Earlier this week, Apple teased its upcoming Black Friday promotion, which typically sees the company offering small discounts on a select number of products.
While Apple normally offers standard price cuts during Black Friday, this year’s event might focus on Apple Store gift cards with purchase rather than straight discounts, according to 9to5Mac. The promotion could see customers receiving an Apple Store gift card for later use when buying an eligible product.
Gift cards will likely be offered with the flagship products that Apple typically discounts, including iPads, iPods, MacBooks, and some accessories.
The gift card amounts are said to fluctuate based on the product. For example, gift cards that accompany accessories will have lower amounts of money than Macs. We’re hearing that accessories, such as the Dropcam, will likely include a gift card worth around $25, and Macs could include a $100 card. iOS Devices like the iPad will include a $50 Apple Store gift card. Some more expensive third-party products will also include $50 gift cards.
Apple is expected to announce its Black Friday deals on Friday, November 28 at midnight Pacific Time in the United States, but more information should be available tomorrow morning when Black Friday deals go live in Australia provided the gift card promotion isn't limited to the United States. Last year's discounts included $101 off MacBook Pros and Airs, $41 off the iPad with Retina Display, and $31 off of the iPod touch.
Apple will never do big sales as such it would devalue the brand and likely see a huge portion of users only buy products on the single sale day of the year given the savings of 25%
I've never seen an Apple gift card that could be used toward hardware.
http://www.apple.com/gift-cards/
"Use your Apple Store Gift Card for the purchase of a new iPad, iPhone, Mac, or anything else at the Apple Online Store or Apple Retail Store. Gift cards are available in stores, by mail, or by email."
Instead of taking $100 off the price, savings which can be spent anywhere you want (including an Apple competitor), you'll instead get a gift card that can only be spent with Apple. Very clever way of still getting you to pay full price for a device and still have to do further business with Apple when using the gift card.
It's a brilliant strategy, really :D
My thoughts exactly. Thats why I give this idea a thumbs down, and I see it as yet another greedy move by a company that I'm having an increasingly hard time defending anymore. (Yes I used to drink the Kool-Aid, now I'm a recovering addict.) All those MBA's are thinking hard how they can separate us from more cash- and somebody got a big promotion for coming up with this idea. Apple will make millions more on that day because of it. Naturally, the consumer (yes, thats you and me) loses in the end.
Its like a 10 percent off deal, but you have to buy two. That's not as good as a 10 percent off deal on one item because you have to spend more money to get the deal.... lots of people don't really realize that.
Why not just give us a discount like almost all other companies will do on this big sales day? Is that really so hard?
Please don't act like Apple started this. Walmart and Target having been using this approach for years. Apple has only started doing this recently
I don't think he ever said that Apple invented the concept. But if you want something from Walmart or Target that's on sale tomorrow, you will receive that item for less money. No gift card requirement.
Wouldn't you rather just get something cheaper instead of paying more up front and getting handed a gift card for later?
You know, as a customer, you have the right to criticize ANY company if they are doing something that's not in your best interest. Even :apple:.
I've never seen an Apple gift card that could be used toward hardware.
I think you're confusing Apple gift card with iTunes gift card. It's true that an iTunes gift card can't be used for hardware (or any store merchandise), but an Apple gift card can be used for anything in the Apple Store.
Thursday February 4, 2021 1:58 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Serif today announced across-the-board updates for its popular suite of Affinity creative apps, including Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and the Apple award-winning Affinity Publisher for Mac, all of which were among the first professional creative suites to be optimized for Apple's new M1 chip.
"After another year which saw record numbers of people switching to Affinity, it's exciting to...
We've seen a lot of teasers about the Beats Studio Buds over the past month since they first showed up in Apple's beta software updates, and today they're finally official. The Beats Studio Buds are available to order today in red, white, and black ahead of a June 24 ship date, and they're priced at $149.99.
The Studio Buds are the first Beats-branded earbuds to truly compete with AirPods...
As is tradition, Apple executives Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak joined Daring Fireball's John Gruber in an episode of The Talk Show to discuss several announcements that Apple made over this weeks WWDC, including iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and a large focus around privacy.
Federighi kicks off the conversation discussing the common architecture, now thanks to Apple silicon, across all of...
Wednesday February 3, 2021 3:09 pm PST by Juli Clover
YouTube is planning to stop supporting its YouTube app on the third-generation Apple TV models, where YouTube has long been available as a channel option.
A 9to5Mac reader received a message about the upcoming app discontinuation, which is set to take place in March.Starting early March, the YouTube app will no longer be available on Apple TV (3rd generation). You can still watch YouTube on...
Adobe this week reminded customers that its Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw apps will no longer be available for download on iOS and Android starting July 19. Adobe plans to stop supporting the apps for existing users on January 10, 2022.
In a support document, Adobe said users can easily migrate to its Fresco app, which combines many Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw drawing and...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly once demanded that he be made Apple CEO in a brief discussion of a potential acquisition with Apple's current CEO, Tim Cook. The claim comes in a new book titled "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century," as reviewed by The Los Angeles Times.
According to the book, during a 2016 phone call between Musk and Cook that touched on the possibility of ...
Apple last week discontinued the original HomePod, marking just over three years on the market for the full-size smart speaker. If you're looking to purchase the larger HomePod before it's completely gone, there are still some options online today.
The biggest retailer with remaining stock on the HomePod is Apple itself, which has the White HomePod for $299.00 on its website. Space Gray is...
Tuesday September 7, 2021 9:23 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this morning announced a digital-only event that will be held on Tuesday, September 14, and if you view the event webpage on an iPhone, you can tap on the logo to open up Apple's Safari AR viewer and you'll see the three-dimensional logo move in real-time in the real world.
Just open up the event site on an iPhone or iPad and tap right on the logo to open up the AR version. The...
Tuesday September 10, 2019 12:23 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Max, all-new models that boast improved cameras, and specifically, a dramatic new Night Mode photo feature.
Last year, Google introduced its impressive Night Sight camera mode, a software-based feature that allows users to take detailed pictures in dark environments using Google Pixel smartphones. Apple's new Night...
The iPhone 13 will feature low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication connectivity to allow users to make calls and send messages in areas without 4G or 5G coverage, according to the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a note to investors, seen by MacRumors, Kuo explained that the iPhone 13 lineup will feature hardware that is able to connect to LEO satellites. If enabled with the relevant...
Updates for Safari, FaceTime, and many other apps, Universal Control to let a single mouse or trackpad control multiple devices, new Shortcuts app, machine-learning Live Text detection and Visual Lookup, and more.
Top Rated Comments
http://www.apple.com/gift-cards/
"Use your Apple Store Gift Card for the purchase of a new iPad, iPhone, Mac, or anything else at the Apple Online Store or Apple Retail Store. Gift cards are available in stores, by mail, or by email."
My thoughts exactly. Thats why I give this idea a thumbs down, and I see it as yet another greedy move by a company that I'm having an increasingly hard time defending anymore. (Yes I used to drink the Kool-Aid, now I'm a recovering addict.) All those MBA's are thinking hard how they can separate us from more cash- and somebody got a big promotion for coming up with this idea. Apple will make millions more on that day because of it. Naturally, the consumer (yes, thats you and me) loses in the end.
Its like a 10 percent off deal, but you have to buy two. That's not as good as a 10 percent off deal on one item because you have to spend more money to get the deal.... lots of people don't really realize that.
Why not just give us a discount like almost all other companies will do on this big sales day? Is that really so hard?
I don't think he ever said that Apple invented the concept. But if you want something from Walmart or Target that's on sale tomorrow, you will receive that item for less money. No gift card requirement.
Wouldn't you rather just get something cheaper instead of paying more up front and getting handed a gift card for later?
You know, as a customer, you have the right to criticize ANY company if they are doing something that's not in your best interest. Even :apple:.
I think you're confusing Apple gift card with iTunes gift card. It's true that an iTunes gift card can't be used for hardware (or any store merchandise), but an Apple gift card can be used for anything in the Apple Store.