Expected iPad, iPhone, MacBook Deals

Apple is a notorious Black-Friday-skipper. When it comes to great deals directly from the company: Zip. Nada. You’re not going to find much of anything. 

But because they list so many of their products with major retailers (ie. , , Best Buy — you know, the usual suspects), those sellers are able to offer some pretty sweet opportunities for you to get the Apple device you’ve always wanted. Well, the older ones at least. Don’t expect to see an iPhone 11 Lightning Deal at any point.

Thanks to the team at , we have some insights on what we might see this year in terms of doorbuster deals on Apple products (note that Apple never does an official “ad preview,” so these are mostly educated guesses using data from years prior — aka good data!). 

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the Apple deals we think you might see this Black Friday. 

iPhones

When it comes to the world’s most popular array of smartphones, most retailers go the route of including a free gift card with your purchase. Last year, Target bundled the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X with $150 gift cards for multiple carriers. The iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max came with a $250 Target Gift card when activating on Verizon or Sprint.

Shopping super-giant Walmart is also known for being generous with gift card bundles. Last Black Friday, the retailer offered $400 in gift cards with a purchase of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X (shots fired, Target). Apple’s own gift card offer paled in comparison at just $50 — wow, how nice of them.

So, expect to mostly be getting some store credit when it comes to iPhones — which, hey, isn’t so bad. 

MacBooks

PC people, you can keep scrolling — MacBook fans, hold up for a second. 

We see MacBook sales regularly during the year (meaning besides just shopping events), so we’re thinking that you’ll probably be able to snag one of these powerful laptops at a pretty decent discount. Last year, Best Buy had up to a $250 discount on select MacBook Pro models, which beat Apple’s offer of up to a $200 Apple gift card. We also see MacBook Pros for around $200 off, and MacBook Airs for about $100 off, on Amazon quite frequently. 

Start picking out your software in preparation now.

iPads

Most iPhone users think that also getting an iPad isn’t exactly a necessity (and we tend to agree), but if you can grab one on sale, we say “why not?”

During last year’s Black Friday festivities, Best Buy offered up to $150 off the iPad Pro (for reference, Apple’s own offer was full price with up to a $100 gift card — what’s up with them and gift cards?).

Other highlights of last year’s iPad discounts were:

Walmart and Amazon have consistently better iPad deals than anywhere else, so we think you’ll want to stick with them this year, too. 

Apple Watches

Smart watches are getting more and more popular as the years go on, with tons of shoppers subbing out their wrist bling for something more tech-based. Like, come on, getting texts sent to your watch is pretty cool.

Last year, Best Buy offered the Series 3 Apple Watch for $50 off, so you can probably expect something similar, if not a tiny bit cheaper. But, if you’re looking to get a more recent Apple Watch model, the Series 4 was offered at $75 off during this year’s Amazon Prime Day — it’s probably safe to say that we’ll see a comparable deal during Black Friday on the same device. 

iTunes Gift Cards

Yes, people still use iTunes (Spotify users, pick your jaws up off the floor, it’s rude). 

If you or somebody you know is an avid user of the Apple service, a gift card could be a good get. Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Sam’s Club, and Costco all had $100 iTunes gift cards at just $80 last Black Friday, so you’ll most likely see that again.

Note: iTunes gift cards can also be used to pay for Apple Care.

AirPods

Finally, AirPods. Everybody is getting them as of late — try walking down the street and not seeing a pair. Go ahead. 

In terms of last year, AirPods were not discounted by Apple or other retailers last holiday season (which makes sense — they were still really new, after all). But, with Amazon now offering a competing product in their new Echo Buds, as well as some promising AirPods discounts during Amazon Prime Day, we think you’ll probably see some sort of savings on the in-fashion headphones.

You’re not going to see the AirPods Pro, though. Trust us. Too new. Too nice.