B&H Photo Kicks Off Pre-Orders for New Apple Devices, Offering Tax-Free Purchases in Some States

by

Pre-orders for the 2018 MacBook Air and iPad Pro have kicked off on Apple.com, and because the devices are brand new, we won't see discounted prices on them for a while. Still, third-party retailers like B&H Photo offer the chance to save a bit of money at the onset of your new Apple purchase, depending on the state you live in.

According to B&H Photo's guidelines, the retailer currently collects sales taxes in Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington (state), and Wisconsin. For all non-listed states, residents won't have to pay sales taxes on orders placed within those states, although B&H Photo informed me that more states will be added to the tax collection list soon.

bh photo new apple stuffNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

B&H Photo is selling 24 models of the new MacBook Air, including quite a few custom configurations. According to a company representative, customers can expect launch day shipping for all base models of the new products, but it's not a guarantee. Some devices indicate a shipping date of November 8 and later, following Apple's launch on November 7.

Note: B&H Photo appears to be dealing with a traffic volume issue, so some links may appear temporarily broken, but they all should work after a few refreshes.

For MacBook Air, the full list can be found on B&H Photo, and we've provided a few below:

The retailer also has numerous configurations of the Mac mini up for pre-order already:

Lastly, you'll find Apple's new iPad Pro on B&H Photo as well:

Lastly, B&H Photo has the second generation Apple Pencil up for pre-order at $129.00, also matching Apple's price. On Apple.com, you can also order a few accessories for the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro, including the Leather Sleeve, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Smart Folio.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
Read Full Article • 29 comments
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Read Full Article • 26 comments
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Read Full Article • 37 comments
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
Read Full Article • 362 comments
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Read Full Article
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Read Full Article • 52 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
Read Full Article • 78 comments
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
Read Full Article • 32 comments
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

yanksfan114 Avatar
yanksfan114
82 months ago
**DISCLAIMER**

Just because your state is not listed and B&H doesn’t collect sales tax does not mean you do not owe it. It gets reported on your state return at the end of the year. I have had many clients getting letters lately from states that require retailers give them out of state customer purchases. Purchase wisely.

Source: CPA who hates state taxation
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rotlex Avatar
rotlex
82 months ago
Love B&H and pretty much buy everything I can from them!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ryanmcv Avatar
ryanmcv
82 months ago
The only states they can legally offer "tax free" in are the five that don't have sales tax. Failure to collect it in all other 45 states is a violation of new federal tax law.

If they aren't charging sales tax for online sales in anything other than those below, they're about to get hit hard.

* Alaska
* Delaware
* Montana
* New Hampshire
* Oregon

This is patently false. I assume you're referring to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision (South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.) that allows states to collect sales tax on goods purchased online, regardless of where the merchant is physically located.

However, it is still up to the states and their legislatures to actually pass and implement a revised tax law. The Supreme Court decision did not magically change the tax code in all 50 states. All it did was remove any restrictions that may have prohibited states from collecting tax on Internet purchases.

I don't know all of the details, but I highly doubt that every state has passed a new tax law already. It's only been a few months since the Supreme Court decision.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GizmoDVD Avatar
GizmoDVD
82 months ago
I'm sure it'll ship in 2 months like the Apple Watches.

Hard pass on B&H
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redscull Avatar
redscull
82 months ago
Buy it on amazon
Amazon is great for many things, but I never buy tech off Amazon. Too high a chance that you will get a crappy counterfeit item that genuinely looks 100% authentic, logos and all, until it breaks.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PBG4 Dude Avatar
PBG4 Dude
82 months ago
These posts of “tax free” purchases can be very misleading. Some states have gone after online vendors for lists of sales to their states, then sending letters to end purchasers charging them tax and threatening penalties if not paid in certain time frames.

One example off the top of my head, NewEgg sent a list of all purchases >$1,500 to one state which then sent out sales tax collection notices to those purchasers.

As someone who wants a smooth road to drive on and my refuse/recycling picked up weekly, I understand taxes are a necessary evil. These MR posts on how to avoid paying your fair share in taxes are mildly infuriating to me.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments