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Missed Black Friday / Cyber Monday - What are the best rMBP deals?

H

hipnetic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2010
1,277
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So my wife tells me today that she's thinking we should get our daughter (in High School) a MacBook for Xmas. I tell her that I had been thinking about upgrading my MacBook Air and our daughter had expressed an interest in taking mine. My wife's not crazy about me giving our daughter my "hand-me-down" but it's a 2011 MacBook Air 13", so it's a pretty darn nice computer. Anyway, I wish my wife had pushed the idea a few days ago when there were some better deals being offered.

I know about the B&H prices and I think my wife qualifies for the Apple Educational Discount. Best Buy has one of the models I might be interested in for $100 off regular price. What other deals are out there? In some thread here I found mention of an online company that I had never heard of before, and their prices looked good, but now I've forgotten the name of them and I don't remember which thread they were mentioned in.
 
hipnetic said:
I know about the B&H prices and I think my wife qualifies for the Apple Educational Discount. Best Buy has one of the models I might be interested in for $100 off regular price. What other deals are out there? In some thread here I found mention of an online company that I had never heard of before, and their prices looked good, but now I've forgotten the name of them and I don't remember which thread they were mentioned in.
Click to expand...

I think Apple Insider should have you covered
 
hipnetic said:
So my wife tells me today that she's thinking we should get our daughter (in High School) a MacBook for Xmas. I tell her that I had been thinking about upgrading my MacBook Air and our daughter had expressed an interest in taking mine. My wife's not crazy about me giving our daughter my "hand-me-down" but it's a 2011 MacBook Air 13", so it's a pretty darn nice computer. Anyway, I wish my wife had pushed the idea a few days ago when there were some better deals being offered.

I know about the B&H prices and I think my wife qualifies for the Apple Educational Discount. Best Buy has one of the models I might be interested in for $100 off regular price. What other deals are out there? In some thread here I found mention of an online company that I had never heard of before, and their prices looked good, but now I've forgotten the name of them and I don't remember which thread they were mentioned in.
Click to expand...

Maybe you are referring to http://www.macmall.com/ . They still have a few deals and depending on your state you may not need to pay sales tax. Educational discount from Apple tends to be one of the better deals.
 
Go to Portableone.com
Their prices are still the same as they were over the weekend.
The version I bought was sold out, but I got it for the same price on backorder.
They still have a couple versions available if you want it shipped immediately.
 
Chizzled said:
Go to Portableone.com
Click to expand...
Thanks, that was the one! Are they an authorized Apple dealer? And does it even matter if they're not?

Update: And now that I've looked at their deals, and what they have left in stock, I guess I won't be buying from them anyway. Right now I'm leaning towards the 13" rMBP w/8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. Best Buy is selling it for $1400, which is as good as any of the online prices, but I'd have to pay sales tax. OTOH, I could return it more easily if there was an issue.

FWIW, I have an AmEx card that collected points. I used to use it a lot but don't use it at all anymore, but I've got a good chunk of points on it, and AmEx has their points store where they're giving 20% off of the regular points costs. I think they used to partner with MacMall but not anymore. :( They do have Best Buy and Apple, though. So I could go the $1400 Best Buy route through the AmEx store, use up my points, and pay the difference.

The other model I'm interested in is the base model 15" rMBP. My wife is taking some classes at a college, and it seems like my best deal there would be either the Apple Educational Store (from what I've read, it sounds like my wife would qualify) or to buy online from MacMall or B&H.

I'm not sure how much better the Black Friday / Cyber Monday prices were, so hopefully I didn't miss out on too big of a price difference. So does anyone remember how it all played out last year? Were there any other new deals between now and Xmas?
 
Last edited:
koa, thanks for the heads up on that. Yes, I did find it. Unfortunately, I doubt it's going to work for me. I ended up buying a 13" rMBP (8GB/256GB) through ShopAmex/BestBuy so that I could take advantage of the $500-or-so worth of points I've had sitting around forever. So, the other $950-or-so will get charged to my Amex. But since I had to order it through the ShopAmex site, I suspect that I won't get the $25 kick-back, even though the order is being handled by Best Buy.
 
hipnetic said:
koa, thanks for the heads up on that. Yes, I did find it. Unfortunately, I doubt it's going to work for me. I ended up buying a 13" rMBP (8GB/256GB) through ShopAmex/BestBuy so that I could take advantage of the $500-or-so worth of points I've had sitting around forever. So, the other $950-or-so will get charged to my Amex. But since I had to order it through the ShopAmex site, I suspect that I won't get the $25 kick-back, even though the order is being handled by Best Buy.
Click to expand...

If you know anyone with a .edu address you can get that coupon for $50. You might be able to call BB and give them the code. I went to the BB today and they said they will credit me back $50. on Sunday when it begins if I just bring in a printed out copy and my receipt from the MBPr purchase yesterday. Even though the CS desk told me that I'll believe it when I see it.

You AmEx extends the warranty a year (call to be sure on your card since sometimes you just need to request it) which means if you buy AppleCare you get one year standard, two additional years with AppleCare then AmEx covers the fourth year so $183. on the education discount side you are getting covered for four years total. AmEx is very liberal and easier to deal with than Apple BTW.
 
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