Unlike Amazon, Apple offers free shipping until December 22nd

Ho ho ho! Apple is getting in the Christmas spirit by offering free shipping for all orders from the online Apple Store in the US until December 22nd. Sadly, things can’t be that simple across the globe. For example, Australia only gets free gift wrapping. Canada and the UK only get free shipping for today. However, lucky New Zealanders get free shipping until December 25th.

Amazon’s dominant position for online retail through aggressive pricing and Amazon Prime seems to be making other online storefronts (even factory-to-consumer situations like Apple) scramble to stay relevant. The question, “Why wouldn’t I just buy this from Amazon?” is on many, many minds this time of year, and that means deals-a-plenty for us.

Mind you, Apple offers free shipping on larger orders year round here in the United States (your milage may vary in your country of choice). This change only affects orders under $50 USD. Cables and accessories definitely fall in this window, so you might want to order that HDMI iPad adapter you’ve been eying.

Are you getting anything neat from the Apple store to celebrate the holidays? We’d like to know what neat presents you’re buying the Apple-fan in your life this year, so hit us up on Twitter: @macgasm.

Grant is a writer from Delaware. In his spare time, Grant maintains a personal blog, hosts The Weekly Roar, hosts Quadcast, and writes for video games.