This just in.

Dovetailing with the previous topic about gray market deals, Apple Asia-Pacific has realized that there really is a need to adjust their local prices in order to become more competitive with gray market buys.

Just this morning, Apple has approved the following suggested retail prices for their latest line of dual-core MacBooks:

MacBook 1.83GHz (white) P 70,790.00
MacBook 2.0GHz (white) P 83,990.00
MacBook 2.0GHz (black) P 96,290.00

MacBook Pro 2.0GHz (15″) P126,690.00
MacBook Pro 2.16GHz (15″) P157,990.00
MacBook Pro 2.16GHz (17″) P 176,890.00

The old price for the 1.83GHz MacBook, for instance, was around P79,000. Prices abroad are still cheaper (entry level in the U.S. is just US$ 1,099), but that’s because we have taxes and VAT to contend with.

The new MacBooks come with some pretty interesting innovations, including magnetic rather than mechanical locks to snap the books shut, standard built-in iSight cameras, and the amazing MagSafe power connector — so that if Adel’s dog comes barging across the power cable, it won’t drag his notebook down to the floor with it (as what happened to him before, breaking his Mac’s LCD) and just detach harmlessly from the unit.