Apple's online stores for the United States and Canada have just come back online for Black Friday's one-day shopping event, and, like its stores in Australia and New Zealand, the company is using bonus gift cards rather than discounts as customer incentives.
Apple's European stores saw a more traditional discounted pricing scheme, with prices reduced on products directly, rather than offering a gift card promotion.
Gift cards are offered with the purchase of the following items in the U.S.:
- iPad Air: $75 gift card
- iPad mini: $50 gift card on non-Retina models, no gift card on Retina models
- iPad 2: $50 gift card
- iPod touch: $50 gift card
- iPod nano: $25 gift card
- MacBook Air: $150 gift card
- MacBook Pro: $150 gift card for both Retina and non-Retina models
- iMac: $150 gift card
- Apple TV: $25 gift card
- AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule: $50 gift card
- Various accessories: Gift card amounts vary, including $50 for the Nest Thermostat, $25 for the Anki DRIVE Starter Kit, $25 for the Nike+ FuelBand, and $25 for the Automatic Smart Driving Assistant.
The discounts should run through the day today both on Apple's online store and in its retail outlets across North America.
Deals from third-party retailers may be even better than Apple's pricing for some customers, and we've summarized some of the best Mac and iPad deals over the past several days. We are also keeping track of deals on Apple products, accessories, software, and more in our Black Friday roundup.
