Black Friday 2018: Best Deals on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and More

[UltimaKilo]

I had the best saving of all. Bought nothing I didn't need and saved 100% of my money!

Current day Apple certainly doesn't deserve my hard earned cash.

Cool story. Thanks for adding to the discussion.

I don't see what the moaning is all about. 2018 models are quite fast. Yes, they're pricey so I bought mine used but they're definitely faster than 2015 and older machines. As for late 2013s - the 2014 is essentially identical in every way except for a minor CPU speed bump. Even with Apple SSDs they're still quite adequate for most folks who don't do pro stuff. 2015s seem to be the pinnacle of that generation of laptops, they were made for a long time and there are plenty around. You can always buy them used.

Right. If anything, the 2018 models are the first laptops Apple has made in years worthy of the "pro" moniker, especially now with the GPU bump. Do these same people get upset that they can't afford a Bentley?

That's been the one absent thing this Black Friday, unfortunately.

I was really hoping to pick up an Apple TV 4K deal to replace my ATV3.

I'm not buying tech either, but I do see this as a good time to buy Christmas gifts for later.

Also, I love how stupid "Cyber Monday" never caught on, probably cause Amazon had such bad deals on it that everyone gave up.

What do you mean? Cyber Monday hasn't happened yet. Also, pretty sure that Cyber Monday surpassed Black Friday in sales last year, it's a huge success!

 

[SgtPepper12]

It shows how astronomically priced Apple gear is now that even with decent discounts, the prices are still way above what I'd consider. Especially with practically portless, dodgy keyboarded, gimmicky gimped MacBooks that aren't fit for purpose, not for my needs.

I just so wish I'd bought a higher spec MBPr in 2013, had I known that that was going to be the last proper computer they'd make for over half a decade. It's both laughable and frustrating.

It's even worse here in Germany. Just as an example, the higher specced 15" Macbook Pro is 2800 USD in the US. In Germany, it's 3300 EUR, which is about 3800 USD, so a thousand bucks more. I mean, I get that there's a difference in how tax rates are indicated in those prices, but this is definitely way beyond just that. The prices are just a joke at this point and I don't see how anybody sane would ever buy anything from Apple here in Germany. It's not like Germany is some desolate third world country which involves a lot of risk for Apple doing business. I really don't get how and why the prices exploded so much.

 

[CarpalMac]

It's even worse here in Germany. Just as an example, the higher specced 15" Macbook Pro is 2800 USD in the US. In Germany, it's 3300 EUR, which is about 3800 USD, so a thousand bucks more. I mean, I get that there's a difference in how tax rates are indicated in those prices, but this is definitely way beyond just that. The prices are just a joke at this point and I don't see how anybody sane would ever buy anything from Apple here in Germany. It's not like Germany is some desolate third world country which involves a lot of risk for Apple doing business. I really don't get how and why the prices exploded so much.

Purely because their marketing and pricing teams think they can get away with it and that the market will bear it. I imagine a lot of creative companies have bought the new equipment as the old stuff was just that, old.

The iPhone has clearly peaked now, the iterative upgrades have reached the end of the truly major changes they can make. Cook must have known this was coming and Apples shift to be less reliant on the iPhone (hence the push on services) bears this out.

Not so long ago well over 80% of Apples revenue was from iPhone sales alone, imagine if that dependency was still the case now. The share price would have near collapsed given the latest news and actions by the Execs.

I'm still laughing at all the smug "exciting pipeline" comments Cook was making over the last few years. The watch developments are the only exciting thing, and calling them exciting is being more than generous .

 

[Dunkrag]

So I can I just go into Apple today and ask for a couple of £40 gift cards for the iPhone 8 and iPad I bought 13 days ago that are currently still sealed? Or do I have to play the game of returning them and rebuying them with the same cashier?

 

[mlody]

So far the best deal was the Costco HomePod @ $249.99. Compare that to a regular Apple price @$349.99 and that was over 30% savings. I also used Discover Card to buy this online at costco.com for an additional 5% cashback. Every other deal seems not that great.

 

[scottinlexky]

There's nothing appealing about stepping foot in the apple store any more.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Well, what I have is working just fine for me. I did go check out the new iPad Pro's, but my 2017 iPad Pro 12.9 with pencil do most of what the new models do. iOS 12 is hardly any different on the two devices, but I did help an Apple employee make a customer purchase the 1 TB model. He should have given me commission.

Surprising how dumb down some of these employees are. No clue about detailed specs. I told the buyer, go for the 1 TB model, because it has 6 GBs of RAM versus the 512 GB model. That could potentially mean you will get access to future iOS releases the 512 GB with 4 GBs of RAM might not.

The customer then asked the employee, which color, which is most popular? He responded, they are pretty split and thats. I said go for the space gray, it blends in the wi-fi antennae lines better.

 

[BrianJ844]

The deals do seem down but a 2017 15” MBP for $1700 from BH doesn’t seem bad. Heavily considering that one myself.

 

[macfan90]

who is going to buy an iMac, its quite out dated

 

[curtvaughan]

Who,buys this crap, no ssd on iMac. This is disgusting and embarrassing! What has apple become, a junk yard seller?

Well, technically the "fusion" drives have a small SSD to speed up frequently used files. My iMac has a 2TB fusion drive which includes a 128GB NVMe SSD. The SSD is accessed as disk0s1 and the HHD as disk2s1 by the BSD OS underlying MacOS. It's a 2017 model. The latest can be configured up to 3TB in the following configurations, either Fusion or pure SSD:


Storage

1TB Fusion Drive

Configurable to 2TB Fusion Drive or 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD

1TB Fusion Drive

Configurable to 2TB or 3TB Fusion Drive or 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB SSD

2TB

2TB Fusion Drive

Configurable to 3TB Fusion Drive or 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB SSD

The iMac Pro's come with SSD's in 1, 2, and 4 TB sizes with SSD only. The configurations in the article above refer only to Black Friday special offerings. The Apple SSD offerings are quite expensive, but perform well.

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

Starting to like that Mac Mini

 

[oneMadRssn]

I just so wish I'd bought a higher spec MBPr in 2013, had I known that that was going to be the last proper computer they'd make for over half a decade. It's both laughable and frustrating.

Nothing stopping you from getting a fully loaded 2013 MBPr on ebay - compared to this new stuff it's a steal price-wise.

 

[imageWIS]

It's even worse here in Germany. Just as an example, the higher specced 15" Macbook Pro is 2800 USD in the US. In Germany, it's 3300 EUR, which is about 3800 USD, so a thousand bucks more. I mean, I get that there's a difference in how tax rates are indicated in those prices, but this is definitely way beyond just that. The prices are just a joke at this point and I don't see how anybody sane would ever buy anything from Apple here in Germany. It's not like Germany is some desolate third world country which involves a lot of risk for Apple doing business. I really don't get how and why the prices exploded so much.

Because Tim Cook needs to make record profits every quarter for the shareholders (and himself) or the board will replace him: the long-term future of Apple be damned! The only thing that matters any more is this and possibly next quarter, and that's it.

 

[sirenized]

New 12.9” iPad Pro 256GB $1089 at B&H

 

[fairuz]

What do you mean? Cyber Monday hasn't happened yet. Also, pretty sure that Cyber Monday surpassed Black Friday in sales last year, it's a huge success!

All the online deals for Apple products are on Black Friday. It's still the day known for discounts.
Also, wouldn't be surprised if online sales on any day were above Black Friday in-store sales, just cause everyone buys things online now.

 

[Niklas_nick]

The best Black Friday deal on Apple is the stock at 28%

 

[esatamacmodular]

not much to see here at apple this BF... hope everyone found what they were looking for but I'm going to hold off for 2019 models. I wonder if they will still be selling the 2017 non-TB MBP in 2019 and still not advertise to customers its a 2017 model.

 

[ZipZap]

who is going to buy an iMac, its quite out dated

An iMac 5k is the best deal apple offers. Period. Not date at all.

 

[ronno]

Shocking they are still selling these things with 8 GB of RAM.
It’s just a bad experience for the most part.

 

[grandM]

As usual deals in Belgium are laughable compared to the deals to be made in the USA.
[doublepost=1543111608][/doublepost]

Because Tim Cook needs to make record profits every quarter for the shareholders (and himself) or the board will replace him: the long-term future of Apple be damned! The only thing that matters any more is this and possibly next quarter, and that's it.

The real problem is the importer and the guy owning the Monopoly. You might know the brand Henkel. This brand can only be bought in Belgium through a person called Lauwers. So when a wholesaler buys Henkel he needs to pass Lauwers first. In the last decade Lauwers became filthy rich through this Monopoly. If you want I gladly will show you were you can find his balance sheets. So eliminate the importer and the country Monopoly owner...

 

[lambertjohn]

What I don’t get is, at these prices. Why not go refurb?

I agree. Refurbs from Apple are great!
[doublepost=1543112823][/doublepost]

Why not sharing any information about MicroCenter?

The Micro Center here in Dallas totally sold out of all their 2018 Airs in just a few days. I mean, they had tons of them at $999 and $1199 and sold every single one of them. Now their website says, "Not Carried at this Store" for every model of the 2018 Air. Crazy.

 

[yngrshr]

Microcenter still has the 2018 Air for $999, beating all of these deals. Hell of a deal. I bought one the other day, but returned it since I couldn’t justify another computer. Quality was great, though. I wouldn’t pay over $1000 for one before taxes, but for $999, it’s a solid machine. I can’t believe how much better the keyboard feels compared to my first gen butterfly MBP.

They even have the new 11” and 12.9” iPad Pros on sale.
[doublepost=1543115921][/doublepost]

I agree. Refurbs from Apple are great!
[doublepost=1543112823][/doublepost]
The Micro Center here in Dallas totally sold out of all their 2018 Airs in just a few days. I mean, they had tons of them at $999 and $1199 and sold every single one of them. Now their website says, "Not Carried at this Store" for every model of the 2018 Air. Crazy.

They haven’t restocked? My Microcenter is getting almost daily restocks of their Airs. They’ve sold out and restocked numerous times. That’s crazy that yours isn’t.

 

[Fthree]

My 2015 maxed 15 is still a workhorse today. Sure it’s gotta thicker heavier body but i lift weights so who really cares? 3k for a new one? Nope

 

[Tech198]

Black Friday extravaganza.

 

[magbarn]

Who,buys this crap, no ssd on iMac. This is disgusting and embarrassing! What has apple become, a junk yard seller?

Yup, you think with Apples resources they could’ve easily sourced 1TB sata ssd’s for less than $130 (yes you heard that right) or better yet nvme 1TB ssd for $150 with barely a price change on these iMacs...