Apple Stores matching iPhone discounts from retailers and carriers

If you're in the market for an iPhone right now, you can take advantage of a new price-matching deal that appears to be popping up at Apple retail stores nationwide according to MacRumors.

The program apparently matches price drops that have been announced by carriers -- for instance, Sprint's recent $149.99 price on the 16 GB iPhone 4S. Apple is officially showing pricing at $199/$299/$399 for the iPhone 4S, $99 for the iPhone 4, and free for the iPhone 3GS, and if you purchase an iPhone from the online Apple Store, you'll still pay that price.

But Apple's retail stores have authorization to match discounted prices by cutting prices down $49.01 on all iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 models. In order to take advantage of the discounts you'll need to show the store personnel the ad where you saw the lower pricing.

[Source: TUAW]