Best Apple Black Friday Deals 2015

In this article, we’ve corralled the very best Black Friday Apple deals of 2015. We went through all the deals with a spreadsheet and ran the numbers. Here we’re serving up the cream.

We already did a roundup of all the Apple Black Friday deals of 2015 at Best Buy, Target, Staples, Walmart and eBay. The trouble with looking through all deals is there’s a lot of chaff. Who wants to wade through twenty discounts of 4% or 5%, listed only as “$100 off.” It may seem like a great bargain but the truth is the savings may be as shallow as a decorative pool.

The lowdown: Look for the biggest Black Friday savings on iPad Air and iPhone. Shoppers aren’t likely to find deep discounts this Black Friday on MacBook Pro or iMac. Sure you’ll find one 19% MacBook Air bargain (on eBay) but the real doorbusters are elsewhere.  Details are below.

Best Apple Black Friday Deals: iPad Air 2 & iPad mini 4

Apple Product Store Black Friday Sale Price Regular Price Savings % Off
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only eBay $360 $500 $140 28%
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only Sam’s Club Various Various $150 Up to 30% depending on model
iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi Only 16GB Staples $300 $400 $100 25%

Standout Apple Black Friday Deals: Cream of the Crop

Apple Black Friday Deal iPad Air 2

The best Apple Black Friday Deals in 2015 are on iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4.

Looking for the biggest deal on an Apple product this Black Friday and don’t care what it is? Your biggest savings are going to be on iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and iPhone, though there are a couple deals on Apple Watch and MacBook too. Look for 19% off MacBook air on eBay, 30% off iPad Air 2 at Sam’s Club, and 25% off iPad mini 4 at Staples to be the biggest discounts going. Those are the deepest doorbusting discounts and all of them come with no strings attached.

Also see: Black Friday Apple Deals 2015

Now let’s break it down and look at the deals that are still silver medal quality:

MacBook Air Apple Black Friday Deals

iPad Air and iPhone: The Real Apple Black Friday Jackpot

The real doorbusters on Apple gear this Black Friday are on the iPad Air and iPad mini, with a couple solid iPhone deals tossed in.

Best Apple Black Friday Deals

The table below shows the best deals on Apple iPad this Black Friday. The best deal in 2015 by far is at Sam’s Club.

Apple Product Store Black Friday Sale Price Regular Price Savings % Off Warnings
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only Sam’s Club Various Various $150 Up to 30% depending on model Great deal!
iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi Only 16GB Staples $300 $400 $100 25% No worries! Grab it!
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only Target $300 $450 $150 33% Shoppers pay full price and get a $150 Target gift card.
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only eBay $360 $500 $140 28% No worries! Grab it!

Sam’s Club: Black Friday iPad Air 2 Deals

Believe it or not, the biggest, baddest Apple Black Friday discount in all the land is at Sam’s Club. The retail giant is offering $150 off all iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Only models. Depending on what model you get, that’s as much as 30% off.

25% off iPad mini 4 at Staples? That was Easy.

Staples Black Friday Apple iPad mini 4 dealThe office superstore has a bargain of 25% off the iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi Only 16GB version. The gadget normally sells for $399, but Staples has slashed the price to $299. That’s a $100 savings on something that only cost $400 to begin with. Whammo. If you’re in the market for an Apple iPad mini 4, Black Friday is the time and Staples is the place.

33% off Apple iPad Air 2 at Target, with a Catch

Here’s another whopper deal but there’s a catch: this Black Friday at Target there’s a 33% discount on any model of the Apple iPad Air 2. That’s a huge discount, right? Well the discount comes in the form of a $150 Target gift card free with purchase. That means the discount’s only 33% if you get the cheapest model. You also have to spend it all at Target. If you’re a Target shopper anyway, this Black Friday deal is still a pretty juicy find.

28% off Apple iPad Air 2 on eBay. Stay Home and Save.

Apple Black Friday eBay iPad Air dealEbay has a pretty sweet deal this Black Friday. All day Friday, log on and get 28% off the Apple iPad Air 2 16GB version. The product normally sells for $500, but eBay is dishing them out online for $360. Not too shabby for staying in your bathrobe.

Other Apple Black Friday iPad Deals

There are a couple other iPad deals to be had this Black Friday. Best Buy is offering 20% off the iPad Air 2 (16GB/64GB/128GBand iPad mini 4. Staples has the iPad Air 2 at 20% off also.

Also see: Don’t Buy a TV on Black Friday: 7 Reasons

Apple iPhone: Best Buy Takes the Cake

Black Friday Deal Apple iPhone 6s PlusAnyone hot to find a deal this Black Friday on the Apple iPhone 6s or 6s Plus should make tracks to Best Buy. OK, there are a couple stipulations. Customers who buy or lease an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus and activate it with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint and trade in an iPhone 5 or newer get a $200 Best Buy gift card. That effectively makes an iPhone 6s 16GB version free at Best Buy. With contract, with etc. The best part is, the deal starts 11/19/15, so there’s no need to wait ’til the blackest of all shopping holidays.

Target and Walmart have effectively the same deal. Target gives a $250 gift card, but their prices are $50 more expensive to begin with. Walmart gives only a $100 gift card, but they give $100 off the customer’s phone bill.

Apple iMac and MacBook: The Black Friday Bad News

Let’s hit the bad news next. Apple isn’t dishing out deep discounts this Black Friday on iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros. OK there are a few exceptions. eBay has a great deal on Black Friday on the MacBook Air: 19% off. Best Buy has a pre Black Friday sale and if a student buys a 12″ MacBook with 8GB of memory and 256GB of flash storage, they’ll get 11% off and walk with $1,149.99. That’s available online right now (just click the link).

Slim Pickins: Three Minor Apple Black Friday Deals

Here’s the four biggest specials on MacBook and iMac from above, in easy table format:

Apple Product Store Black Friday Sale Price Regular Price Savings % Off Warnings
11″ MacBook Air, 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage eBay $720 $900 $180 19% Friday only. Great deal!!!
2015 iMac Retina, 21.5″, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD Best Buy $1,099.99 $1,300.00 $200 15% LIMITED INVENTORY
11″ MacBook Air, 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage Best Buy $775 $900 $125 14% No worries here!
12″ MacBook, 8GB RAM, 256GB of flash storage Best Buy $1,149.99 $1,300.00 $150 11% STUDENT ONLY

19% off MacBook Air on eBay

Apple Black Friday Deal MacBook Air eBayThis is the best MacBook deal in the universe on Black Friday 2015. Black Friday only, eBay is offering the 11″ MacBook Air for $720. That’s 19% off – a savings of $180. What’s the catch? You have to stay home and not go to stores on Black Friday to get it. Oh, wait…

15% iMac Best Buy Bait and Switch?

On Black Friday proper, Best Buy’s got one more big sale on Apple iMac. That’s 15% off the 2015 Retina iMac with a 21.5″ screen, 8GB RAM and a 1TB HD. You get the whole package for $1,099. To save you from the math, that’s $200 off. But beware! This deal carries the dreaded limited inventory curse. You know, you drive to the store and whoops, yeah our two boxes of that deal sold out five minutes ago. Bad luck. You want to buy this full price version with the Geek Squad upgrades for only $300 more?

Also see: Don’t Buy a Laptop on Black Friday: 5 Reasons

14% off MacBook Air at Best Buy

MacBook Best Buy Apple Black FridayThe other Black Friday MacBook deal worth mentioning is Best Buy’s 11″ MacBook Air, 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage, was $900, now $775. That’s $125 off, or 14%. Not a doorbuster, but you wouldn’t set the savings on fire if you found it in the street.

Best Buy has some other deals on Apple desktops and laptops, but they’re in the 5% to 10% range. Of the seven major stores we surveyed, they’re the only retailer that makes the effort.

iPad Air Apple Black Friday Deals

Also see: Don’t Buy a TV on Black Friday: 7 Reasons

Also Rans

Black Friday Apple Watch Deal TargetTarget’s got a not-so-bad deal on the Apple Watch this Black Friday. Buy any Apple Watch they offer and get a $100 Target gift card. Sure you have to pay full price, but if you’re a Target shopper anyway, that gives you $100 you were going to spend anyway. That’s effectively 30% off an Apple Watch.

eBay and MacMall also have some other not-too-bad online deals. eBay will be rolling out new Apple deals all day Thursday and Friday, though most of them are in the 5% to 10% range. MacMall.com is offering $159 off on the MacBook Pro Retina, Quad core 2.2GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB HD. Not gigantic savings, but better than full price.

Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Staples are also offering decent discounts on Apple accessories, Beats by Dre headphones, iPods, Otterboxes and other side items. See our complete list of Apple Black Friday deals here.

Black Friday Deal iPad Air choke

Also see: 18 Big Ways to Save Money at Amazon

Watch Out for These Non-Deals

There are a couple of Apple booby traps to steer clear of this Black Friday. Walmart is offering 25% off on the iPad Air 2. $100 off. Yay, right? Except their regular price is 25% more than everyone else’s. And you have to be in the store at 6pm on Thanksgiving to get it. Thanks, Walton family!

Best Buy is offering 5% off some models of MacBook and iMac. 5%??? Really? I’m going to take an elbow to the face for 5%?

Walmart iPad Air 2 Fake Deal: Beware

Walmart Black Friday iPad Air 2 non dealWatch out for this non deal on the iPad Air 2 at Walmart!!!

Walmart’s got a 25% off “bargain” on the Wi-Fi Only 16GB (Gold) iPad Air 2. Full price is $499 but they’re selling it for $399 on Black Friday only. Any shopper who shows up at the store from 6pm to 7pm on Thursday is guaranteed to get the bargain price. But you have to be there at that time to get the guarantee. No seconds on cranberry sauce for me thanks. I’ll be elbowing the people of Walmart to get my voucher.

But wait, there’s more badness. The “sale” price of $399 is the same as the regular price at Target and Staples. This is not a good Apple Black Friday deal. in fact, either someone at Walmart screwed up big time or they’re consciously trying to fake shoppers out.