Last fall Apple released their new Aperture photo processing software to a lukewarm response. Generally people felt it was overpriced for what it did, and that it suffered from being a 1.0 release.

They’ve just released Aperture 1.1, made it a Universal binary so that it will run on Intel Macintoshes at full speed, and provided an (accidental) way for you to get a huge discount on it, at least until supplies of cheap copies of Aperture 1.0 disappear. 1.1 is supposed to be a free update to 1.0, available via Software Update.

Here’s how to do it:

Apple is offering a $200 coupon to the Apple Store for people who purchased Aperture 1.0. To claim the coupon, all you have to do is download the Aperture 1.0 coupon and submit it to Apple. The coupon only requires the valid serial number for a copy of Aperture 1.0; it doesn’t require proof of purchase, an invoice or the like.

To get a valid serial number, buy a copy of Aperture from an Amazon Marketplace vendor for around $290. Make sure you get a new sealed copy from a reputable seller.

Once you get your copy, you can use the serial number to claim your rebate, and you can download 1.1 as a free update to 1.0 via Software Update.

Granted, you’re getting a future $200 discount at the Apple Store, not $200 in cash, and you’re depending on the Amazon Marketplace Vendor selling you a truly new copy of Aperture which hasn’t had its serial number used in a rebate, but if they’re a well rated vendor then you should be safe, and if they lie about the copy being new, Amazon should help you deal with it.

If you want to do this, I recommend that you do it right away before cheap new copies of Aperture 1.0 disappear.

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