Apple’s Black Friday Is Here and Mostly Ho-Hum

Apple’s Black Friday event has started, and the deals are a cross of mostly-ho-hum and stupendously disappointing. As in past years, you can get an Apple gift card with the purchase of qualifying Apple products. On the awesome side is that all of Apple’s product lines have eligible products. On the Seriously? side, Apple’s newest iPhones, iPads, and Macs aren’t eligible.

Apple Black Friday Event

Here’s the breakdown on what Apple is offering in its 4-day Black Friday shopping event:

iPhone

Get a $50 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy select SIM-free iPhone models.

Eligible devices: iPhone 7/Plus and iPhone 8/Plus

iPad

Get an Apple Store Gift Card of up to $100 when you buy select iPad models.

Eligible devices: iPad Mini 4, iPad (9.7-inch), and iPad Pro 10.5-inch

Mac

Get a $200 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy select Mac models.

Eligible devices: MacBook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air (not new), iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro

Apple Watch

Get a $50 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy Apple Watch Series 3.

Eligible devices: Apple’s 2017 Apple Watch Series 3 lineup

HomePod and Apple TV

Get a $50 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy HomePod. Or a $25 gift card when you buy Apple TV.

Eligible devices: HomePod, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV (4th Gen)

Beats

Get a $50 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy select Beats.

Eligible devices: Beats Studio 3 Over-Ear, Beats Studio 3 Wireless Over-Ear, Beats Solo 3 Wireless On-Ear (two models), PowerBeats 3 Wireless Earphone (two models)

The Beats products are a good opportunity, as are the offers on Apple TV and HomePod. I’ve seen HomePod at that price from other retailers, and cheaper in small quantities. The gifts cards on Macs are pretty anemic in that only the most expensive (and mostly outdated) Macs are eligible for the full $200. That it’s a previous generation of MacBook Air is sad.

There are better deals out there for iPad, and again the newest models aren’t included in the promotion, and the same goes for iPhone. Apple Watch Series 3…yawn.

Apple has never been big on sales, but there’s something about making everything but the newest models eligible for gift cards extra insulting. But maybe that’s just me.

Share this post