As we predicted, Apple’s Black Friday deals take the form of gift cards rather than discounts. The Australian store is first to come online with the promotion.
Buy a Mac, and you get a gift card for AUS$150 ($137), an iPad gets you AUS$75 ($68) and an iPod AUS$50 ($45) – with a range of gift card values on selected accessories. It’s likely these amounts will be rounded in the USA.
There appears to be no gift card with the Retina iPad Mini (only with the non-Retina model), likely a reflection of the limited supplies available and that Apple knows it will sell well into the holiday season without incentives.
While the gift card amounts are slightly more generous than past discounts (last year Apple offered $100 discount on a Mac), the fact that you have to lay out the full amount for a credit that has to be spent later may limit appeal …
We’ve posted some answers to common questions about the deal.
As ever, the best deals are likely to be found elsewhere. Keep up with the latest deals and news by following 9to5Toys on Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari Push to get updated deals as the day progresses. For Apple’s products, we’ll be updating the 9to5Mac Product pages all day long.
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I’ve just bought a retina mid configuration with a student discount…can i call Apple and ask about this gift card or they will laugh of me?
I just bought a maxxed out rMBP last week. What are the chances of Apple honoring that sale and giving me the gift card? I would hope they would since I just dropped 4 grand with them.
You can give back you Mac for cash within 15 days (without any reason)… Than you can buy a new Mac and get a gift card 😃
Can the gift cards be used to buy AppleCare on the Mac?
Good question – I can’t see why not, so long as you do it later (even later the same day)
Depends on type of gift card, I don’t know if it mentions which type here. iTunes gift card no, Apple Store gift card yes.
Included Promotions
Apple Store Gift Card by Email
Gift card will be sent to your billing email address within 24 hours from the time your item ships
A$ 150.00
Apple Store Gift Card by Email Credit
They are store gift cards
FYI: They price match in the store. Just sayin’
Here in the UK, Apple have discounted the actual products, no gift card required!
Crap discount though – £15 off an iPad Mini!
Apple UK is directly giving discounts, not gift cards!