So I’ve been thinking about the Apple Card and I’m just trying to understand a couple of scenarios. Looking for confirmation more than anything else or if I’m not thinking correctly.
a) Let’s say I’m getting billed monthly for iCloud. If I use the Apple Card, I should get 3% cash back. But, let’s say that I buy an Apple gift card online somewhere for 15% off and then apply that to my iTunes account. When iCloud uses that gift card, do I no longer get the 3% Apple Card cash back? If not, then it’s a better deal to get a 15% off gift card. (I know this is peanuts but just trying to understand.).
b) If I buy a HomePod from the Apple Store using the Apple Card, I would get 3% cash back. At $299, I would get about $9 cash back. But if another NON-APPLE-PAY store has it on sale, I would get the 1% cash back on top of the sale price. I think the best solution is to find a store that has it on sale AND uses Apple Pay (2% cash back). Does that make sense?
I haven’t bought an Apple laptop since 2012 (although I’m in need of one) but I remember buying most of my computers from certified resellers because I could get it a little cheaper. Same with my iPads. The only thing of any value I’ve bought directly from Apple in the last 5 years were two sets of AirPods. I feel like those discounts I got were more than 3%.
If you buy Apple hardware from discount resellers, you can probably get a better deal than 3%. However, if you want your Apple hardware on launch day, or you want a specific build-to-order configuration, or you want a product that doesn’t normally show up though reseller channels (like the Mac Pro), or you want to walk out of an Apple Store with your product, the 3% you get from Apple Card is a pretty good deal.
My regular MC pays 1% on everything, 2% on groceries and wholesale clubs, and 3% on whatever category I choose (up to a $2500 quarterly limit). Currently I’ve chosen to get 3% back on all online shopping. If I continue to order more from Amazon every year, I’ll probably look at their Prime card at some point in order to get 5% back on purchases from them.
I made my last Mac purchase from a certified reseller and saved a little over 18% with their sale price and my 3% cash back.
The Apple Card has some nice technical bells & whistles, and is a spiffy thing to stick in your wallet. But financially, it should be evaluated exactly the same as you would any other credit card.
I just wanted to add this. I noticed that Costco, which takes ApplePay, has the HomePod for $249. So I get the $50 discount PLUS the 2% cash back. That’s a nice win-win.
Just a heads up that the no tax part might not be true everywhere outside of NY/NJ. I’m in IL and received an email some time ago from B&H indicating, as a result of the Supreme Court ruling on South Dakota v. Wayfair, they would start collecting sales tax on orders sent to my state.
Just chiming in to add that, if you purchase the 15% iTunes gift card from someplace that takes Apple Pay, you can add 2% daily cash on the initial purchase of the card.
Good catch. I just found an article about that - they’re now obligated to collect tax from the following 22 states:
Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington (state), and Wisconsin.
My California friends are still buying from B&H and Adorama, and this New yorker still buying from Peecision Camera (TX), Samys (CA) and a few other places for high ticket items.
