Thanksgiving is over for another year and that means Black Friday is here and it marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Already on Forbes you will find guides for the best deals on Xbox and PS4, video games, televisions, tablets, smartphones and PCs, but in this post I will be focusing specifically on Apple.
I've grouped by retailer and included links to key deals, so let’s break them down:
Apple
The hot news is Apple has officially announced its Black Friday deals. These comprise iTunes gift cards rather than straight price reductions so with the purchase of the following you will get these amounts:
- iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C - $50 gift card
- iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini - $50 gift card.
- iMac, Retina iMac, MacBook Pro, Retina MacBook Pro, MacBook Air - $100 gift card
- iPod touch, iPod nano, Apple TV, Beats by Dre headphones/speakers - $25 gift card
These deals are not as strong as in previous years, but they will be available in large quantities whereas many other promotions have limited availability. Internationally Apple will begin its World AIDS day promotion where the company will donate a portion of purchases to the RED Aids Charity.
Read more - iPhone 6 Vs iPhone 6 Plus Review: Which Is Best?
Best Buy
Some of the biggest discounts this year will be offered by Best Buy and they are also likely to be some of the first to sell out. Here are the highlights:
- iPhone 6 16GB - $100 on a two year contract
- iPad Air 2 (all configurations) - $100 reduction
- iPad mini 3 (all configurations) - $75 reduction
- iMac, Retina MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air - $150 to $200 reduction (depending on spec)
Walmart
Walmart warns availability will vary during the day, but key deals are:
- iPhone 6 16GB and iPhone 5S 16GB - $20 reduction, $75 Walmart gift card (in-store only)
- iPad mini 16GB (WiFi only) - $50 reduction and $30 Walmart gift card
- iPad Air 16GB (WiFi only) - $2 reduction, $100 Walmart gift card
- iPod touch 16GB (5th generation) - $5 reduction, $30 Walmart gift card
- iTunes gift card $30 - $5 reduction
- Beats by Dre UrBeats Earbuds - $89.95 ($10 reduction)
- Beats by Dre Solo headphones - $99.95 ($70 reduction)
- Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker - $99.95 ($100 reduction)
Staples
Promotions here have been running all week, but like others it warns availability is limited. Most eye catching:
- iPad Air 16GB - $319 ($80 reduction)
- iPad mini 2 (WiFi only) - $239 ($60 reduction)
- iPad with Retina Display (WiFi only) - $279 ($70 reduction)
- Apple TV - $79 ($20 reduction)
- Beats Solo HD Drenched headphones - $99.99 ($70 reduction)
Read more - iPad Air 2 Vs iPad Air: What's The Difference?
Target
The company is following in Apple’s footsteps with a number of Target gift card deals, notably:
- iPad Air 2 (all capacities) - $140 gift card
- iPad Air (all capacities) - $100 gift card
- iPad mini 3 and mini (all capacities) - $100 gift card
- iPod touch 32GB (5th generation) - $50 gift card
Price reductions are also available on:
- Apple TV - $10 reduction
- iTunes gift cards - Buy one, 30% off on 2nd.
- Beats by Dre Solo HD headphones - $97 ($73 reduction)
- Beats by Dre Studio headphones - $250 ($50 reduction)
Radioshack
This year Radioshack’s selection is more limited, but if you hurry you will find:
- Apple TV - $85 ($15 reduction)
- iPod touch 16GB (5th generation) - $149 ($50 reduction)
- Beats Solo HD Drenched headphones - $69.99 with mail-in rebate ($100 reduction)
- iTunes gift cards - 15% reduction (in-store only)
Read more - iPad Mini 3 Vs iPad Mini 2: What's The Difference?
Sam’s Club
Deals have been running for almost two weeks online, but in-store deals also bring some notable bargains:
- iPhone 6 (all capacities) - $100 reduction with contact
- iPad Air 16GB (WiFi and WiFi+Cellular) - $429 ($100 reduction)
- iTunes Gift Card $100 multipack - $20 reduction
- iTunes Gift Card $50 - $10 reduction
MacMall
- iPad Air (all configurations) - $30 to $40 reduction
- iPad mini 2 (all configurations) - $20 to $25 reduction
- iPad mini (all configurations) - $10 to $20 reduction
- iMac, Retina MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air - $102 to $301 reduction (depending on spec)
- Mac mini (2014) - $31 to $51 reduction (depending on spec)
MacMall also has notable discounts on accessories with a highlight being a $530 discount on the Asus’ 31.5-inch 4k monitor bringing it down to $1,469.99.
B&H Photo
I've saved some of the best until last, though B&H warns supply is limited:
- 5K Retina iMac (3.5GHz/8GB/1TB) - $2,299 ($200 reduction)
- Mac Pro (6-core 3.5GHz/16GB/256GB) - $3,499 ($500 reduction)
- Retina MacBook Pro 15-inch (2.2GHz/16GB/256GB) - $1,699.99 ($300 reduction)
Happy shopping.
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