TravPriceProduct note · Japan × US13.6% cheaper in the US
Is Apple MacBook Air 13" M5 16GB/512GB cheaper in Japan? the US vs Japan, a US$176.68 gap | 2026 price check
Cheaper in the US by US$176.68 (13.6%): Japan ¥224,800 ≈ US$1,475.68, the US US$1,299.00.
01 · Verdict
13.6% cheaper in the US- Japan list price
- ¥224,800incl. tax · Bic Camera product page list price · Listed
- Converted US currency
- ≈ US$1,475.68JPY/USD 0.006564 · Bank of Taiwan board
- US list price
- US$1,299.00excl. tax · official list price · Listed
- cheaper in US
- US$176.6813.6% · US list price as denominator
US stickers exclude state and local tax; Japan stickers include tax. The bases differ, so this is not a landed cost.
Japanincl. tax、the USexcl. tax; where the tax basis differs, only the list prices are compared; a comparison of two named sources’ list prices, before card fees, shipping and tax refunds. Checked 2026-09-18. Before you order, use theJapan source page and the US source pagecurrent prices.
Japan vs US price table
| Market | List price | Source · checked | Tax basis · stock |
|---|---|---|---|
| JapanBic Camera product page list price | ¥224,800 | Bic Camera ↗ | incl. taxListed |
| USofficial list price | US$1,299.00 | Apple US official ↗ | excl. taxListed |
| Japan convertedJPY/USD 0.006564 (JPY/TWD 0.2076 ÷ USD/TWD 31.625) | US$1,475.68 | Bank of Taiwan rate ↗ | Spot sellingNot a card or cash rate |
| Gapcheaper in US | US$176.68 | 13.6%US list price as denominator | Extra fees not includedCard fee, shipping and tax-free extra |
To use your own FX, fees and shipping, open the Price calculator.
Is it worth buying in Japan?
Japan ¥224,800, Taiwan NT$42,400; both are same-day price snapshots taken when checked, excluding shipping, tax refunds, and card fees.
- With a 1.5% foreign card fee: Japan comes to about US$1,497.82, above the US by US$198.82.
- Break-even rate 0.0058 USD/JPY: above it the the US sticker is the cheaper one (this check used 0.0066, cross-converted from the Bank of Taiwan yen and dollar rates).
Before you buy
- Only paired when the model, capacity, and version match; a different suffix or a different memory/storage combination is treated as a different product.
- The Taiwan price is a retail-channel list price (which may be an authorized import or a parallel import), not the brand's official price.
- Price and stock follow the page on the day of verification.
05 · Sources
Each price keeps its source link, price kind, tax basis and check date, and is calculated with the TravPrice comparison method. If a price or model is wrong, check the source page and report it.
- Japan price
- Bic Camera ↗Bic Camera product page list price · incl. tax · Listed · checked 2026-09-11
- US price
- Apple US official ↗official list price · excl. tax · Listed · checked 2026-09-18
- FX
- Bank of Taiwan FX ↗Bank of Taiwan spot selling reference rate; the US dollar is cross-converted · JPY/USD 0.006564 (JPY/TWD 0.2076 ÷ USD/TWD 31.625) · 2026-09-10 23:22:00 (Taiwan time)
- Model match
- MacBook Air 13-inch M5 10-core CPU/8-core GPU/16GB/512GB SSD, product page confirms it includes the Starlight color optionThe Japan price comes from Bic Camera (Bic Camera's product page listed price): Apple 〖カスタマイズモデル〗 MacBook Air 13インチ Apple M5チップ搭載モデル USキーボード[2026年春モデル; the Taiwan side is PChome's 「Apple 蘋果 MacBook Air 13 M5 晶片配備 10 核心 CPU、8 核心 GPU」, priced at NT$42,400. The Japan spec is a CTO custom configuration (US keyboard / 512GB / 16GB / 10-core CPU + 8-core GPU / Starlight); the Taiwan standard MacBook Air 13 M5 has the same 10-core CPU + 8-core GPU / 16GB / 512GB spec, and the product page confirms a Starlight colour option — the core specs match exactly, and only the keyboard language (Japan-spec US keyboard vs. Taiwan-spec Zhuyin/English keyboard) may differ, which has been noted. root re-opened the page to re-check the product name and price. (Another row's Japan product page is the customized-keyboard version of the same spec, bundled together with this item.) US price 2026-09-18: schema.org: 13-inch M5 10-core CPU / 8-core GPU / 16GB / 512GB Starlight; partNumber MDHA4LL/A; $1,299.00 USD.
- Official product page
- Brand product page ↗Product images on this site are redrawn illustrations; use the official page for appearance, extras and packaging.
- This page generated
- Generated from the same checked data; it is recalculated when the data updates.
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