Apple has revealed an extremely rare series of price cuts, which will remain in place throughout the holiday season until the end of 2016.
The cuts mainly focus on accessories, in particular USB-C adaptors and peripheries, but also Apple’s new LG 5k monitors which receive the most significant price drop.
The drops certainly appear to refer back to the recent release of the new MacBook Pros and is recognition by Apple that perhaps the new line wasn’t received quite as intended. The latest MacBook Pros completely remove all standard USB slots in favor of four USB-C slots. The result is that many accessories, iPhone and iPads included, cannot connect directly to the new computers out of the box with additional cables or adapters.
So, in a rare move, Apple has made the following reductions:
USB-C to Lightning Cable (1m) – now $19 (reduced from $25)
USB-C to Lightning Cable (2m) – now $29 (reduced from $35)
USB-C to USB Adapter – now $9 (reduced from $19)
Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter – now $29 (reduced from $49)
USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter – $49 now (reduced from $69)
USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter – $49 now (reduced from $69)
Though the price drops will soften the blow a little, it’s still a lot of money to part with to ensure all your existing accessories work with a brand new computer, but as with the headphone jack, Apple is once more striving to pull forward the arrival of new technologies and solutions. And as we know, when Apple doesn’t make groundbreaking changes to its products it’s often accused of being stale, and when it does, well, we get the response to the MacBook Pro.
The news was revealed in a statement to iMore, which read:
“We are extremely excited about the new MacBook Pro, which is the best pro notebook we’ve ever made. It has the fastest CPU, graphics, memory, storage and I/O, best display, the innovative Touch Bar and more. MacBook Pro uses the most advanced industry-standard connector, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, to provide maximum performance, expandability and compatibility.
“We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple’s USB-C adapters and cables.”
The move follows a recent interview with Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller. He said the MacBook Pros response “has been a bit of surprise.”
Elsewhere, Apple has continued to adjust the pricing on a variety of third-party solutions that natively connect via USB-C, so it’s worth browsing the Apple Store for hard drives and storage if you’ve purchased or are planning on buying the new MacBook Pro and are looking for new solutions.
Finally, Apple’s also reduced the pricing of its new 4k and 5k LG monitors. The super high resolution monitors initially priced at $699.95 and $1299.95 respectively, but are now reduced by 25 percent to $524 and $974.
Even better, any customers that have purchased these products at full price since the announcement will be refunded the difference according to emails sent out over the weekend.
Learn more about the new MacBook Pros on Apple.com