MacRumors

While several sites have reported that 10,000 iPhone Apps have been released into the App Store, the actual number of active iPhone apps that can be downloaded is about 9,676 as of today's count. The discrepancy comes from the fact that many apps have been removed from the App Store for various reasons (trademark infringement, discontinued apps, pulled and released).

Still, the 10,000 active app mark should also be broken in the next few days. Games continue to dominate the App Store with 24% of all apps, followed by Entertainment (11.6%) and Utilities (10.9%). Games also seem to dominate the Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free apps.

Apple originally launched the App Store on July 11th with only 500 apps. Due to its success, several competitors have plans for their own version of the App Store.

Apple has officially unveiled their Black Friday sales for their online and retail stores. The discounts are very similar to last year's event. The only two Mac models on sale are the iMac and MacBook with discounts of up to $101 for the mid-to-high-end models. Meanwhile, iPods are seeing $11-$21 discounts and a number of accessories are also on sale.

This also means that analysts were once again wrong after predicting discounts up to 15% from Apple this year. Those looking for more significant Mac discounts will have better luck at 3rd party retailers.

Other Mac Discounts

We've updated our sales chart to include deals from MacConnection which may be the best available for most new Mac purchases. Best Buy's sale ended on Wednesday night and so are no longer available. Best prices are in bold and link to the product. Most involve both instant and mail in rebates.

Retailers: MacMall, MacConnection, Amazon.

MacConnection charges sales tax in AL, CT, GA, IL, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX. MacMall is believed to charge sales tax in MN, CA, IL, TN, WI, and possibly NY. Amazon charges sales tax in KS, KY, NY, ND, and WA.

Mac Software

- Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition - $129.99 (74% off), includes Office 2008 plus Expression Media
- Microsoft Office 2008 Home and Student - $109.99 (27% off)
- $5 off Parallels 4.0 - Run Windows on your Intel Mac.

iPhone/iPod Touch App Store Sales

AppShopper.com continuously tracks new apps and price drops in the App Store. Many apps have been discounted in the past few days in anticipation of the holiday. Some highlights from AppShopper's price change list are summarized here:

- Ambrosia (Now $0.99): Mr. Sudoku, Mondo Solitaire, Aki Mahjong.
- Igloo Games (Now $0.99): Dizzy Bee
- Gameloft ($2 off): Diamond Twister, Brain Challenge, Backgammon Classics, Block Breaker Deluxe 2, Midnight Bowling,
- EA ($2 off): SCRABBLE, Spore Origins, TETRIS
- Pangea (Now $0.99): Cro-Mag Rally, Bugdom 2, Enigmo.
- Free for Limited Time: Fastdial, 2079, Tangram Puzzle Pro, TapToDo, Pathways.
- Others: Classics ($0.99), CameraBag ($0.99), BeejiveIM ($15.99->$9.99)

Full list is available at http://appshopper.com/prices.

Other Retailers

Black Friday sales pages at Amazon, Amazon DVDs, Circuit City, Best Buy.

Apple's Black Friday sales have begun around the world in their New Zealand store and Australia stores. The sales show modest discounts similar to previous years.

The only Macs that are on sale include the iMac and the MacBook. When translated to U.S. dollars, the discounts appear to be about $100 for mid-to-high end MacBooks and iMacs and about $50 for the entry level models. These discounts are consistent with last year's Black Friday sale and also consistent with whispers we've heard. If it holds true for U.S. pricing, it also dashes unfounded analyst predictions that Apple would offer 15% discounts.

Apple is also providing discounts on the iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod touch as well as discounts on a number of accessories.

We previously detailed sales at online retailers on Macs, and will post an update with more Black Friday deals tonight.

Update: Final Black Friday sales have been posted with deals from retailers up to $300 off the MacBook Pro.

Arstechnica provides some first impressions on their newly delivered 24" LED Apple Cinema display. While Apple introduced the new display back in October, actual delivery of the new monitors have only just begun. Ars reminds readers that the displays are only meant for use with the new notebooks which house a mini DisplayPort. Apple has said they will start shipping the mini-DisplayPort on all future products.

The display contains an iSight camera, built-in speakers, and a USB hub. This configuration allows the Monitor to act as a very simple dock for your laptop, as it will enable/disable functionality appropriately:

The real nicety of the display is that Mac OS X knows when you have attached the display to use its integrated devices. That is, when you've hooked it all up, it will use the iSight in the display instead of the notebook's, and it will use the USB audio on the display and disable the output on the notebook. That is, until you plug a set of headphones into the port on the notebook, at which time the display's speakers will disable and route the audio directly to your ears automatically.

MacMall has announced their Black Friday sale which will runs from now until midnight P.T. on Friday, November 28th. Last year's MacMall sale delivered some of the largest discounts available online. This year, however, MacMall faces stiff competition from BestBuy who is offering a number of $100-$150 instant discounts on Macs. This compares favorably to MacMall which tends to combine both instant discounts and rebates.

As usual, it can be difficult to sort through the full list of discounts which confusingly intermix both old and current inventory.

This summary chart, however, lists the discounts on current Macs from both retailers with the "best" deal highlighted and product linked in bold.

For those willing to buy previous-generation Macs, discounts can be significant compared to their original retail prices (example, $1149 for original MacBook Air), but requires a bit more research to balance the cost saving vs. buying older technology.

Apple may offer some slight discounts on products for their own Black Friday sale, though historically these have only been up to $100 on a few select models.

* Combines instant + mail-in rebates.
MacMall and BestBuy are site affiliate partners and sales benefit MacRumors financially

Update: Amazon prices added.

Update 2: BestBuy's sale over.

Apple has issued a new QuickTime update for the new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air which come equipped with the mini DisplayPort. The update addresses the issue of standard definition playback through the DisplayPort:

This update is recommended for owners of MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with Mini DisplayPort. The update addresses an issue where some standard definition purchases from the iTunes Store do not play on some external displays.

Based on early testing by MacRumors reader Ampidire, this update appears to allow standard definition (SD) content to play unhindered over the mini DisplayPort.

Just last week, it was revealed that Apple's new mini DisplayPort enforces HDCP protection. This prevents the playback of HDCP flagged content over non-secure video output. In the example given, one customer was unable to play back an SD iTunes movie over a mini DisplayPort <-> VGA connector. Several readers objected to this restriction as iTunes movies downloaded to your computer are only offered in standard definition, while the HDCP protection was intended to prevent digital copying of high definition content.

This latest update appears to remove the HDCP enforcement on standard definition content, which means that current movie content purchased or rented on a Mac should playback unrestricted. While Apple does offer high definition movies for rental through Apple TV, it's not clear when Apple will begin offering this to Mac users.

ifoAppleStore claims that Apple retail employees have the authority to match prices of other authorized retailers.

Apple has apparently fired the first shot in the holiday shopping battle, by announcing internally that retail store employees have the authority to match the prices of other authorized retailers.

Based on the site's comments, there is some debate about whether this is a new ability. Regardless, the issue is typically moot as retailers generally only offer Apple's products at the recommended retail price. The notable exception to this, however, has been sales surrounding Black Friday in which retailers offer instant discounts on Apple products.

BestBuy is already offering discounts up to $150 off on current Macs. If this policy is true, then similar discounts may be achievable at Apple's own retail stores. Apple's own Black Friday sales will be revealed on Friday, and other retailers such as Amazon and MacMall have offered both instant and mail-in rebates in the past.

iPhone app developers appear to be getting in on Black Friday discounts with numerous app sales tracked on AppShopper.com. Notable titles on sale include Spore Origins and Tetris, both 40% off.

Several readers have noticed that music from different studios have started appearing in iTunes with a DRM free option. This would seem to confirm rumors that Apple is in late stage negotiations with studios about launching more DRM free music.

Forum user Doodledoo has been following it closely and found evidence of tracks from both Warner and Sony studios participating in iTunes Plus. Apple originally launched their DRM-Free iTunes Plus format with the support of only EMI but recent rumors have suggested Apple is working on winning over the other three majors studios (Warner, Sony, Universal).

Finally, the long rumored Beatles launch on iTunes may be a bit further off (if anyone still cares). Paul McCartney recently said that iTunes negotiations had stalled:

"The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

The Beatles/Apple Corps and Apple have had a long-running feud over usage of the name "Apple". This disagreement was finally settled in 2007 in which Apple, Inc. now owns all the trademarks related to "Apple".

Apple has set up a new page promoting their MacBooks as the "world's greenest family of notebooks."

When we redesigned the new Macbook, our designers and engineers set a goal of making not only the greenest notebook Apple ever produced, but the greenest family of notebooks. So every new Macbook has been built using materials that are highly recyclable and free of many harmful substances present in other computers.

Apple claims that they have worked hard to eliminate many toxins, including mercury and arsenic, and the unibody enclosure is promoted as desirable to recyclers. Other benefits include reduced packaging and more energy efficiency. Apple has also posted a new television advertisement promoting this campaign.

The ad began airing tonight. Apple has been criticized in the past by some over environmental concerns. Apple has been posting regular updates about their progress with respect to the environmental impact of their products.

Apple NZ has started emailing customers about their Black Friday event for one day only on November 28th.

Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only Christmas shopping event. Youll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas all with free delivery.

It's been widely expected that Apple would be offering a day-after-Thanksgiving sale. Previous year sales have offered modest discounts on select Apple gear. More substantial discounts may be found at 3rd party retailers. MacRumors will report on these and other substantial Apple deals on Friday.

Several readers have noticed that our Buyer's Guide has recently changed the iPhone recommendation to "Don't Buy - Updates Soon" despite no recent rumors about a new iPhone update.

The Buyer's Guide generates some of its recommendations automatically based on historic product life cycles. For a product like the iPhone, however, which has only been on the market for a short period of time, these product cycles can be less predictive.

The relatively short product cycles for the iPhone reflect the fact that Apple has made regular adjustments to the iPhone's price and storage capacity. Only 2 months after its initial release in 2007, Apple dropped the price of the 8GB iPhone down $200. Then in February, Apple boosted the maximum storage capacity of the iPhone from 8GB to 16GB.

These regular short updates are why the Buyer's Guide recommendation has changed, but Apple has said they are not going to be updating any more products in 2008. So, any new updates wouldn't realistically be seen until early 2009. And Apple has said that they will continue to improve and aggressively price the iPhone in the future.

Regardless, readers should probably wait until Friday before buying any new Apple hardware since Apple and other retailers will be offering Black Friday After Thanksgiving sales. BestBuy, PowerMax and Amazon are already advertising their Black Friday sales, and we believe that both Apple and MacMall will also be offering their traditional discounts on Friday. Last year's discounts were as high as $300 off high end MacBook Pros.

Mobile developer Handheld Games Corp reported to TouchArcade.com that performance of their 3D TouchSports Tennis game [App Store, $4.99] is noticeably different between models of iPhones and iPod touches. Their 3D tennis game (video) seems to particularly challenge the 3D hardware on the iPhone and iPod touch. As a result, they had to implement specific optimizations to run consistently on every device.

In part, the differences stem from the fact that the 2nd Generation iPod Touch had its processor quietly boosted to 532MHz. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3G, Original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod Touch run at 412MHz. However, the differences must extend beyond this simple change, as there seem to be substantial performance differences between the similarly-clocked models as well.

From Handheld Games Corp's experience, the 2nd Generation iPod touch is the fastest model "by far", followed by the iPhone 3G, iPhone and finally the 1st Generation iPod touch lagging behind (at least with respect to 3D gaming). Due to these differences, Handheld Games Corp's CEO does not recommend anyone interested in gaming to even consider buying a used 1st Generation iPod touch.