Computerworld - As expected, Apple cut prices for its MacBook Pro and iMac lines up to 8% for its annual "Black Friday" sale, although several authorized resellers priced Apple's hardware even more aggressively.
Apple's one-day sale dropped the price on all MacBook Pro and iMac models by an across-the-board $101, a cut that represented an 8% reduction for the lowest-priced 13-in. MacBook Pro and the 21.5-in. iMac. On the quad-core i5-based iMac, however, the $101 discount represented a 5% reduction, while the discount on the top-end 15-in. MacBook Pro was an even smaller 4%.
The discounts leaked earlier in the week, when the Boy Genius Report blog reported the $101 one-day-only price cuts.
Several online sellers, however, continued to beat Apple's prices, sometimes by wide margins.
Amazon.com, for example, was selling the least-expensive 13-in. MacBook Pro for $1,050, a 13% discount of $149.
MacConnection.com's sale beat both Apple and Amazon by wide margins in many cases. On Friday, the online-only seller was selling the 15-in. MacBook Pro for $200 to $300 under list price, and the 27-in. iMac for $170-$180 below the regular price. MacConnection also dropped the price of the plastic-cased MacBook -- a model Apple didn't discount -- by $150 or 15%, and was selling the notebook for $850.
MacConnection's prices, which are good through Dec. 2, included hefty mail-in rebates, however, something neither Apple or Amazon required. For example, the $300 savings on the top-end 15-in. MacBook Pro included a $150 mail-in rebate.
Apple also discounted all three iPod touch models by slightly more than 10%, all iPod nanos by 6 to 7%, and the Apple TV by approximately 9%.
Among Apple's other Black Friday specials was Microsoft's Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student, which was discounted 35% to $98. However, other outlets again beat Apple's sales price: On Friday, Amazon sold the same suite for $90.
Read more about Macintosh in Computerworld's Macintosh Topic Center.
Free Insider GuideCopyright © 1994 - 2012 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Computerworld Inc. is prohibited. Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are trademarks of International Data Group Inc.
