Apple has suspended sales in Russia, but it seems that no one is really waiting for it here: over these months, iPhones, iPads and the Cupertino ecosystem as a whole have turned into a pumpkin for many domestic users. True, neither sanctions, nor the removal of applications from the App Store, nor the lack of sensible innovations in the iPhone 14 prevent it from selling well – the Pro and Pro Max versions supplied by parallel imports are sold indecently well for such a toxic smartphone. Behind all this news, it suddenly became clear that the iPhone 14 Pro Max, intended for Russia, is being sold in Russia. Is it possible? Or Apple decided to return to Russia? Let’s figure it out.
When Apple will return to Russia
Despite the popular belief that Apple left RussiaIn fact, the company never left. In the summer, it turned out that the company supplies devices to Russia, but not for sale: you cannot buy these smartphones, since they are intended to replace devices under warranty that cannot be repaired, as well as for those who have joined the extended AppleCare + program.
This suggests that the Cupertino company would not like to completely lose the Russian market, and it cannot abandon Russian buyers, as it must fulfill its obligations under “contracts with Western companies that have retained offices in Russia.”
Yes, there really is an Apple office in our country, only recently it turned out that almost all employees were transferred to Kyrgyzstan – that is, the Russian representative office still exists and even remains within the Eurasian Economic Union. My colleague AppleInsider.ru journalist Ivan Kuznetsov explained in his article why this is good. Be sure to read.
What iPhones are sold in stores
In 2022, we are already used to the fact that almost all iPhones sold in Russian retail are supplied by parallel or “gray” imports. That is, neither one nor the other species not certified for use in Russia: there are no inscriptions on the box in Russian, and the model numbers indicate that smartphones are intended for other countries.
However, no one would be surprised if some iPhone 13 Rostest, stale in a warehouse, but everything is much more interesting: it turned out that iPhone 14 Pro Max, intended for Russia, are sold in Russia. According to the Rozetked website, they were contacted by representatives of a “small store in the region” of Russia and said that in the last batch one iPhone 14 Pro Max turned out to be Russian: there is an inscription in Russian on the box, and Apple Rus LLC is indicated as the importer.
What happens: Apple again delivers iPhone to Russia, but does it without too much noise? At first glance, it looks like it: the mobiltelefon.ru website reports that on the Svyaznoy website, iPhones began to be sold with an index ending in “RU” on the boxes, and in the catalog itself there were no mentions that smartphones were imported by parallel import: determine this is possible only by the name on the site where they meet iPhone marked Dual Sim These have never been officially sold.
It looks like that Apple resumed the release of the iPhone for Russia, but do not rush to rejoice: we got through to Svyaznoy support to clarify the information, but we were told that all iPhones are now supplied by parallel imports and are intended for other countries. It is possible that they simply do not want to advertise information about Apple deliveries to the Russian Federation, or it was simply a pre-prepared batch of iPhones for the Russian market, which is now being shipped to other EAEU countries.
Like any other iPhone with an index for another country, he is now de jure not Rostest, although de facto he is really intended for Russia! This option is the most likely, since iPhone prices on the Svyaznoy website remained exactly the same as on Apple smartphones imported earlier by parallel import. Well, there is a simpler option: Apple simply had pre-printed iPhone boxeswho simply decided to use in production.
As you understand, talk about return of Apple to Russia No: iPhones, iPads and other gadgets will continue to be parallel imports for some time. The new iPad Pro 2022, by the way, too: in our article, we talked about how it differs from last year’s model and how much it will cost in Russia.
