Apple offers Black Friday discounts on iPad 4 and MacBook, but not iPhone or iPad mini

Apple, which all but never allows retailers to discount its products, is making an exception for Black Friday – and doing the discounting on its own online store. The discounts apply to nearly the entire core Apple product lineup, including the iPad and iPod along with Mac laptops and various in-house accessories. The price reductions appear to be somewhat random, both on a dollar and percentage basis. For instance the new “iPad 4″ is discounted by $41, $51, or $61, depending on model, while the iPad 2 is discounted by $31. In contrast, every Mac laptop model is discounted by $101 regardless of size or price. But what may be of more interest is which products are not discounted…

The iPad mini, which just launched, is still at its standard $329 price tag. The iPhone 5 is also selling at full price. That may have something to do with the fact that both products are currently backlogged by two weeks, so there’s little incentive for Apple to push demand even further with price cuts when there already isn’t enough supply to go around. Interestingly, the iMac is also selling at full price despite the hefty MacBook discounts. Read into that what you will. The new fifth generation iPod touch is being offered at a $31 or $41 discount, but it’s shipping within one to three business days, suggesting that supply is almost fully keeping up with demand…

Other products such as the AirPort Base Station, Magic Mouse and Trackpad, and iPad Smart Covers are also being offered at discounts of $11 or $21. For those who like to read into the numbers even more deeply, the iPad Smart Case ($15 discount) and the Apple EarPods ($7 discount) are the only products whose discounts don’t in a “1″ – but you’re already probably too busy over there on the Apple Store buying things. You’re welcome.