sflagel

Excellent idea. Apple ID was always confusing; every company in the world clarifies the difference between the account, the log-in identification (mostly an email address), and the password. Only Apple blurs the lines.

Who knows, this may be the first step allowing users to use another Apple email address and, shock horror, merge two addresses under one account?

king editor the grate said:

I’ve adopted two 5g iPhones, but not sure I’ve ever been on a 5g network even in rare trip to big city. 

I live in England, one of the most backwards countries in Europe, and here we have 5G everywhere. It is as fast as my home broadband at around 250 Mbps (not now, because it's raining). I think I do notice when I am in a 4G environment (I don't know what LTE is), but it could be my imagination; but 5G makes working over the iPhone hotspot really flawless so I don't have to use public WiFi, and when my broadband is down, which it happens often because I use Virgin, I can also watch a 4K movie over the hotspot. I think there are benefits.

citpeks said:

Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained a few weeks ago after arriving in Germany, to make sure he paid the taxes on fancy watch (he's a big Audemars Piguet fan).

The German tax men don't mess around.

But, oddly enough, one can hop straight onto public transit in a city like Munich without ever having to pass through a fare gate.  It relies almost entirely on the honor system.

One would only be caught not paying the fare if they happen upon one of the random checks by police.

Its the same for import duty: you chose between tracks "Something to Declare" or "Nothing to declare" based on the honour system, but in the "nothing to declare" track, you may get checked.

 (Correction: "One would only be caught not paying the fare if they happen upon one of the random checks by police *and they run slower than the ticket checker*".

Unlike the UK, Germany assumes people are innocent; while the UK assumes everyone is a potential criminal - hence cameras everywhere, fare gates for public transport, stop and search, 18/7 parking wardens. Also, on public transport, the marginal cost of transporting a non-paying customer is zero. Since most users of public transport use it frequently, the assumption is most therefore have a monthly or annual ticket anyway. It's just transport for a few kilometres, not the crown jewels.

There are two duties payable upon importing goods to the EU: import duty (2.5%, although not applicable to computers) and Import VAT (19% in Germany). This applies for goods purchased in the US and intended to remain in the EU. If a US citizen, who can show that they live permanently in the US, brings a Vision Pro in his backpack and has a return ticket to the US or elsewhere, there should be no problem and no payment due. But if it's a German or other EU resident bringing one or more Vision Pro in an unopened box in his suitcase, I think it's pretty obvious that Import VAT is due.

The US does not offer a Sales Tax Refund, so the person bringing a Vision Pro to Germany essentially will pay two indirect consumption taxes: US Sales Tax and German VAT. It is possible in some US states to make purchases sales tax-free (e.g. Delaware).

tl;dr: if you want to bring a Vision Pro into the UK or Germany, buy it in Delaware sales-tax-free, and declare and pay the Import VAT when you arrive.

...........