Apple surprised us with its Black Friday deals for Australia, which include free Apple Store gift cards with new Macs and iOS devices, but no discounts. And as you may have suspected, it’s the same story in the U.S., where customers can now get credit worth $150 with a new Mac, up to $75 with a new iPad, and up to $50 with a new iPod.
Apple is also offering gift cards worth up to $25 with other accessories and gadgets, including the Apple TV, the Nike+ FuelBand SE, and Logitech’s Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad mini.
Last year, Apple’s Black Friday deals included money off, with up to $100 off new Macs, up to $41 off iPads, and up to $31 off iPods. But for the first time, the company has taken a different route this year, choosing instead to give away Apple Store gift cards.
That’s great if you plan to buy more from Apple over the holidays, but not such a good deal if you were hoping to save money on just the one purchase. But of course, you can still find discounts with third-party retailers, including Best Buy, Amazon, and Target.
It’s unclear why this change was made this year, but many suspect it has something to do with the fact that some of the products included in the deal, like the Retina MacBook Pro and the new iPads, are just weeks old. With that being the case, Apple doesn’t need to discount them to ensure they sell well over the coming weeks.
But strangely, Apple has offered discounts instead of gift cards in Europe for Black Friday. In the U.K., shoppers can save between £31 ($50) and £61 ($99) on the iPad Air, £15 ($24) on the new iPad mini with Retina display, and up to £81 ($132) on Macs.
Source: Apple
