Apple's 'Black Friday' deals drop Mac prices by $101

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.

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