This whole event is really interesting from a variety of viewpoints, including the power of consumers (right or wrong), actions of many speak loudly...now if this many people could only band together for some humanitarian effort.

He read each and ever e-mail eh? I smell something, did anyone fart? Oh, no, that's just some bullshit.

This news better make people happy. I'm stoked Mr. Jobs. I didn't mind spending six bills. This makes the deal that much sweeter.

"Sorry for shafting you; now go spend more money at the Apple store! You geektard fanboy you!"

-Steve Jobs

little confused about this part "and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration". And what about those people that bought one last week? Can't they technically go to the at&t store and get a refund before the grace period on a new phone ends?

Finally, all iPhone users that has a PZ can get a Mac chepaer ;)

If legit, a very decent thing, not needed at all!

where does it say between the 29th and yesterday? I bought mine on June 13th..does that mean I'm screwed twice?

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T,

WOOHOO!!!

and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration

Crap.

i was planning on buying a ibook next month.. doesn't make that much of a dent but $100 is a $100.

I like to call this the The Suckers Rebate.

I hate to say "I told you so" but...

Can $100 actually buy you anything at an Apple store? And why not give you a $200 credit?

@gibson424: so you got yours before the general public? January February March April May June July August September October November December

He gave in huh? I wouldn't have. What a bunch of whiney people.

Oh well, guess you don't have to whine anymore about this.

If it will make the whining stop from the people who KNEW the price would drop soon, great. Now can we have some blessed peace?

This is a classy move. Just acknowledging the uproar is a good thing for Apple's customer relations. The rebate should silence a lot of the critics. It certainly silenced me.

And to all you assholes who slammed Apple and iPhone owners yesterday --> F U

This will go towards my MacBook Pro or an iPod Classic. I am glad Steve decided to do this, I think it is the right thing to do even though Apple didn't have to do anything. Very good customer service if you ask me.

$100 bucks off my macbook? Looks like i can hold off on the purchase until I get my store credit.

at&t gave me $200 in credit and said it would appear on my bill. They also told me that if I wanted to wait around 6 weeks they would cut me a check. I bought my iphone last friday (8/31). I hope apple gives me $100 too, I need a new keyboard.

Is this an industry first for this sort of thing?

i see the microsoft trolls have finally appeared on gizmodo today. What had to happen for Microsoft to issue a "deal" with its users on their products? Oh thats right, you had to have an xbox 360 fail numerous times and then "KAPOW" 3 year warranty. Not to mention that they pretty much HAD TO give a fix considering they were under lemon law.

Wow, some people just aren't happy with anything and just like to hear the sound of their voices complaining.

When a woman plays with my emotions as Stevie boy I leave them in a heartbeat.

Hey. I am happy! I bought the phone because I wanted it (yes, expensive, but I REALLY wanted it). I LOVE the phone and now I get $100 back. NO complaints from me at all!

mankind is so ungrateful,
microsoft would have offered you brown warm goods for their brown zunes
i stick to the better of two evils

on an unrelated event, the local apple store called me yesterday notifying me that my macbook pro warranty is about to expire,
and they offered pirated goods in return too.
add that to the top 100 things that would never happen in the US :)

Apple is trying to reward those who jump into the fray. It cost them millions and they still did it.

Bravo!

I'm not even a fan boy

Almost all [high-end] phones initially come out rediculously expensive. Look at the RAZR, and now RAZR2, both started out north of $500.

@Yaotl:

I read that as 'you're not taking one you bought back in the last 14 days for the $200 credit and expecting the $100 credit as well'

@Deadplasmacell:

It could get you an iPod Shuffle, and Apple store credit works in iTunes too, I believe. If it does work in iTunes, I will buy 101 songs. If not, then I'll get a Product Red Shuffle, and fight AIDS with my technically free $100. Remember, Jobs didnt have to do this. All of us early adapters KNEW without a doubt there would be a price drop. It AlWAYS happens with nearly EVERY product ever released from anyone, and the people who paid full price never got free credit for whining.

I'm proud, Jobs. Way to support your customers, even when you've done NOTHING wrong.

Yeah, those apple guys know what they're doing. It will get you to purchase another product only giving them more money. This is not a money back or check written to you; you have to purchase another product...But a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks. Maybe if we complain enough we can all get free iphones??? Hey, never hurts to try...

this is totally badass, and i wouldn't be surprised if this rebate/credit was planned to go hand in hand with the iphone price cut.

another way to look at is this: early iphone buyers get Leopard for $30.

No complaints here. $100 will go most of the way to buying the Leopard OS X upgrade next month.

Well, that'll pretty much pay for Leopard for me.
Thanks Steve!

I ain't hatin' on Apple. The extra $200 for 2 months was totally worth it. I had girls tickling my butt for weeks. Thanks Apple!

I'm in agreement that this was a nice move. Granted, there is speculation that the drop in stocks is related to the price drop, so my cynical side would say Jobs is just trying to bolster the price of his stocks.

Sure, it's store credit -- so Apple isn't *really* giving you $100. However, considering that the new release of OS X is coming out soon, it's all the same to me. Or maybe it goes towards something else (I wonder if it will work on the iTunes store..?)

The point is, as an early adopter, it makes me happy. I can easily live with the $100 drop (even if it *is* only 2 months after). Yes, technology is a bumpy road, but it sets a bad precedent for Apple to decrease the price so soon. I think if it had been 6 months, very few people would be complaining.

Will I think twice before getting another Apple product early? Given how they responded with this, I'm more likely to be okay being an early adopter. I think if Apple hadn't done this, they would've suffered some backlash for their next future release.

This is all a joke. Fake Steve Jobs hacked into Apple's website and wrote that letter!

Everyone complaining is WRONG. You are owed NOTHING. Price drops are the way of the technological world. Bought a 1TB hard drive for $700 and a month later it was $400? Screw you, sucker. Bought a TV for $5000 and a month later it was $2500? Screw you, sucker. You all should be kissing Apple's ass that they didn't do what every other tech company on the planet would do, and say "Screw you, sucker."

Having said that, I'm totally buying me a Le Shufflé!

@DeadPlasmaCell:

Yeah...why not a $200 credit???!?1OMGWTFBBQ!!!

Thanks Steve! This is great, and more than we deserve. Or at least just as much.

That's a decent gesture if ever I saw one. I believe this is consumer care at its best and a lot of other company's(not just technology) could really learn from this.

Nice One Apple

You're right folks.
Please take me back, you look so nice and when we hang out I feel cool... plus I have image problems anyway. Please take me back.

This better not too-negatively impact Apple's EPS this quarter. Otherwise I will write in and ask for a refund of my loss in stock value!

@DeadPlasmaCell:
Because early adopters had the benefit of having an iPhone for up to two months before the price drop.

As the letter says, anyone who buys any piece of technology should expect this sort of this (perhaps not to this extent, but that is a matter of degree, and not kind).

I think this needs to be tagged as "Above and Beyond." Apple has such incredible customer loyalty and market power in this area that they easily could have gotten away with not doing this.

@robethleffel:
Actually, I believe that Apple issued refunds of $200 when they dropped Aperture from $499 to $299.

Oh great. I'm glad a company is punishing its shareholders because early adopters are whiny fanboys.
Fantastic!
Reducing the price is expected, not a shock. The only shock involved is that they decided to make an Apple product more reasonably priced.
Early adopters shouldn't be rewarded just because apple decided their overpriced, overhyped phone has a price adjustment.
Wah! I bought a 4 gig nano in december for $199. Now the 4 gig video nano is $199. I want money! boo-frickedy-hoo.

Soo...you get your $100 from your Apple iPhone that you get to put towards another Apple product? That's great. I just know there will be a ton of people that will be happy about this but won't catch onto the "sucker rebate" part of it.

@lore:
Right. You don't think Apple's board had any say in the matter (either directly or by allowing Jobs to act unilaterally)?