The iPhone Duo Costs 13% More in Mexico Than in the U.S. but Takes Nearly 7 Times the Pay Hours

Apple's new iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the U.S., but how many hours would you have to work to afford one?

We compared Apple's official prices and average wages across 23 countries to find out where the new iPhone is easiest and hardest to afford.

Apple's iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the U.S. But the price changes from country to country.

To make a fair comparison, we looked at the same 256GB model across all locations. We removed VAT or similar taxes where they were included in Apple's listed price. We then compared those prices with average local wages.

The results show just how different the cost can feel depending on where you live.

Mexico stands out by a huge margin.

In Mexico, the 256GB iPhone Duo costs 47,999 pesos, including VAT. Without the 16% tax, that's about $2,249 at the exchange rate used in our study.

That's only about 13% more than the U.S. price.

But compared with what people earn, the phone is far less affordable in Mexico than in the U.S.

Based on OECD wage data, an average Mexican wage earner would need the equivalent of 392 hours of gross pay to buy the phone. That's nearly seven times the U.S. figure.

Even Portugal, which ranks second, comes in much lower at 167 hours.

So, the stark difference isn’t because Apple charges more in one country than another. It's mainly due to how much people earn.

At $1,999 before sales tax, the United States has the lowest iPhone Duo price among the 23 countries we compared.

For someone earning the average U.S. wage, that equals about 57 hours of gross pay, or roughly seven eight-hour workdays.

That's less than in most countries on our list.

Workers in Canada need about 68 hours. In the United Kingdom, it's 62 hours. And in Australia, it's 61 hours.

But several countries do better than the U.S.

Switzerland leads at just 38 hours. Luxembourg follows at 52 hours, while Norway and Denmark come in at 54 and 56 hours.

So even though Americans pay the lowest price for the phone, higher average wages make it easier to afford in some other countries.

Perhaps the most striking comparison is between Mexico and Switzerland.

Before tax, the iPhone Duo costs about $2,249 in Mexico and $2,226 in Switzerland.

That's a difference of just $23.

Yet the equivalent working hours are worlds apart.

In Switzerland, an average wage earner needs about 38 hours of gross pay. In Mexico, it's nearly 392 hours.

That's more than a tenfold difference for almost the same phone price.

A device that costs roughly the same amount in both countries is much harder to afford in one of them.

Our analysis covers 23 selected countries where Apple sells the 256GB iPhone Duo directly and suitable 2025 wage data was available.

Phone prices: We collected prices from Apple's official online stores on October 19, 2026. We used the base 256GB model in every country. To compare prices fairly, we removed standard VAT or GST where those taxes were included in the advertised price. U.S. and Canadian prices were already listed before sales tax. Actual checkout prices may be higher.

Exchange rates: We converted local prices to U.S. dollars using the Federal Reserve's exchange rates as of October 9, 2026.

Wages and working hours: We used 2025 average annual gross wages from the OECD's Taxing Wages 2026 report.

For a consistent comparison, we assumed a 40-hour workweek over 52 weeks, or 2,080 hours a year. We divided the annual wage by 2,080 to estimate an hourly wage, then divided the phone's pre-tax price by that hourly amount.

These figures represent hours of gross pay, not actual time needed to save for the phone. They do not account for income taxes, living costs, personal savings, or differences in actual working hours.

You can explore the calculations using Omni Calculator's VAT calculator and salary-to-hourly calculator.

Country selection: India was excluded because a directly comparable 2025 wage figure was unavailable in the selected OECD series. Brazil was excluded because its complex consumption taxes make a consistent pre-tax price comparison difficult.

Mexico's wage data: The OECD's figures for Mexico mainly reflect formal-sector employment. They may not fully represent workers in the informal economy. Mexico's result should therefore be treated as an estimate rather than an exact measure of affordability for the entire workforce.

This is a comparison of selected markets, not a worldwide ranking of every country where the iPhone is sold.