Apple’s Australian ‘Black Friday’ Sale: What Are The Best Deals?


As promised, Apple is running a pseudo-‘Black Friday’ sale today, with discounts on iPads, iPods, Macs and other items. We’ve rounded up what’s on offer and analysed whether a worthwhile saving is being offered. Bottom line: some good iPad and accessory deals, but you can do better for MacBooks elsewhere (and nobody is getting a discounted iPad mini this year).

iPad deals

Item Sale price Regular price Saving % Saving
iPad 16GB Wi-Fi $498 $539 $41 7.6%
iPad 32GB Wi-Fi $598 $649 $51 7.9%
iPad 64GB Wi-Fi $694 $759 $65 8.6%
iPad 4G 16GB $638 $679 $41 6.0%
iPad 4G 32GB $738 $789 $51 6.5%
iPad 4G 64GB $834 $899 $65 7.2%
iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi $398 $429 $31 7.2%
iPad 2 16GB 3G $538 $569 $31 5.4%

The savings are OK for the iPad models, especially given Apple offers free engraving and shipping. That said, you can find cheaper prices on some models at import sites such as Kogan.

iPod deals

Item Sale price Regular price Saving % Saving
iPod Touch 32GB $298 $329 $31 9.4%
iPod Touch 64GB $398 $439 $41 9.3%
iPod Touch 4th Gen 16GB $194 $219 $25 11.4%
iPod Touch 4th Gen 32GB $254 $279 $25 9.0%
iPod Nano 16GB $158 $169 $11 6.5%

These are OK deals; you can find similar offers at other retailers from time to time, but factor in postage (which Apple doesn’t charge) when making a comparison.

MacBook deals

Item Sale price Regular price Saving % Saving
MacBook Pro 13in 2.5GHz $1,244 $1,349 $105 7.8%
MacBook Pro 13in 2.9GHz $1,584 $1,689 $105 6.2%
MacBook Pro 15in 2.3GHz $1,894 $1,999 $105 5.3%
MacBook Pro 15in 2.6GHz $2,394 $2,499 $105 4.2%
MacBook Pro Retina 13in 2.5GHz 128GB $1,794 $1,899 $105 5.5%
MacBook Pro Retina 13in 2.5GHz 256GB $2,094 $2,199 $105 4.8%
MacBook Pro 15in Retina 2.3GHz $2,394 $2,499 $105 4.2%
MacBook Pro 15in Retina 2.6GHz $3,094 $3,199 $105 3.3%
MacBook Air 11in 128GB $994 $1,099 $105 9.6%
MacBook Air 11in 256GB $1,144 $1,249 $105 8.4%
MacBook Air 13in 128GB $1,244 $1,349 $105 7.8%
MacBook Air 13in 256GB $1,584 $1,689 $105 6.2%

Whatever the model, there’s a straight $105 taken off MacBook prices. We’re rather less taken with the Mac offer, given that deals offering 10 per cent off Mac models routinely pop up at other retailers. Only one of Apple’s discounts reaches anywhere near that level (the entry-level 11-inch MacBook Air), and they get much weaker in percentage terms for the higher-priced items.

Other deals

Item Sale price Regular price Saving % Saving
AirPort Express Base Station $108 $119 $11 9.2%
AirPort Extreme Base Station $178 $199 $21 10.6%
Time Capsule 2TB $298 $319 $21 6.6%
Magic Mouse $64 $75 $11 14.7%
Magic Trackpad $64 $75 $11 14.7%
Apple Wireless Keyboard $64 $75 $11 14.7%
iPad Smart Case $44 $59 $15 25.4%
iPad Smart Cover (Polyurethane) $34 $45 $11 24.4%
iPad Smart Cover (Leather) $58 $79 $21 26.6%

In percentage terms, these are the biggest discounts. If you’ve been contemplating a smart cover or Apple’s excellent wireless keyboard, this looks like the time to buy.

The sale runs until 2am AEDT on November 24, and in-store at Apple stores during opening hours. Note that Apple classifies these as promotional deals, which means that you can’t take advantage of Apple’s usual offer to price-match if you recently purchased the same item at a higher price. (As we’ve pointed out recently, while that’s a generous offer, it does have limitations.)

Pedant note: when we wrote about Apple’s teaser page for the sale earlier in the week, a debate broke out in the comments over whether it was bad taste to refer to a sale in Australia as ‘Black Friday’, given the Black Friday bushfires. Apple itself doesn’t use the term ‘Black Friday’ on its site in Australia or the US, but the URL for its sale page does include the text ‘bf-teaser’, and it’s clearly no coincidence that Apple times the sale to match other US Black Friday sale events (it has purchased ‘Black Friday’ as a Google ad keyword to promote the event as well).

Apple


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