigger MacBook Air to pay out for the cheapest version of the MacBook Pro.

The effect of currency changes is hitting all kinds of technology products. Apple already experienced the effect with the iPhone last month, and other companies including Microsoft have said that they will need to put up prices so they can continue making the same amount of money from their UK customers.