Does Apple provide special pricing during the holidays?

If Apple actually lowers the price on an item (and it has to be the same exact configuration, not a bump in specs for the same price), then in the US, at least, they do offer price protection for the same 14-day period as their standard return period. See:

Apple - Legal - Sales Policies - U.S. Retail Sales

But as SoC said, Apple usually offers a gift card or additional peripheral, not lower prices. But since none of us here work for Apple, we don't know what holiday offers if any will appear.

Regards.

In the past, Apple has often had Black Friday sales or promotions – for selected products purchased directly from Apple (not from another retailer). In recent years, I believe the deals have been along the line of "buy a Mac at full price, get a free Apple gift card" rather than getting any up-front discount or any cash back.

If you buy now and there is a discount or promotion later, I do not believe that you will get compensation.

You could return a product within the 14-day return window, and then buy another one – but whether it would be worth all the hassle for what is likely. to be a small discount or promotion might be a different story.

Good catch. But from the page at that same link:

"This excludes limited-time price reductions and special sales events, such as Black Friday."

Yep, but there may be other holiday promotions that would qualify. Until any such promotion is announced, we're all just guessing. Cheers.