The company also reduced the price of its popular iPad tablet for the first time.
Apple's dropped prices on several Mac notebooks and desktops by $101, a cut that represents a 6%-8% drop for the 13.3-in. MacBook Air, 4%-8% discounts on various versions of the MacBook Pro and a 5%-8% reduction in iMac prices.
Not included in the discounts: Apple's least-expensive laptops, the $999 MacBook and the 11-in. MacBook Air, which lists for $999 and $1,199.
Other Apple products were also discounted, although none as much as the Macs the company wanted to move.
The was reduced by $41 across the board, a discount of between 5% and 8%, depending on the model. also dropped the price of the iPod Touch between $21 and $41, with the larger cuts on the higher-priced configurations.
Some online sellers, however, either matched or beat Apple's sale prices.
, for example, was selling the least-expensive 13-in. MacBook Pro and the entry-level 21.5-in. iMac for the same $1,098 price that Apple posted.
's sale beat both Apple and Amazon by wide margins in many cases. On Friday, the online-only seller was selling the 13-in. MacBook Pro for $150 to $200 under list price, and the 15-in. notebook for $200-$240 below the regular price. MacConnection also dropped the price of the MacBook and the low-end 11-in. MacBook Air -- models Apple didn't discount -- by 15% and 5%, respectively.
MacConnection's prices are good through Nov. 29, while Apple's and Amazon's expire after today.
Among Apple's other Schnäppchenfreitag specials was Microsoft's Office for Mac Home & Student 2011, which was discounted 15% to $128. However, other outlets again beat Apple's sales price: On Friday, Amazon sold the same three-license suite for $109.
Last week, that Amazon would sell the single-license version of Office 2011 for $79, a 33% price reduction. On Friday, however, the giant e-tailer listed the one-license edition for $89, a 26% savings.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .
in Computerworld's Macintosh Topic Center.