Black Friday Sale comes early, MacBook Pro price cut in rare move by Apple

Apple has done something it almost never does, roll out MacBook Pro price cut! It is nothing short of a Black Friday sale.

Apple Inc. is trying to spur Mac sales with a rare promotional deal for small businesses that buy computers in bulk, an effort to cope with a slowdown during the holiday quarter.

The company is offering a discount of as much as 10% off its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M1-based chips, according to businesses and Apple retail employees. That tops the typical markdown given to small and midsize businesses.

The tactic is unusual for Apple and suggests it’s stepping up efforts to reinvigorate sales. The company warned last month that its holiday quarter would see slower growth than in the previous period due to Mac revenue declining “substantially.” The company doesn’t have as much of an enticement for Mac shoppers this holiday period: New high-end MacBook Pros launched in the year-ago quarter, and no such product is debuting this time around.

Mac computers generated more than $11.5 billion, or almost 13% of Apple’s total revenue, in the company’s fiscal quarter ending Sept. 24. It was the best sales period in history for the product line.

In its marketing material, Apple has described the new promotion as a “very special Mac campaign.” Sales employees were recently informed of the deal and have begun reaching out to businesses that Apple has prior relationships with to gauge interest. 

Representatives from small businesses said they rarely get calls from Apple to push promotions. The company, which hasn’t touted an offering like this in half a decade, declined to comment. 

Businesses that buy 5 to 24 MacBook Pros in any combination of screen size and configuration will get 8% off, while bulk purchases of 25 units or more will get a 10% discount. The deal runs through Dec. 24.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant has long had a sales team aimed at small businesses. But discounts of 8% to 10% are typically reserved for the biggest spenders, whereas the current promotion is available to all business customers.

In addition to trying to bolster MacBook Pro sales, Apple could be looking to clear out some inventory before new models appear. Updated MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are expected to be released in the first few months of 2023, Bloomberg News has reported.

Though Apple rarely resorts to deep discounts, it has relied more on trade-in offers in recent years -- especially with the iPhone. As part of the Mac special, the company is also touting its existing trade-in program for computers. 

In 2018, Apple’s marketing team rolled out a series of aggressive promotions for the iPhone XR to boost sales. A few weeks later, the company disclosed that the iPhone hadn’t sold as well as expected during the quarter. 

Though the current holiday sales period is still expected to be a record quarter for Apple, supply problems have tamped down expectations. The company has warned that Covid lockdowns in China will reduce unit shipments for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, two of its most popular devices.