14 DAY TRIAL // In what is simple routine at Apple, the company’s web store has been taken down for maintenance to be updated with Black Friday sales. Although no price cuts have been confirmed by the Mac maker, Apple has historically offered discounts on its products between the 23rd and the 29th of November, when Black Friday occurs.
“Lots of gifts. 1day not to miss. The Special one-day Apple shopping event. This Friday,” read one of Apple’s banners posted earlier this week. “Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only Christmas shopping event. You’ll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas,” the Mac maker confirmed. Whether the company is offering special bundles or other kinds of deals remains to be seen. However, all bets are on slight discounts. Nothing more, nothing less. “Mark your calendars now. Until then, start your research by browsing the Apple Online Store to find iPod, iPhone and Mac gifts for everyone on your list,” the message ends.
Also this week, soon after Apple posted the respective announcement, a brochure listing Apple’s planned discounts for Black Friday was reportedly leaked to the folks at The BoyGeniusReport who, for their part, posted the document online. The site claimed that the Black Friday deals had been provided by a trusty source: “We weren’t too positive about that last one as it was from a new source, but this new image comes from a pretty credible connect of ours and it seems to be more reasonable [...] Again, we’re feeling pretty confident about this one and everything looks like it’s in the realm of what Apple would normally do for Black Friday,” BGR noted earlier this week.
Based on the imagery in the brochure, the new iMac will be starting at $1089 for the standard configuration and going all the way up to $1898 for the higher specced model, while MacBook Pros would go for as low as $1098, according to the leaked brochure. An iPod touch would also be cheaper today, selling for $178, as will be the fifth-gen iPod nano, retailing for just $138 (8GB) or $168 (16GB). If the document is indeed accurate, we should see Apple TVs discounted as well, along with first-party and third-party accessories for various Apple products.
Drop us a line if you’re keeping a close eye on www.store.apple.com and let us know if you see any attractive offers. We’ll do our best to report any changes we spot ourselves the minute the store is back up.
Update: Apple's store is back online with Black Friday deals, as expected.