Shop Apple’s Black Friday event, score up to $200 in Apple gift cards

Apple products are consistently some of the most-searched for items during Black Friday. (Shocker!) 

But when we’re looking for sales on Apple stuff, it feels like the first place we check is Amazon, Walmart, or Best Buy — not the actual Apple Store. This might be because those retailers let us in on their Apple deals (which are usually really good) in their Black Friday 2019 ad scans while Apple rarely holds sales even for major events like Black Friday.

Apple has a trick up its sleeve to attract customers, though. Like last year, you can get an Apple Store gift card up to $200 when you purchase select Apple devices from Apple’s site. The event starts on Black Friday (Nov. 29) and goes through Cyber Monday (Dec. 2).

The amount you get on your gift card depends on how much you spend: So, while an Apple Watch may only get you $50 back, a MacBook will get you the full $200. 

If you’re in the market for a MacBook or an older-generation Apple Watch, you’re almost guaranteed to find a discount that dwarves the potential gift card amount. For instance, Best Buy is offering up to $250 off the Apple Watch Series 4 and Amazon is offering up to $450 off the MacBook Pro.

But if Apple allows the gift card offer to apply to the AirPods Pro or the Apple Watch Series 5, that gift card could get you more money back than you’d save elsewhere. The best discounts that we’ve seen on both the AirPods Pro and the Apple Watch Series 5 are $20 to $30 less than the likely $50 gift card that you’ll get from Apple. The AirPods Pro are also hella backordered on Amazon.