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Apple Launches 2023 Back to School Offer for Students: Up to $150 Gift Card With Mac or iPad

russell_314 said:
If it’s the same as last year, then it’s confusing as heck. At least it is for me. I did the Apple Card installments on my Air, and I had to pay for the free gift card in installments. I don’t see how it is a free gift card if you have to pay for it.

Edit: I had to look it up to figure it out again. They take the $150 off the price of the MacBook Air and then charge you $150 for the gift card. I don’t know why they do it that way, but it comes out to you getting a free gift card in a really confusing way.

Maybe this is so if you return the MacBook Air you have to return a gift card too? I’m sure they have a reason to do it this way.
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I know that somehow it all works out but I agree that the way it's displayed is extremely confusing. I also get reimbursed for work purchases so I don't like how it would appear at first glance that I am manually adding the gift card as if I were trying to sneak it in.
 
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Looks like Apple Gift card or Apple account balance cannot be used to place the order.

Your payment authorization failed. Please verify your information and try again, or try another payment method.
Items in your order are not eligible for this payment method. Please select another form of payment
 
FYI: I purchased a new iPad Pro on Sunday from the education store. This morning I chatted with an Apple Specialist who said she would honor the $100 gift card promotion and that I'd receive it in my email in a couple of days.
 
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dwat89 said:
I’ve been looking to get an M2 Mac Mini using the education discount (My wife homeschools our kids) and have seen that Apple hasn’t been doing the verification process. Are they more likely to do it during this promotion?
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They are not doing any verification. You should be good to go!
 
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sleven said:
Does anyone know if refurbished equipment is excluded from this offer? I’d really like to get a 14” MBP from 2021.
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Yes, refurbished items are excluded from gift card offer

nrose101 said:
Doesn't work on Studio :(
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Mac Studio and Mac Pro are excluded.

Florist9266 said:
Looks like Apple Gift card or Apple account balance cannot be used to place the order.

Your payment authorization failed. Please verify your information and try again, or try another payment method.
Items in your order are not eligible for this payment method. Please select another form of payment
Click to expand...
Try going to a physical Apple store
 
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russell_314 said:
If it’s the same as last year, then it’s confusing as heck. At least it is for me. I did the Apple Card installments on my Air, and I had to pay for the free gift card in installments. I don’t see how it is a free gift card if you have to pay for it.

Edit: I had to look it up to figure it out again. They take the $150 off the price of the MacBook Air and then charge you $150 for the gift card. I don’t know why they do it that way, but it comes out to you getting a free gift card in a really confusing way.

Maybe this is so if you return the MacBook Air you have to return a gift card too? I’m sure they have a reason to do it this way.
Click to expand...
All stores do things this way. As gift cards are cash and can never be returned this protects the retailer from fraud. Basically, buy and return 10 MacBooks and then you get a free one with the gift cards.

Stores will also spread the pricing around for multiple item discounts for the same reason. So a buy one get one free doesn’t result in you returning the one you were charged for to make it a fully free item.
 
ricketysquire said:
Man it's a far cry from the days when they'd give you a free iPod touch and a printer.
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i felt like i hit the jackpot. purchased the 12inch powerbook at the time with the ipod mini and either $100 or $150 off a printer. it gave me everything i needed for college.
 
ThisIsMike said:
I never saw a clear answer to this last year- can the gift card be used towards purchase of AppleCare afterwards?
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bmolands said:
Yes you can! But you have to do it in a store. You bring the device in and you can purchase AppleCare for the device with a gift card. My wife and I did it on our iPhones last year.
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But then do you miss out on the 20% Apple Care discount? Or can you get that education discount in person in the store?
 
i4k20c said:
i felt like i hit the jackpot. purchased the 12inch powerbook at the time with the ipod mini and either $100 or $150 off a printer. it gave me everything i needed for college.
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almost ditto. 2003 semester. 12" powerbook g4, 867 mhz, 3rd gen iPod (the one right after the scroll wheel and touch wheel) and a canon printer. first Mac and haven't been the same since
 
Mac mini M2: "Price with Special Offer: $399.00"
That's pretty sick given this thing can drive dual 5K monitors (technically 6K + 5K).
Is this the best value computer on the planet?
 
snak-atak said:
I think it's because most people that return the Mac already redeemed the gift card on day-1, or at least applied it to their account, so that cannot be returned.

A little confusing, but not as confusing as the carrier deals from Verizon. They give you a 'free' or 'discounted' phone, but they add charges to your monthly phone bill and somehow take it off. I usually purchase direct through Apple, but I bit once on a trade-in deal with Verizon. I swear I could've done better simply purchasing direct and trading it in with Apple. To this day, I feel like I gave them a perfectly good phone for nothing. I even called Verizon and spoke to a few people. None of them could explain the deal to me.
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I don’t think anyone could beat Verizon when it comes to confusing anything 🤣
 
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LogicalApex said:
All stores do things this way. As gift cards are cash and can never be returned this protects the retailer from fraud. Basically, buy and return 10 MacBooks and then you get a free one with the gift cards.

Stores will also spread the pricing around for multiple item discounts for the same reason. So a buy one get one free doesn’t result in you returning the one you were charged for to make it a fully free item.
Click to expand...
They could just refund the total minus $150 for the gift card but I’m sure there’s some legal reason they have to do it this way. They would probably get sued for not refunding someone for a free gift card that they already used. It’s annoying that they have to do things this way, but it’s also understandable with how people are.
 
russell_314 said:
They could just refund the total minus $150 for the gift card but I’m sure there’s some legal reason they have to do it this way. They would probably get sued for not refunding someone for a free gift card that they already used. It’s annoying that they have to do things this way, but it’s also understandable with how people are.
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Is sales tax applicable to gift cards in the USA? If so, this may be another reason for them to do it this way.
 
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Hmm, I bought a refurbished mini for $1529 last week or I can get a brand new for $1594 with a $100 gift card. What can I do with a $100 gift card ?
 
tonywalker23 said:
almost ditto. 2003 semester. 12" powerbook g4, 867 mhz, 3rd gen iPod (the one right after the scroll wheel and touch wheel) and a canon printer. first Mac and haven't been the same since
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ha just 2 years later in 2005. i think my g4 was 1.5ghz and also had a cannon all in one. i think mp450 if i remember right. always remember people asking me to print things for them in the dorms ha

same for me re: first mac. i used them in high school and loved it. saved up every penny i could to get it. was such a great computer for college.
 
dlondon said:
Is sales tax applicable to gift cards in the USA? If so, this may be another reason for them to do it this way.
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Sales tax doesn't apply to the gift card but does apply to when you make a purchase with that gift card. So if you buy a $100 gift card from any retailer, your total should be exactly USD $100.00, and then when you use it to buy something, let's say a five dollar item, your subtotal is $5.00 + 6% sales tax (for example, varies by U.S. state) = $5.30 paid by gift card, with $94.60 then remaining on it. So there is no double taxation for the consumer and no trickery one way or another for anyone involved.
 
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dwat89 said:
I’ve been looking to get an M2 Mac Mini using the education discount (My wife homeschools our kids) and have seen that Apple hasn’t been doing the verification process. Are they more likely to do it during this promotion?
Click to expand...
At least in Canada, the education store specifies that the discount is available for "homeschool teachers at all levels." Not sure they intend that to mean home-school parents, but you could interpret it that way, especially as thy don't verify, at least in this country
 
The Apple Education discount is always a good deal. However, for those that are not in a rush AND are not actually eligible for the discount, I always recommend skipping this deal. There are a couple of advantages to waiting it out. Usually in about 6 to 8 months of a new product’s release third party sales will crop up that will reduce the price of the computer to the same value as this deal (after factoring in the gift cards). Advantage is that you don’t have to worry about gift cards. Also, you also don’t have to be tense about being audited for student verification. The student discount net price ALWAYS gets matched sooner or later. And nowadays Apple doesn’t refresh computers annually so waiting six months is not too bad.

Example - The M2 Pro Mac Mini is not that old, and many retailers had it for $1100 last month. This Apple discount brings it to $1200 with a $100 gift card. Even if you were a student you would have been better off just buying it from Amazon or Best Buy.

Of course, the big caveat is that your current system should have some legs left to wait it out. If you cannot wait and want that new release computer immediately, Apple education discount is the way to go. You just have to deal with the extra gift card for that privilege.
 
Dydegu said:
But then do you miss out on the 20% Apple Care discount? Or can you get that education discount in person in the store?
Click to expand...
This is actually a really good question, trying to follow up here as well. Does anyone have any experience using gift cards to purchase Applecare products in store and still received the 20% off discount during Back to School promotion?
 
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Ursadorable said:
"Back to School" sale.. Doesn't summer break start in 3-4 weeks? The last thing kids want to hear is back to school anything lol.
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I was thinking the same thing. Back to School sales get earlier every year, but now they begin while school is still in session in some places!

But hey, the discount is nice as long as they keep it going throughout the back to school period.
 
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