Apple is cheating and ripping off Australian consumers. Apple launched its new iPad in Australia saying it was compatible with the Telstra 4G network but consumers found that it used the wrong frequency. Apple is offering refunds to buyers who were mislead.

While this could have been an oversight because it is compatible with other Australian 4G networks, its overcharging of Australian consumers is a deliberate rip off.

In Australia the prices for the new iPad is A$539.00 or in US dollars $562.00 while US consumers pay just US $499.00. The iPad 2 is $447.00 in Australia and $399.00 in the US. Given that the iPads are made in China, the freight cost should be  pretty much the same. Apple will not allow anyone from Australian postcodes to buy from its US store to bypass this price differential.

So when you buy your iPad in Oz just think of those poor Americans you are subsidizing. Just like Australian taxpayers helping to pay to support the US Government oil wars in the Middle East they have come to expect it of us.