Apple Gives New Holiday Cashback for New Apple Card Owners

Apple is offering a special holiday Cashback deal for new Apple Card owners signing up between December 26 and January 31. Purchases eligible for the 5% Cashback offer include outright hardware purchases of iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

The typical rate for Apple hardware and software transactions with Apple Card is 3%, so 5% is a decent introductory offer. However, the bonus is only available to new Apple Card accounts and not offered to existing customers.It also cannot be applied to Apple services purchases, AppleCare or Apple Card Monthly Installment plans.

The current deal does not match what Apple offered in 2019, which was 6% cash back on Apple hardware purchases, available to all Apple Card users. Still, if you haven’t signed up for an Apple Card before, now might be a time to start.The iPhone X had a $1,000 starting price, a few hundred dollars more than previous iPhones. That immediately created a potential problem for Apple: The days of annual or biannual iPhone upgrades were out for most consumers, and in were longer replacement cycles. While Apple would generate more money for every iPhone sold, it needed new ways to create revenue as the pace of upgrades slowed.

Apple spent billions of dollars in 2018 on content for TV+, nearly half a billion dollars on Texture, which it turned into Apple News+, and struck deals with a few dozen game makers to make content for Apple Arcade. Apple likely generates money from Apple Card interest charges, while it has customers pay from $4.99 to $9.99 for its other major services.