Apple slashes prices on Macs and iPods for 24-hour sale

[AppleInsider]

Apple early Friday morning kicked-off the 2007 holiday shopping season with its annual "Black Friday" sale, offering significant discounts on Macs, iPods and accessories.

Macs and iPods

As part of this year's sale, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is offering up to a $101 discount on all MacBook and iMac models, $31 off its sixth-generation video iPods, and $11 off both its third-generation iPod nanos and updated second-generation iPod shuffles.

Mac accessories

A handful of Mac accessory discounts include $21.00 off the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station, $11.00 off the Apple wireless Mighty Mouse, and $11.00 off the Apple AirPort Express Base Station.

Apple has also knocked $31.95 the LaCie mini Hard Drive w/Hub 500GB and $5.95 off the Crucial Flash Drive GIZMO 2GB.

iPhone accessories

A few iPhone accessories have also been reduced for the one-day sale, including $21.00 off Apple Bluetooth Headset, $21.95 off the V-MODA VIBE Duo headset, and $11.95 off the Plantronics Discovery 665 BT headset.

In addition, there's a $5.95 discount on the Kensington Car Mount, $6.95 discount on the zCover iSAglove Silicon Case, $10.95 discount on the Incase Leather Fitted Sleeve and $11.95 discount on the Incase Leather and Nylon Folio.

iPod accessories

iPod accessory discounts are far more abundant, including $15.95 off V-MODA Vibe earphones, $21.95 off Shure SE110 earphones, $31.95 off Shure SE210 earphones, $51.95 off Shure SE310 earphones and $71.95 off Shure SE420 earphones.

Over a half dozen iPod cases are part of the sale, including $5.95 off the Incase Neoprene Sleeve for iPod touch, iSkin Slims Three Pack for iPod nano, Incase Neoprene Sleeve for iPod classic, and Belkin Remix Acryllic Case for Classic; $6.95 off the Leather Sleeve for iPod touch, Incase Neoprene Sleeve for iPod nano, and Belkin Remix Acrylic Case for iPod nano; and $10.95 off the Incase Armband for iPod nano.



Speakers and Car Audio

Apple has knocked $21.95 off the cost of the Klipsch iGroove SXT speaker system and $11.95 off Altec Lansing Orbit 3600 speaker system. It has also taken $15.95 off the Kensington Liquid FM Transmitter Charger.

Software

In the software department, Apple has cut down the cost of both iLife '08 and iWork '08 by $11, and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 by $31.95. Several popular games are also offered at discounts between $5.95 and $11.95, including Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, Need for Speed: Carbon, Battlefield 2142, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Madden NFL 08, EA Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Star Wars: Empire at War, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, and The Sims 2 Seasons.

Notebook cases

Rounding out Friday's sale are discounts on a handful of notebook bags, including $6.95 off the Incase Neoprene Sleeve, $11.95 off the Brenthaven Eclipse Sleeve, and $11.95 off the Speck SeeThru.

Items discounted as part of the 2007 Apple "Black Friday" are available through the company's online store and its national retail chain. The sale ends Friday at midnight.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Kolchak]

Same, old Apple with the really lame discounts. "Slashes" prices? More like scrapes prices. Why would I want to pay $138 for a nano when Apple charges sales tax almost everywhere? Go to Amazon and even at full retail price with free shipping, it's less than what Apple charges "on sale." However, Amazon is also selling the nano for $138 with free shipping, so it beats Apple hands down. There is almost never a reason to buy from the Apple online store.

[grobelaar]

Trying shopping in Europe, no 'holiday sale' and still subsidising cheaper prices in the US.

[rhett121]

Maybe if websites like this one didn't spooge praise for lameass "sales" Apple might be forced to actually have a real sale every now and then.
I would never consider 5% discount as "slashing" prices. Heck, that doesn't even cover sales tax. I wouldn't waste my time typing the URL for a lousy 5% discount and all of you Apple media rags should be ashamed.

[gastroboy]

Originally Posted by grobelaar

Trying shopping in Europe, no 'holiday sale' and still subsidising cheaper prices in the US.

Same old high prices everywhere come to that.

Absolutely no allowance even for the drastically fallen US $.

Now that the aluminium iMac is looking just that little bit less of a lemon, I'd almost be tempted if I didn't think that Apple will have to get realistic sooner rather than later.

[DisneyEcho]

Anyone here have success using the Kensington FM transmitter/charger in their car with the iPhone even though it is labelled as being for the iPod?

[dontlookleft]

Originally Posted by DisneyEcho

Anyone here have success using the Kensington FM transmitter/charger in their car with the iPhone even though it is labelled as being for the iPod?

Of course people will have issues. Kensington's real secret name is "Garbage" plus, it's not even made for the iPhone, so I wouldn't even dare try to use it with anything other than the iPod.

I have a wireless mouse of their's (forced present from christmas last year) and its garbage. there's a big fat thing that plugs into the usb port, and if i leave the mouse sitting for about a minute, i have to rub the mouse in circles about 5 time to get to respond.

uggggggggggg kensington.

[Lemon Bon Bon.]

Same old high prices everywhere come to that.

Absolutely no allowance even for the drastically fallen US $.

Now that the aluminium iMac is looking just that little bit less of a lemon, I'd almost be tempted if I didn't think that Apple will have to get realistic sooner rather than later.

Ouch.

£35 for an apple iPhone contract.
£1600 for the entry Apple Tower.

The laptops are ok..

The iMac almost ok. Almost good value for money. Just include more ram. eg 2 gigs. And a better GPU.

Anybody who felt the transition to Intel would offer dirt cheap Apple boxes is...was mistaken... Gulp.

Lemon BOn Bon.

[macFanDave]

Originally Posted by DisneyEcho

Anyone here have success using the Kensington FM transmitter/charger in their car with the iPhone even though it is labelled as being for the iPod?

I have the Kensington FM Radio & Transmitter for iPod. (I got it on Amazon for a shockingly low price!) I used it once, but then after listening to FM radio for a bit, I remembered what total crap FM radio had become and why I got hooked on the iPod in the first place.

Nevertheless, I had both this gadget and my iPhone within arm's reach, so I decided to do a test and be a good, helpful Mac citizen.

Keep in mind that the Kensington gadget reduces your iPhone to an overpriced battery.

The first thing that happens when you plug it in is that the iPhone gives you a message that the accessory is not made for the iPhone and will work only in Airplane mode to avoid radio interference (i.e., no phone calls, no Wi-fi), do you want to switch?

If you accept the crippling of your iPhone, the Kensington appears to work as it would with any iPod (I just tested the receiving capability).

RESULTS:

Technically, the Kensington FM Radio & Transmitter for iPod "works" with an iPhone.

Practically, giving up the phone and Internet capabilities to use it seem like too great a sacrifice for the benefit.

Aesthetically, vomiting may be induced!

Hope that helps.

-----------------

By the way, I agree with the general tone of the other posters: the use of the word "slash" seems completely out of place (I hear the guitarist from Guns 'n Roses was planning to sue for making the word seem limp and lame!)

Apple should have something like 100 MacBooks for half price -- that'd bring out the holiday spirit in everyone! The pushing, shoving, stabbing, slapping and shooting would just get everyone in the ShoppingMas mood!

[Hal 9000]

What does this mean for the future of the Mac Mini? How should we interpret that it is the only consumer mac without a discount? Are rumors of its demise true?

[rHOnDO]

"Apple slashes prices ..."

On a MacBook these are less the 8-percent discount. What is your definition of "slashes" you shill.

rHOnDO

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Hal 9000

What does this mean for the future of the Mac Mini? How should we interpret that it is the only consumer mac without a discount? Are rumors of its demise true?

"Apple will not reduce the price of our already amazingly low priced Mac mini." -

[aznewcastle]

"Cupertino, Calif.-based company" weak writing skills.

[Royboy]

Originally Posted by Hal 9000

What does this mean for the future of the Mac Mini? How should we interpret that it is the only consumer mac without a discount? Are rumors of its demise true?

You could interpret it to mean that the Mac mini is selling so well that any discount on it today would mean vast shortages of the mini and a reduction in sales of the Mac Pro because so many people opted for the discounted mini.

[dh87]

Originally Posted by gastroboy

Same old high prices everywhere come to that.

Absolutely no allowance even for the drastically fallen US $.

Now that the aluminium iMac is looking just that little bit less of a lemon, I'd almost be tempted if I didn't think that Apple will have to get realistic sooner rather than later.

These complaints about Apple's non-US pricing are mostly misplaced. There's an interesting (and short) article about this issue in the The New Yorker at http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financ...alk_surowiecki .

First, remember that all Apple goods are manufactured overseas. For goods sold overseas, the value of the dollar doesn't enter into the price calculation. The real issue is that US prices haven't risen as the dollar has fallen. The reasons for this, according to Surowiecki, are that i) prices move slowly (because companies hedge their exchange rate bets), and ii) the US market is too big for foreign exporters to alienate, so they prefer to accept lower margins rather than raise prices.

[mdriftmeyer]

Who the hell considers $101 slashing prices?

This is better:

MacMall
Up to 22% off Macs and iPods in their 48 hour Thanksgiving sale. Pay attention what you are buying, however. The biggest discounts ("Closeouts") are on the previous versions of hardware, but even new hardware has reasonable discounts. For example, the older MacBook Pro can be had for $600 off, but even the newest MacBook Pro can be had for $300 off ($150 instant, $150 mail in). Discounts available for all Mac models and iPod models.

MacBook: $974 ($125 off), $1162 ($137 off), $1341 ($158 off)
iMac: $1135 ($64 off), $1354 ($145 off), $1628 ($171 off), $2099 ($200 off)
MacBook Pro: $1799 ($220 off), $2235 ($264 off), $2499 ($300 off)
Mac mini: $544 ($55 off), $744 ($55 off)
Mac Pro: $2235 ($264 off)
iPod Touch: $269.99 ($29.01 off), $359.99 ($39.01 off)

[guinness]

Apple's Black Friday deals are friggin' joke - seriously, BB, Staples, Dell are/were selling cheapo laptops, with a gig of RAM and DVD burners for $400...the best Apple would do, is basically nothing at all, and knocking a few bucks off of some iPod accesories. I was actually pretty surprised at some of the deals I saw today at BB.

Amazon has a better deal going on the Mac Mini right now, with their price, plus a rebate, and free shipping ~$550.

[DisneyEcho]

Thank you, MacFanDave. I think I'll get it and then I'll try it in the other mode and the phone part will probably still work. I really need a charger for my car that plays the iPhone's iPod output through my car stereo ( and I don't have an aux or iPod input, and don't have a cassette player to use a converter with it).

Thanks so much for trying the Kensington out and letting us know!

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by grobelaar

Trying shopping in Europe, no 'holiday sale' and still subsidising cheaper prices in the US.

Subsidizing? No, because Apple's actual profit margins are lower in Europe despite selling a roughly similar product mix. You might know this if you actually bothered to examine any of Apple's financial reports. But it's easier to complain and assume and not bother looking at any real figures.

Try something else, like stricter European regulations costing money to comply, possibly with some extra administration, raising the cost of doing business there. Not that the additional regulation is necessarily bad, but it does cost more.

And there's the VAT, VAT is included in the price, in the US, any locality charging sales tax doesn't have it included in the sticker price, but added at the register, or checkout if delivery address is within the same locality as any of the company's properties.

[zunx]

TO ADMINS:

Thanks. If possible, please post the percentage of discount for each described item in these kind of articles. THAT is the real useful figure! Thanks again. A $100 discount means nothing. A 50% discount says it all!!!

[iMick]

MacMall, PCMall, an OnSale did have better prices, but I couldn't purchase a 16GB iPod Touch from them. I tried for hours, but the sale never went through.
It seems suspicious that they couldn't get their problem fixed during the day of the sale.

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Who the hell considers $101 slashing prices?

This is better:

MacMall
Up to 22% off Macs and iPods in their 48 hour Thanksgiving sale. Pay attention what you are buying, however. The biggest discounts ("Closeouts") are on the previous versions of hardware, but even new hardware has reasonable discounts. For example, the older MacBook Pro can be had for $600 off, but even the newest MacBook Pro can be had for $300 off ($150 instant, $150 mail in). Discounts available for all Mac models and iPod models.

MacBook: $974 ($125 off), $1162 ($137 off), $1341 ($158 off)
iMac: $1135 ($64 off), $1354 ($145 off), $1628 ($171 off), $2099 ($200 off)
MacBook Pro: $1799 ($220 off), $2235 ($264 off), $2499 ($300 off)
Mac mini: $544 ($55 off), $744 ($55 off)
Mac Pro: $2235 ($264 off)
iPod Touch: $269.99 ($29.01 off), $359.99 ($39.01 off)

[roehlstation]

Originally Posted by Kolchak

Same, old Apple with the really lame discounts. "Slashes" prices? More like scrapes prices. Why would I want to pay $138 for a nano when Apple charges sales tax almost everywhere? Go to Amazon and even at full retail price with free shipping, it's less than what Apple charges "on sale." However, Amazon is also selling the nano for $138 with free shipping, so it beats Apple hands down. There is almost never a reason to buy from the Apple online store.

By charging sales tax they make it easier on you since technically you are supposed to claim that unpaid tax at the end of the tax season.

But I do agree, $101 off a 24" iMac isn't exactly a huge deal. But the margin isn't all that high on computers anyway.

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by roehlstation

By charging sales tax they make it easier on you since technically you are supposed to claim that unpaid tax at the end of the tax season.

But I do agree, $101 off a 24" iMac isn't exactly a huge deal. But the margin isn't all that high on computers anyway.

Apple has 30% margins on their products.

They make out like bank and my stock is doing quite well.

I just don't go for a sales tax cover charge as being a sale.

[Unicron]

Isn't "slashing" a bit emphatic? At best, Apple has given prices a very modest trim (10% or less).

[WJHMH]

That's not slashed, more like a grazed.

[BBStar]

Does anyone know if Apple typically has any other sale days besides "Black Friday"?

[gastroboy]

Originally Posted by BBStar

Does anyone know if Apple typically has any other sale days besides "Black Friday"?

Don't expect much of a discount ever from Apple. Just wait for the post Christmas sales and see what you can get out of a regular retailer, or what Amazon might offer.

I looked long and hard at the Black Friday sale and found it totally underwhelming except for obsoleted junk Apple had in the remainder bin.