A rare occurrence: Macs on sale

If there's one thing about Apple products that you can pretty much always bank on, it's that they rarely go on sale.

Best Buy launched some pre-Black Friday specials that discounts a whole lineup of Macbooks, iMacs and even the Mac Mini. (Nope, iPods and the iPhone are not on the list.)  Of course, these aren't huge discounts - mostly $100 off, but up to $150 on a couple of models - but the fact that Macs are being discounted says something about what retailers are willing to do to get people to shop during this gloomy economy.

Not to be outdone, Apple itself has reportedly authorized its managers at the Apple stores to price-match competitors discounts, according to ifoAppleStore, a blog that follows information about the company's retail stores.  The details are sketchy but apparently you have to bring in the competitor's ad to get the price-match. As far as Apple's own specials, the company has put up a Web page advertising a one-day sale on Friday on the online store - but there are no specifics about what will be marked down.

Ah! Price wars. If there's any silver lining to a holiday season caught in the middle of a bad economy, this is it. I suspect this isn't the only pricing war we'll see this season.