Apple's Black Friday Shopping Event to Offer Free Gift Cards on Select Products

[YankeeSR23]

Lol its only for the products that are last gen/havent been updated recently or not selling well

It’s always been that way. None of the releases from the last 6 months were ever included in Black Friday sale. Retail in general uses Black Friday to clear out inventory of older product or cheap stuff they get overseas (Walmart will sell televisions by brands you never heard of that were dirt cheap but usually low quality).

 

[jlc1978]

Really? Fair enough.

This makes it sound like you can opt for a discount to the same value instead of the card, unless i'm missing something

View attachment 2313150

Don't think that was an option previously

No, they discount the purchase amount by the amount of the gift card and charge for the gift card. If you return the item without the gift card you only get a refund of the discounted amount. If you return both you get the full amount.

The post you refer to also said, "All items will be charged at checkout, including the eligible Apple Gift Card."

 

[haydn!]

If you’re UK based and considering a new Mac, check out KRCS as they’re currently offering 10% off for Black Friday, including the latest models and custom configurations.

Much better than what Apple is currently offering here.

 

[sw1tcher]

I've bought as many as 10 in store at Target when the promo runs in store. Is it online only?

It should be both in-store and online.

The only thing with buying them in-store though is I've read where some people would go home and then redeem the gift cards to their Apple account only to discover that the funds were drained. It's like someone knew the 16-digit gift card code (thieves scratched off label and replaced with fake label after copying gift card code?) and when the gift card got activated, and then the thieves quickly used/loaded the funds to their Apple account before the buyer got a chance to. So caveat emptor.

It's safer online.

 

[flottenheimer]

No gift card for a Studio Display? That's too bad... I was waiting for that to pull the trigger.
Should I buy the Samsung instead? By Black Friday it'll be close to free.

Buy whatever you feel will suit your needs.
Loving my Studio Display.

 

[Viridian5]

“Up to” annoys me. Any guesses for the gift card amount for an iPhone SE purchase? I assume less than the “up to $75” figure otherwise no need for the first two words.

 

[QCassidy352]

Well it’s not much, but I’d been eying a S9 watch anyway, so I’ll take a $50 gift card.

 

[OldCorpse]

I want to buy the 15" MBA, but I want to order a 16/1. Does the $200 gift card apply to special orders or only stock?

 

[poematik13]

No gift card for a Studio Display? That's too bad... I was waiting for that to pull the trigger.
Should I buy the Samsung instead? By Black Friday it'll be close to free.

Get the refurb studio display for 1359. It's good as new, we got 2 for our office last month.

Also, F samsung

 

[CamiMR]

Bought a Series 9 last week as a Xmas gift for my wife, as the extended return period had started.
Will I be able to call Apple and get whatever discount they're offering for Black Friday, or will I have to return the unopened watch, and order a new one with the discount?

 

[adbe]

I want to buy the 15" MBA, but I want to order a 16/1. Does the $200 gift card apply to special orders or only stock?

Usually with Apple it's any configuration. It's not like for 3rd party retailers that receive large blocks of a specific SKU.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

No, they discount the purchase amount by the amount of the gift card and charge for the gift card. If you return the item without the gift card you only get a refund of the discounted amount. If you return both you get the full amount.

The post you refer to also said, "All items will be charged at checkout, including the eligible Apple Gift Card."

Thanks for clarifying

 

[Sprocket_Proton]

So is it education discount or the gift card not both? I was hoping to get a Macbook pro and iPhone at the back to school promo

 

[Alan-in-CO]

I had a MB Pro in my Camel watchlist (M3 Pro/18g Ram/1 TB SSD). Last night I got a notification stating this model was $200 off at Amazon, so I purchased it. This morning, the same unit is back up to its normal price. It was a pretty short window.

 

[Saturn007]

Lol its only for the products that are last gen/havent been updated recently or not selling well

Where does it say that?! Seriously, where?

dang.. you right.. didn't even notice that

Where did you notice that?


Here's the direct link to Apple's promotion:

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Shopping Event - Apple

For a limited time, get up to a $200 Apple Gift Card when you buy an eligible iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and more. Starts November 24.

www.apple.com

MacBook Airs are included. There's nothing there that limits a MacBook Air purchase to the last generation -- i.e., to only the M1 MBA. The asterisk and the fine print don't limit it.

As far as it goes, a 13" M2 MBA is eligible and that's the current generation. The 15" MBA is eligible, too, and it is also current generation.

The Apple Watch 9 is eligible and that's another device that's clearly the current generation.

It’s always been that way. None of the releases from the last 6 months were ever included in Black Friday sale. Retail in general uses Black Friday to clear out inventory of older product or cheap stuff they get overseas (Walmart will sell televisions by brands you never heard of that were dirt cheap but usually low quality).

Hmm... That's also is directly contradicted by this announcement and by last year's Black Friday sale. For example, the 15" MBA just came out this summer (June 5) and that's less than 6 months ago. Yet, it's apparently included.

Plus, last year's Black Friday sale included a host of Macs, including recent releases.

"Buying a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, or iMacwill score you a $250 gift card. "​

Apple Reveals Black Friday Deals for 2022

Your savings come in the form of an Apple gift card on select purchases.

www.cnet.com

Many current generation products were included. The Apple Watch SE was one of them and it was the new one. (N.B., even as 2nd gen, it was called "Watch SE".)

If you all know better, and can support your sweeping claims or observations, please let us know! Where are you seeing those restrictions? Even MR's link to the Apple announcement goes to the MR Buyer's Guide, which has nothing about limits on eligibility!

A link to an Apple page would be helpful. We don't want to disillusion potential buyers unless we're on solid ground. Also, for those of us in the market, we'd rather not get our hopes up, if you know some inside scoop and concrete, actual restrictions!

 

[Viridian5]

Bought a Series 9 last week as a Xmas gift for my wife, as the extended return period had started.
Will I be able to call Apple and get whatever discount they're offering for Black Friday, or will I have to return the unopened watch, and order a new one with the discount?

I asked a similar question to support last week and they said:

“Normally, appeasement period is if you purchase it within a week before the promotion, and if it's eligible item. Then you can call customer service for appeasement offer.”

 

[subjonas]

A few better offers this year than last year.

The iPhone gift card is $75 instead of last year's $50.
The iPad gift cards are up to $100 instead of last year's up to $50.
The TV 4K gift card is $50 while last year there was none.

How dare you look at the positive

 

[trip1ex]

The larger the gift card relative to the price the more imminent the release of a new model.

ON top of that there is also a bit of an inverse relationship between popularity and gift card size.

Last the more Apple needs overall revenue to meet short term goals the greater the gift card size.

PS the higher inventory is above normal levels the greater the greater the gift card size. Or vice versa.

 

[OldCorpse]

Usually with Apple it's any configuration. It's not like for 3rd party retailers that receive large blocks of a specific SKU.

Thank you, good to know. I assume I can get it pretty fast... I want to buy a STARLIGHT 16/1 15" MBA, I assume they must already have these available in a warehouse somewhere in all colors, instead of waiting for enough orders to assemble a bunch.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Anyone know if I can get an iPhone 15 Pro Max unlocked without a contract at any type of discount besides eBay? I know it’s a new item I’m just asking.

Buy discounted Apple Store cards. Should be a few more options next week.

Don’t they have a system in place to prevent you from doing this? Like a limit on the amount you can redeem to your Apple ID in a period of time? I read something about that.

You can add up to $2K to your account. But you can have as many as you’d like.

 

[webkit]

Nothing for iPhone 15?

Apple doesn't typically give gift cards on the current/latest iPhone models during Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping events.

 

[webkit]

“Up to” annoys me. Any guesses for the gift card amount for an iPhone SE purchase? I assume less than the “up to $75” figure otherwise no need for the first two words.

It appears to only be $25 on the iPhone SE. It's $50 on the 13 and $75 on the 14.

 

[jlc1978]

Bought a Series 9 last week as a Xmas gift for my wife, as the extended return period had started.
Will I be able to call Apple and get whatever discount they're offering for Black Friday, or will I have to return the unopened watch, and order a new one with the discount?

If they won't you can always return and rebuy unless it is a custom configuration that they do not sell. Then all you can do is return.

 

[poematik13]

Where does it say that?! Seriously, where?

Look at the products. It's all stuff that was released in early 2023 or 2022, or before.

No new macbook pros, no new imac, no iphone 15, etc.

They're just clearing out inventory of stuff that will get refreshed in 6 months.

 

[webkit]

Look at the products. It's all stuff that was released in early 2023 or 2022, or before.

Mostly but not all. Apple Watch Series 9 is included ($50 gift card) yet it only came out two months ago.