Apple Extends U.S. Back to School Sale for Two Weeks, Excludes New iPad Air

[MacRumors]

Following the debut of the new Apple Watch Series 6, the refreshed iPad Air, and the low-cost eighth-generation iPad, Apple has extended its Back to School sale in the United States, with the promotion now ending on October 12 instead of September 29.

In addition to extending the dates of the sale, Apple has also updated its Terms and Conditions [PDF] to exclude the new iPad Air from the promotion. Customers who purchase one of the new $599 iPad Air models (which are not available for sale yet) will not be eligible to get free AirPods.

Prior to today's update, both the iPad Pro and the iPad Air were eligible products that customers could purchase to take advantage of the free AirPods promotion.

The Back to School Sale in the United States initially launched on June 15, and it provides a $159 credit toward the purchase of AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods with Wireless Charging case for those who purchase a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, or iPad Pro.

Apple launched Back to School promotions in Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the Middle East in July and the new iPad Air exclusion may also apply in other countries that previously allowed free AirPods with the purchase of an iPad Air.

Apple has not provided an exact date for when the new iPad Air models will become available for purchase, but they're expected to be available next month. Given that Apple specifically excluded the iPad Air from the Back to School sale but also extended it for two weeks, we could see the iPad Air become available before October 12.

Article Link: Apple Extends U.S. Back to School Sale for Two Weeks, Excludes New iPad Air

 

[Cosmosent]

Anybody know, specifically, why NONE of the iPads with a 12 Mpx image sensor, including the new 10.9" iPad Air, do NOT support 4K Cinematic Stabilization ?

I believe it's because iPads do NOT include OIS.

Anyway, other than this limitation, the new 10.9" iPad Air is a great buy !

 

[JPSaltzman]

Back to ... what?!

 

[dannyyankou]

Good on Apple, lots of schools have pushed back their reopening.

 

[4jasontv]

I have an iPad Pro 10.5 with gen 1 pencil and keyboard.

Someone, please, sell me on why I need a new iPad Air or iPad Pro.

I need a real push, cause how it feels right now this is a side step for me. (Trade in is $240, accessories not included.)

95% of my use is reading, 4% writing, 1% sidecar.

 

[invisibleshoes]

If I get the iPad Pro 11" with educational pricing and sell off the AirPods, I think the price will almost be the same as iPad Air 4. Is this correct or is my math/pricing way off?

 

[Natzoo]

ell me on why I need a new iPad Air or iPad Pro.

Honestly, I don't think the new Ipad pro should be purchased without an update to it.

 

[Madmic23]

If I get the iPad Pro 11" with educational pricing and sell off the AirPods, I think the price will almost be the same as iPad Air 4. Is this correct or is my math/pricing way off?

I was looking at these too, and the iPad Pro 11” seems like a better deal with the free Air Pods. Unless the A14 is way better than the A12Z?

I was comparing the 256GB versions.

 

[SkyRom]

Something tells me we'll be seeing a new MacBook Pro about 17 seconds after this promotion ends.

 

[arvinsim]

I have an iPad Pro 10.5 with gen 1 pencil and keyboard.

Someone, please, sell me on why I need a new iPad Air or iPad Pro.

I need a real push, cause how it feels right now this is a side step for me. (Trade in is $240, accessories not included.)

95% of my use is reading, 4% writing, 1% sidecar.

If your current hardware meets your needs, then don't buy anything new.

Get off the rampant consumerism bandwagon.

 

[Freida]

Really? Don't buy anything. What you have is perfect for your needs. Its just lust taking over.

I have Air 2 and only now its start to show its age so I'll upgrade but your case, you can easily wait another year or 2.

I have an iPad Pro 10.5 with gen 1 pencil and keyboard.

Someone, please, sell me on why I need a new iPad Air or iPad Pro.

I need a real push, cause how it feels right now this is a side step for me. (Trade in is $240, accessories not included.)

95% of my use is reading, 4% writing, 1% sidecar.

 

[CarlJ]

Back to ... what?!

Just because they’re not going to sit in physical classrooms, doesn’t mean kids aren’t in school - they’re just doing it online from home in most places. Which makes a new iPad or Mac even more helpful.

 

[garylapointe]

I have an iPad Pro 10.5 with gen 1 pencil and keyboard.

Someone, please, sell me on why I need a new iPad Air or iPad Pro.

I need a real push, cause how it feels right now this is a side step for me. (Trade in is $240, accessories not included.)

95% of my use is reading, 4% writing, 1% sidecar.

If you're happy with what you have then no big reason to upgrade.

I've got the 1st gen iPad Pro 12.9" from 2015(?) and it's still pretty awesome, I wouldn't mind something a little zippier, but it's holding up well.

(It's holding up better than my 15" MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-i7 with 16GB of RAM from 2015 [and that was a few more dollars!], I'm feeling the years a little bit on that one but it's a great machine).

 

[BeatCrazy]

Honestly, I don't think the new Ipad pro should be purchased without an update to it.

If the price delta is small (after selling off AirPods or if you were going to purchase regardless), the Pro still has nice features including more RAM, double the base storage, better GPU, better sound and Promotion. Those 5 things right there are easily worth the $100 premium to me. This assumes you can get $100 for reselling AirPods, which shouldn't be hard at all.

 

[LeadingHeat]

Interesting. I guess because it’s so new, the profit margins are a bit too skinny to include some free AirPods. Too much $$ in fresh R&D. Maybe next year!

 

[4jasontv]

If your current hardware meets your needs, then don't buy anything new.

Get off the rampant consumerism bandwagon.

Really? Don't buy anything. What you have is perfect for your needs. Its just lust taking over.

I have Air 2 and only now its start to show its age so I'll upgrade but your case, you can easily wait another year or 2.

If you're happy with what you have then no big reason to upgrade.

I've got the 1st gen iPad Pro 12.9" from 2015(?) and it's still pretty awesome, I wouldn't mind something a little zippier, but it's holding up well.

(It's holding up better than my 15" MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-i7 with 16GB of RAM from 2015 [and that was a few more dollars!], I'm feeling the years a little bit on that one but it's a great machine).

The iPad has never really met my needs. It's way to heavy. I have a kindle that I try to convert documents to, but where I used to read mostly textbooks now I read mostly journals. Journals that are exclusively released as PDFs that don't convert well to mobi.

I replaced an iPad 2 with the iPad Pro 10.5 because it had improvements in the display that suggested it would be easier on my eyes. Which, for the most part it was, but the trade-off was a device that was noticeably heavier. I just got someone an iPad Pro 12.9 and it felt good, but it was still heavy enough that I know it would be an issue to hold for a few hours.

For what it's worth I did try an iPhone 6 Plus but while it was possible to read on (a bit small) I found it terrible to use as a phone. I guess I am going to have to wait for Apple to see value in an iPad Mini Pro

 

[Darajavahus]

Anybody know, specifically, why NONE of the iPads with a 12 Mpx image sensor, including the new 10.9" iPad Air, do NOT support 4K Cinematic Stabilization ?

I believe it's because iPads do NOT include OIS.

I'm angry that it also do not support extended dynamic range for video, why?

 

[Jonny1989]

Disappointing if its the case in my country. I was hoping to buy the ipad air

 

[grantew1]

If your current hardware meets your needs, then don't buy anything new.

Get off the rampant consumerism bandwagon.

Someone actually gets it.

 

[andychelt]

Pretty crappy move on Apple’s part, I was all ready the other night to purchase the new iPad Air with the back to school promotion for free AirPods, and would have still even with the £100 price hike. But to exclude the Air from it and not be able to preorder....meh.

And for anyone saying it’s too new to be included in the promotion, the iPad Pro’s wjust 3 months old when the back to school promo started but they still got included!

It’s almost like Apple uses “back to school” to offload old stock or high profit items.......!