Apple Walks Back UNiDAYS Verification Requirement for U.S. Education Store

[44267547]

How deep are the student discounts?

It ranges in price from product to product. There’s no ‘one discount fits all products’ with Apple.

Tom’s Guide breaks down how it works, how to qualify and where it’s applied as a 2021 example:

Apple student discounts 2021: save on iPads, MacBooks and more

Back to college? Here are the best Apple student discounts that you can get right now

www.tomsguide.com

 

[Marx55]

UNiDAYS is a pain in the back.

 

[fhamadeh]

So glad that Apple has walked this back. I have been going in circles with UNiDAYS for the past three days trying to get verified as an employee in higher education. First, they wouldn't accept my .edu email address, and now they're not accepting my employee ID. Trying to get any kind of support is a joke because they keep replying with the same boilerplate language.

 

[Mizouse]

Your university doesn’t offer alumni status? Alumni email?

Nope. It stays the same. Well I think it drops the student suffix, but it still works with it.

 

[tbobmccoy]

K-12 Education rarely have .edu email addresses. Glad they removed this.

 

[BSoares]

So they released it too soon, before it was ready for prime time. Seems to be a common thing these days, just like they do with iOS, MacOS, WatchOS, etc.

 

[deeddawg]

Not sure why they can't just require the purchaser to have a university E-mail address from an approved list. That's how other sites have been verifying university affiliation for years.

FYI all you need to get verified on unidays is a .edu email...

Remember - the Apple EDU discount has long been offered to K-12 staff/teachers in the US, as well as homeschooling parents.

Most of those folks don't have a .edu email address -- unless it's some legacy from when they themselves were students.

 

[dannyyankou]

Wait...there is no verification process for the EDU pricing??

Correct. Little-known fact.

 

[kingfish78]

Not sure why they can't just require the purchaser to have a university E-mail address from an approved list. That's how other sites have been verifying university affiliation for years.

Because the discount program is also valid for Elementary and Secondary students and staff, not just college/university. Most non-higher ed schools do not have .edu email addresses and there is literally no way that Apple or some company could verify every school. Some states are pretty open in allowing home school too, and Apple has traditionally extended this program to them as well.

 

[kingfish78]

How deep are the student discounts?

Typically no more than $100.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

As a homeschooling parent, I don't particularly care, but would prefer that the make a path for us as well.

Same. I'm tired of all these verification systems completely ignoring homeschoolers.

 

[jonblatho]

Not sure why they can't just require the purchaser to have a university E-mail address from an approved list. That's how other sites have been verifying university affiliation for years.

Some schools allow you to keep your university email address(es) for life.

 

[a104375]

Correct. Little-known fact.

Slightly more known fact now that Apple implemented this, and now has walked it back.

Unidays just asks to verify that I can log into my schools single sign on which because I have a email through said single sign on I can. Been paying for the student apple music for years.

 

[jonblatho]

Typically no more than $100.

The base price for a Mac can be reduced by anywhere from $50 to $400, but you also save on BTO upgrades and AppleCare+ if you choose to buy them. There's also that Pro Apps Bundle with Final Cut and Logic Pro and their companion apps (Motion, Compressor, and MainStage) for $200.

 

[dannyyankou]

Slightly more known fact now that Apple implemented this, and now has walked it back.

Unidays just asks to verify that I can log into my schools single sign on which because I have a email through said single sign on I can. Been paying for the student apple music for years.

Yeah, I tried to tell people about the education discount thing a couple years ago but they didn't believe me lol.

As for Apple Music, I had the student subscription for years, but then me and some family members decided to do the Apple One thing, it saves us all money.

 

[jicon]

I’m so happy Apple has decided to remove it. It was a total waste of time in the first place. Maybe Apple VP saw the sales have started to decline.

Honestly, A 3 trillion-dollar company is relying on some third-party website for verification? That’s wrong! ??

So... presuming people no longer in college using a .edu email to get illegitimate discounts is alright? Honestly.

 

[barkomatic]

Typically no more than $100.

It depends on what you get. I got $200 off my MBP

 

[Spock]

And universities actually delete emails once the student graduates?? Sure…

University I work at does, after three inactive semesters your student account is automatically deleted.

 

[jayducharme]

How deep are the student discounts?

They're actually not that much, usually about $100 for computers and much less for other products. And some products don't qualify. The education discounts worked mainly for institutions, which sometimes could get products for half-price. I used to order equipment for the college where I worked, and Apple's institutional discounts were always worth it and were both for hardware and software. For an average student or teacher though, there were far better deals to be found on Apple's refurbished page.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

So... presuming people no longer in college using a .edu email to get illegitimate discounts is alright? Honestly.

I look at it as a long-term discount and perks for attending the college. These colleges make so much money from us anyways. My own university offers many perks, benefits, services and discounts. 👇

Benefits

www.unlv.edu

 

[gugy]

My wife is a teacher so I always ordered using the EDU discount and I remember the first couple of times showing some proof but in recent years I stop bothering sending verification because it was never asked. Either way, I doesn't matter in my case but people who got away with murder, these days might be over. lol

 

[Dave-Z]

As a homeschooling parent, I don't particularly care, but would prefer that the make a path for us as well.

I agree; I'm also a home school parent (not from the USA). Their web site states home school parents qualify but I know in the past I haven't been able to get the discount. Most recently (i.e. during the COVID pandemic) I have been able to, but prior to that it was difficult.

 

[GloboGymLLC.]

My wife is a teacher so I always ordered using the EDU discount and I remember the first couple of times showing some proof but in recent years I stop bothering sending verification because it was never asked. Either way, I doesn't matter in my case but people who got away with murder, these days might be over. lol

"if the glove doesn't fit? You must acquit! - Johnnie Cochran

my man O.J. is innocent! and so are these purchases!

 

[joeblough]

timely article - my kid is going to college in the fall and i wanted to look at what the discounts are. i was surprised to find this new verification requirement. the UNIDAYS thing means business - it didn't accept my .edu email nor did it accept my proxy account that i use to pay my older daughter's school tuition.

glad to see the gatekeeping is gone. i suppose people were abusing it though.

 

[Mr. Jenkins]

So I signed up for unidays for no reason ?