Apple Launches 2011 Back to School Promotion

[Apple 26.2]

well finally after much waiting around I got my Macbook pro today and very happy over here in the UK- cant really complain 65 quid on extra to spend better then nothing i say- However I was a bit confused I asked about the free printer promotion as well but I got told it finished and only offer was the back to school one-- so no free printer
Was every1 eles the same? ps lovvvinnnnng my first MacBook

The printer offer is still available here in the US... sorry, mate!

 

[charlituna]

I wouldn't mind the Mac App store gift card if there were any actual useful apps I would buy. The closest thing for me would be aperture 3, but I already have it.

It also works in the iTunes stores

 

[charlituna]

Pretty bad offer, but at least they do have student discounts on nearly everything.

Actually they don't.

computers yes. THeir software yes (well not SL but the iwork etc).

no ipods, iphones or ipads. No accessories or third party stuff

so not really 'nearly everything'

As for this whole ipod thing, what about the rest of it. A bunch of students that are perhaps not even paying for their stuff are whining about their 'lame' discounts and no free ipod. But the rest of us don't ever see any sales, no free ipods for us.

 

[marc11]

Actually they don't.

computers yes. THeir software yes (well not SL but the iwork etc).

no ipods, iphones or ipads. No accessories or third party stuff

so not really 'nearly everything'

As for this whole ipod thing, what about the rest of it. A bunch of students that are perhaps not even paying for their stuff are whining about their 'lame' discounts and no free ipod. But the rest of us don't ever see any sales, no free ipods for us.

You can also get the EDU discount on AppleCare...which when I was buying Apple after the edu discount was cheaper than any other online shop.

 

[FloatingBones]

The analogy doesn't work. You haven't been standing in line for the Apple BTS promotion. Nobody has been standing in line.

I cannot comprehend what "no notice" is supposed to mean in your analogy.

The promotion applies to college students; therefore, if you're not enrolled in college you do not qualify for the discount. Last year's graduates received a complimentary iPod with their Mac purchases (soup). Now this year's graduates are next in line to receive the promotion, but they get a $100 iTunes gift card (crackers) instead of the iPod (soup). The analogy makes sense.

No. It's completely nonsensical. The restaurant closed last September. A different restaurant opened this week. @indiebass hasn't been standing in line for 9 months. Nobody has been standing in line. The analogy is a failure.

"No notice" refers to Apple not announcing the change of terms prior to the beginning of the promotion.

The 2011 program didn't exist prior to its announcement and it has not been changed.

That is industry standard though.

This is an assumption. If it were an industry standard, you should have no problem providing references to Apple's doing exactly that in recent years.

He/she was probably interested in buying a Mac earlier in the summer but decided to wait for the presumed Back to School iPod promotion.

And this is another assumption. @indiebass said no such thing. He/she only has four postings, so it's pretty easy to review them all.

The only consequence @indiebass noted was that he said he would seriously consider a tablet "[that] will be able to compete on price and functionality [with an iPad]". I think that's fine. Further, @indiebass should have done that in any case: if some non-Apple tablet fills the bill and can save him some $$$, he should buy it instead of an iPad.

 

[AgRacer]

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I still get a rebate of 100$ on the printer

My mistake.....

but some others here are not thinking before they purchase. Even with the free iPod, the deal was not all that great compared to other online retailers who had pricing that matched or beat edu. pricing EVERY DAY and no shipping and no tax. In States with a high sales tax, the free iPod would quickly be eaten when that was added to the bill.

The 7.5% sales tax in Texas really kills this deal for me though. I was waiting for the free iPod as it worked out to ~$50 advantage over online sources but now I'll just go with BH or Amazon for my purchase when the new Air comes out.

 

[RedRaven571]

I think part of the change in B2S is that one of Apple's big things this year was the appearance of the app store for mac; it seems like it would make sense they would want to promote the store.

Secondly, with the availability of iPhone through Verizon, in addition to AT&T, lots of folks now have iPhones, they probably don't want/need iPods (I understand lots of folks resold their free iPod for cash but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the point of the promotion, from Apple's perspective).

Thirdly, you don't need to pony up the cash up front and wait for a rebate; you get your $100 card upfront.

So, at the end of the day, love it or hate it, it is what it is and everyone will decide if it's a deal breaker or not and make their purchases accordingly.

 

[stringent]

I cant see the printer rebate for the UK store, or is it not there ... ?

 

[Ubuntu]

I cant see the printer rebate for the UK store, or is it not there ... ?

No. I called Apple yesterday and the rep believed it ended at the end of May. If that's true then basically we'd have either had that or the £65 iTunes card. Oh well.

 

[ESPN]

Posters on this forum really need to get over themselves.

1. You already get a good educational discount compared to Apple retail prices.
2. Apple, which ever way you look at it, have given you $100 / £65.00 to spend in the App / iTunes / iBook stores.
3. In the US you get a free printer you can always sell on.
4. In the UK you get 3 years warranty for free on your purchase.
5. How many purchasers are genuine students - I'm not knocking you for getting the discount but come on, don't be so grabby.

So, you didn't get an iPod this year....things change and it was never a given Apple would repeat the same offer - TBH it's unusual for a company to so regularly repeat the same deal year-on-year. Sure, an iPod would have been nice but it wasn't to be so move on, stop whining and figure out another strategy. Myself, purchased the 64GB iPod Touch, BNIB, delivered overnight off ebay for £225, compared to Apple's £336. Got it this morning and it's perfect.

I've said it already but it's a sorry state of affairs when so many privileged, affluent customers who can afford Apple's luxury electronic goods bitch about receiving free stuff. One word.....

Perspective

Discount of Mac still makes it hundreds of dollars more than a comparable Windows computer with the same specs.

Free printer that constantly requires you to spend money for ink......

Windows 7 computer come with basic application like excel,powerpoint,word but these have to be bought through the app store for a Mac.

The ipod made the Mac deal competitive with Windows since people were able to sell it and the Mac would only cost less than 100$ more than Windows. But a 100$ card to spend on Word and basic applications

Thats just not going to get it done.

 

[cmaier]

Discount of Mac still makes it hundreds of dollars more than a comparable Windows computer with the same specs.

Free printer that constantly requires you to spend money for ink......

Windows 7 computer come with basic application like excel,powerpoint,word but these have to be bought through the app store for a Mac.

The ipod made the Mac deal competitive with Windows since people were able to sell it and the Mac would only cost less than 100$ more than Windows. But a 100$ card to spend on Word and basic applications

Thats just not going to get it done.

Apple isn't trying to convince anyone who thinks a windows PC is in any way comparable to a Mac. If someone is going to make their purchasing decision based on comparing technical specs and price, and not on the OS, build quality, industrial design, etc., they weren't going to buy a Mac anyway.

 

[spcdust]

Windows 7 computer come with basic application like excel,powerpoint,word but these have to be bought through the app store for a Mac.

Really.....does Windows 7 come with the programs you refer to or is that just BS on your part?

 

[FloatingBones]

I think part of the change in BTS is that one of Apple's big things this year was the appearance of the app store for mac; it seems like it would make sense they would want to promote the store.

Bingo. The iOS App Store has been a huge success story; Apple would like to take every effort to replicate that success on the MAS.

Microsoft has failed to make their apps available in the MAS. One side-effect of this promotion is that it increases the pain on Microsoft and encourages them to step up to the plate. In the mean time, Apple is actively promoting student software in the MAS: Things, AudioNote, Artboard, Scrivener, Brisk, Evernote, Pixelmator, and Apple's own Aperature, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote programs. Students can pick and choose from that list of featured programs or they can search through the entire list of MAS programs. If you need a spreadsheet program, get one. If you just need a really great calculator program, get PCalc. Ask your friends. Scan the categories.

If you have a compelling need for MS Office, you can get that ... elsewhere. And you won't be able to apply your BTS gift card against that purchase. Those students may well discover that they're far better off with Apple and third-party software. That's the risk that MS faces by not having their software in the MAS.

The MAS is already feeding off of the iOS App Store's success. Over time, the MAS will also help promote the iOS App Store, too. Smart developers will have their software available for both platforms and use iCloud services to have updated documents pushed to all computers. Microsoft will either play the game or their software will become increasingly irrelevant to a new generation of users.

 

[tigress666]

Windows 7 computer come with basic application like excel,powerpoint,word but these have to be bought through the app store for a Mac.

Really? Last I checked Microsoft wanted you to pay for those seperate (you got a very basic text editing software with Windows).

Of course, I guess things can change.

Or it may be that the computer maker you bought from decided to bundle that with the computer package you bought (Gateway though certainly wasn't that generous way back when I bought my PC. At best you got trial versions).

 

[2jaded2care]

Personally I am fine with this. It never seemed particularly fair to me that people lucky enough to be going into higher education are given free iPods, whilst hard working poor people have to pay the full cost for everything. The $100 app store voucher is utterly worthless, so it levels the playing field nicely.

Um, the purpose of student/educational discounts is to get students using a product early, before they start their careers, in hopes that they will continue purchasing and using that product in their hopefully bright future. It has nothing to do with "fair", and little to do with "generous". It's a business decision.

And I do hope that you're not implying that students going into college did not work hard, or got there merely by being "lucky".

 

[unexploded]

Wow.

I said that sarcastically by the way.

 

[motoracer1486]

Personally I am fine with this. It never seemed particularly fair to me that people lucky enough to be going into higher education are given free iPods, whilst hard working poor people have to pay the full cost for everything. The $100 app store voucher is utterly worthless, so it levels the playing field nicely.

Hard working poor people aren't (shouldn't be) buying expensive computers...

 

[Ubuntu]

Really? Last I checked Microsoft wanted you to pay for those seperate (you got a very basic text editing software with Windows).

Of course, I guess things can change.

Or it may be that the computer maker you bought from decided to bundle that with the computer package you bought (Gateway though certainly wasn't that generous way back when I bought my PC. At best you got trial versions).

He's talking crap. Unless there's a nice deal going on you'll get Microsoft Works and an Office trial at best, but thats it.

 

[bpw]

I was still going to get a 27" iMac with or without the iPod promo. I'm sure I'll find something worthwhile to buy in the Mac App Store with the $100 credit. Just need to wait until our sales tax free weekend in August so I can do a BTO in the Apple online store and not have to pay sales tax. Also going to take advantage of the $100 printer rebate to finally upgrade to wireless printing.

 

[tSoprano]

Wow. Just got back from buying my son his 13" MBP, and things have really changed at my local Apple store since I bought my MBP just last winter. The sales guy was extremely pushy, trying to get us to upgrade first to the 15" then to the more powerful/pricey 13", and then he pooh-poohed the "free" printer and tried to get us to get the next pricier one. Then, and I was stunned by this, he almost wouldn't sell us the machine without an acceptance letter from my son's college ON THE SCHOOL'S LETTERHEAD! The acceptance email my son received was not good enough, nor was showing him emails from the school TO THE COLLEGE EMAIL ACCOUNT my son now has (firstname.lastname@college.edu). I had to pull up my parent access to show I had paid his tuition and dorm deposits before he was "comfortable" we weren't pulling one on him. What the...?

Come back, Ron Johnson!! Please, come back!

My future Apple purchases will be made online, thank you.

 

[diegous79]

I bought a MacBook last week for school. Do you think it's possible to still get the card?

Gr

yes you can. I got an iMac last week and just got out of the phone with them. They are sending me the iTunes code via email in 3 weeks. Call this number: 1-800-692-7753 and reference your order number that they will take care of the rest.

 

[smartalic34]

Interesting... So I just bought a 13" MBP yesterday under the Back to School promotion, and I figured Apple would email me the code for the $100 gift card... but nope! Apple is sending it via the US Postal Service??? Go figure...

Now I just wish my CTO MBP would ship (the printer came in 24 hours...)

 

[bcb968]

FYI if anyone is ordering online and they collect Airmiles, airmiles shops has a 2x airmiles deal on right now for ordering through the online store...

 

[sleazy]

i think part of the change in b2s is that one of apple's big things this year was the appearance of the app store for mac; it seems like it would make sense they would want to promote the store.

Secondly, with the availability of iphone through verizon, in addition to at&t, lots of folks now have iphones, they probably don't want/need ipods (i understand lots of folks resold their free ipod for cash but i'm pretty sure that wasn't the point of the promotion, from apple's perspective).

Thirdly, you don't need to pony up the cash up front and wait for a rebate; you get your $100 card upfront.

So, at the end of the day, love it or hate it, it is what it is and everyone will decide if it's a deal breaker or not and make their purchases accordingly.

how does $100 compare to $219.00

 

[tSoprano]

SleazE, the question should be, "How does $100 compare to nothing?"