The previous generation of Beats headphones, I would classify as embarrassing in terms of cost and sound quality. The solo 2 has come a long way. People still associate Beats with the junk they produced under monster.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Launches 2015 Back to School Promotion, Offers Free Beats Solo2 Headphones With Mac Purchase
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The previous generation of Beats headphones, I would classify as embarrassing in terms of cost and sound quality. The solo 2 has come a long way. People still associate Beats with the junk they produced under monster.
No one "has" to buy anything.
If you want/need an Apple computer, buy it for what it does for you, not what freebies you may or may not get.
Correct, although I don't think the Applecare is the same as if you bought a non Education Mac and paid for it.
I may be wrong, but I don't think you get any telephone support for example. It's just a case of making an appointment at your local Apple store for help.
I'm not knocking it by the way, I think the standard deal for students is a cracking one, let alone with a pair of £180 headphones thrown in.
My son's hoping to go to Uni next year, so I've decided to get him a new Apple laptop (probably an Air) and I'll be getting it during the BTS promotion, because let's face it any freebie is better than no freebie, but the freebie won't in any way drive the deal.
Its the same thing but with 1 year technical support instead of 3 (you can add 3 if you really wanted for £40) to be fair the technical support is pretty useless unless you're a complete technophobe and in 2 and 1/2 years time you want to phone up and ask how to close down Safari, its the hardware warranty thats valuable. If it was the other way around it wouldn't be worth it.
Probably not as many as perhaps there use to be; do college kids have no headphones already?
Wow, okay, I disagree. I don't think he's being hysterical, he's just being realistic. Apple has been disappointing people for the last 3-5 years, probably to a higher level compared to 5+ years ago. It may be partly because people has such high expectations for Apple, or because entitlement levels are up these days, but Apple does have a tendency to disappoint when they change their plans/promotions/products.
If he was like "OMG!!!!!!!! I IS TEH HATE APPLE!!!!! DEFCON 1!!!!" then, that is hysterical. Not his rant, which, IMHO, was well-thought out.
I've been disappointed with Apple lately, but I think this is actually a great promotion for students. Many are talking about other options but:
1) Including an iPod with a purchase would be cool, but almost all of these students already have an iPhone or Android and they likely stream music now as opposed to legally (or illegally) downloading music. The iPod just isn't of interest to the great great majority of students anymore.
2) One year of Apple music would be a lame promotion because many of these kids will already be using a free streaming music service. Granted the free streaming service may not be as good, but these are poor college students and *free* is important. Getting a better service for free for a year? Meh!
3) A $100 gift card would be great but this is better. The fact is, even with the argument that Ebay will be "flooded" with Beats headphones, the fact is most of these students will keep and use these headphones and those who sell them will definitely get more then $100. And, that over $100 is real money, not a credit tied to Apple.
4) A free printer might have been more useful, but a student can sell these headphones if they like and get a printer and still have some money left over.
5) Most students will find this useful. They like to listen to music while the study and in general. They can use these speakers with the iPhone or Android device they already own, and they can also use them with their fancy new MacBook Pro.
Overall, I'd say Apple did a good job with this promotion, and I think those criticizing them are missing the fact that this is a promotion for young students, and these students win if they keep the headphones, or if they sell them.
1) Including an iPod with a purchase would be cool, but almost all of these students already have an iPhone or Android and they likely stream music now as opposed to legally (or illegally) downloading music. The iPod just isn't of interest to the great great majority of students anymore.
2) One year of Apple music would be a lame promotion because many of these kids will already be using a free streaming music service. Granted the free streaming service may not be as good, but these are poor college students and *free* is important. Getting a better service for free for a year? Meh!
3) A $100 gift card would be great but this is better. The fact is, even with the argument that Ebay will be "flooded" with Beats headphones, the fact is most of these students will keep and use these headphones and those who sell them will definitely get more then $100. And, that over $100 is real money, not a credit tied to Apple.
4) A free printer might have been more useful, but a student can sell these headphones if they like and get a printer and still have some money left over.
5) Most students will find this useful. They like to listen to music while the study and in general. They can use these speakers with the iPhone or Android device they already own, and they can also use them with their fancy new MacBook Pro.
Overall, I'd say Apple did a good job with this promotion, and I think those criticizing them are missing the fact that this is a promotion for young students, and these students win if they keep the headphones, or if they sell them.
I literally just bought a MBP with an education discount 2 weeks ago. Can anyone tell me how to get Apple to retroactively 'hook me up' with this offer?
Amazon has them new for $140 or os in various colors.
So you ware going to sell a used pair for more then that?
The comments on this are kinda hilarious. Walking contradictions... Beats Solo2 are considered the best on-ear cans available at the price point of $200 by the hi-fi community... and this is after the very well-received Studio full-sized cans... yet people won't miss an opportunity to try to troll something that hasn't been true for a number of years now... awesome.
Just when you think you're finally going to become popular by falling in line and repeating something you've heard others say... you're late and wrong.
Just when you think you're finally going to become popular by falling in line and repeating something you've heard others say... you're late and wrong.
You aren't late at all! You're at the wrong party. We're here to bash Beats headphones, which are widely regarded as junk wrapped up in a pretty marketing shell.
I just got my new MacBook in the mail on Saturday. Was thinking of going in to an Apple Store to try and get them to honor this promotion. I am still under the 14 day return policy so I could always return it and turn around and buy it again. The only problem is that I ordered the 1.3 Ghz model so unless they sell me back the one I am returning I will have to wait 3 weeks to get my next one. Anyone been in this boat before?
You're having a hard time with semantics in this post. You'd have much less responses from users calling out your absurdity if what I'm quoting above was what you actually said in the OC.
Still waiting on the offers from those complaining about this promotion to agree to give me the FREE headphones. Patiently waiting.... Still no offers? Hmm then why are people still complaining about this promotion???