Apple unveils new licensing program for education

[AppleInsider]

Apple has changed its licensing program for educational institutions, shifting to the purchase of annual coverage to keep software up to date for schools.

Through the new plan, institutions can purchase annual coverage. Each year, a license renewal provides 12 months of guaranteed upgrades to the latest releases of Apple software. The program includes a one-time enrollment fee of 10 percent of the annual purchase price, though schools that sign up before Dec. 13, 2009, will have the fee waived.

Apple has said that the new program replaces all including programs, including Apple Maintenance Program, Volume License and K12 School Site License. Those under the old plans with credits can be transferred to the new system if they do so before Dec. 13.

"The new Apple Education Licensing Program makes it easier to keep your school's Apple software current and compliant," the company's Web site says. "Coverage is purchased annually, keeping costs consistent year after year, and the new bundle structure allows you to manage against a single expiration date."

First noted by MacNN, the licensing change replaces a plan that had schools purchase Mac OS X for $39 to $59 per copy. Now, guaranteed upgrades for Mac OS X, iWork and iLife run from $899 per year for 25 seats, to $199,999 per year for 10,000 seats. Options are also available for Aperture, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Logic Studio, Logic Express, Apple Remote Desktop, Mac OS X Server, and Xsan.

The program also allows at-home licenses for faculty, staff, and students to use Mac products and remain up to date. Student licenses are available with Mac OS X if it covers 100 percent of the student-owned Mac computers on a higher education campus. The Mac OS X, iLife and iWork collection ranges from $1,499 for 25 college students to $339,999 for 10,000 students.



Though the K-12 institutional business in the U.S. has been weak this year due to budget cuts, it is still a significant segment of Apple's market. In the second quarter of this year, the Mac maker spent $390,000 to lobby the U.S. government. One of the focal points for Apple was education funding, as the company hopes to see stimulus funds help boost the institutional business.

[Cubert]

I think Apple needs to give away iWork for free on any new Mac like they do with iLife. I guarantee far more people will upgrade it with the next cycle, like most do with iLife. Most people new to the Mac platform don't even take advantage of the free iWork trial let alone purchase it outright.

[Cubert]

Interesting that seats for XServe are free and this costs so much per user (relative to XServe - but not in comparison to Mafia$oft who needs to give away a jar of Vaseline with each seat bought).

[al_bundy]

how much of a hardware discount do schools typically get? with the big premium apple charges for hardware it may just make sense to buy a new Mac instead of pay for a rent-a-software plan

the reason people buy into the Microsoft rent-a-software plan is for the server CAL's. the desktop hardware is so cheap these days that you buy a new PC if you want a new version of Windows

[StLBluesFan]

So . . . instead of a non-expiring license purchase of the OS, schools will have to purchase 1-year expiring licenses at a cost that isn't substantially lower than what was being paid before. The benefit to the schools, free upgrades to newer versions of the OS (should they occur during the license year).

Sounds like a effort to increase revenues by adopting a more similar program similar to MS. Major cost increase to the schools for upgrade insurance. Am I missing something?

[technohermit]

Originally Posted by StLBluesFan

So . . . instead of a non-expiring license purchase of the OS, schools will have to purchase 1-year expiring licenses at a cost that isn't substantially lower than what was being paid before. The benefit to the schools, free upgrades to newer versions of the OS (should they occur during the license year).

Sounds like a effort to increase revenues by adopting a more similar program similar to MS. Major cost increase to the schools for upgrade insurance. Am I missing something?

$200,000/10,000 seats for iLife, iWork, and OS X. It doesn't seem that the licenses expire, just the ability to upgrade. So if they buy a Mac, they are pretty much getting a revision of iLife and iWork for $20, and OS X upgrade should it happen that year.


EDIT: Wow did I misread. Forget what I said above.

[hzc]

Originally Posted by StLBluesFan

So . . . instead of a non-expiring license purchase of the OS, schools will have to purchase 1-year expiring licenses at a cost that isn't substantially lower than what was being paid before. The benefit to the schools, free upgrades to newer versions of the OS (should they occur during the license year).

Sounds like a effort to increase revenues by adopting a more similar program similar to MS. Major cost increase to the schools for upgrade insurance. Am I missing something?

I think this includes major updates too, such as upgrading to 10.7, though that won't be too soon, probably not in 2010. However, if a school does this for OS X, iLife, iWorks, etc. it might work out beneficial, even if it costs, say, $40/seat for the year, that would be worth it. The schools can easily past some or all of that cost to the students (computer lab fee) and some of it would likely be subsidized by the government.

[Dnaricke]

We have a site licence for Iwork '08 and I was thinking of proposing ILife '09 for older tiger macs. The site license worked well, $250 site license for 120 macs and growing, you do the math. If they kill site licenses I'm going openoffice and whatever comes with the mac and never upgrading unless absolutely needed (upgrade meaning trying ubuntu on legacy mac hardware!!!).

Sounds like software assurance (buy office/windows/other microsoft software, then pay 15-30% to "insure" you have the most current version. Looks good on paper but you will only get one upgrade per Software assurance if you want it.

[camroidv27]

Why change your biggest Advertisement Apple? It has been working extremely well so far. Look at how many college kids that were raised on Macs in schools kept with it!

[clickmyface]

Ahh, you can include students in this pricing. Meaning I can go buy it at my bookstore, get all updates in a year, and keep it when I leave school. So if a school purchased a 500 site license of the Mac Suite (Mac OS X + iWork + iLife) for $14,999 then it would only cost $29.99 per student. That means iLife + iWork are free. Right now as a student, that would cost me $171 buying it through my bookstore or the online education store. Thats a huge savings, especially considering i'd probably at the least get a free updated version of iLife/iWorks that usually comes out every year. Those would cost $71 each if I had to pay.

I dont think they have eliminated site licenses though, but i'm not sure. They dont break down iwork/ilife/snow leopard in this up to date licensing. There would have to be a way to purchase them separately I would assume, with a volume discount still.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by technohermit

$200,000/10,000 seats for iLife, iWork, and OS X. It doesn't seem that the licenses expire, just the ability to upgrade. So if they buy a Mac, they are pretty much getting a revision of iLife and iWork for $20, and OS X upgrade should it happen that year.


EDIT: Wow did I misread. Forget what I said above.

I am kinda confused about the appearance of forced bundling, as a uni student in a tech program, I don't want my tuition money pissed away on ilife and iwork, forget the mom and pop apps, spend a little more and put aperture and FCP on each seat. the whole point of a computer lab is to access tools that you cant get easily for yourself on a student budget. I dont want some dingus using a macpro workstation to play with garage band when I have a video production assignment to finish...

[a_greer]

I dont really beleive these numbers, they are for publicity, when u are buying 10,000 big ticket items, Mac computers, seats of final cut, whatever, the list prices mean little, you negotiate and haggle, get things thrown in, there is always a price cut and a deal sweetener if u look for it...

[macmanuc]

Originally Posted by clickmyface

Ahh, you can include students in this pricing. Meaning I can go buy it at my bookstore, get all updates in a year, and keep it when I leave school. So if a school purchased a 500 site license of the Mac Suite (Mac OS X + iWork + iLife) for $14,999 then it would only cost $29.99 per student. That means iLife + iWork are free. Right now as a student, that would cost me $171 buying it through my bookstore or the online education store. Thats a huge savings, especially considering i'd probably at the least get a free updated version of iLife/iWorks that usually comes out every year. Those would cost $71 each if I had to pay.

I dont think they have eliminated site licenses though, but i'm not sure. They dont break down iwork/ilife/snow leopard in this up to date licensing. There would have to be a way to purchase them separately I would assume, with a volume discount still.

Yes- they eliminated site licenses. And- it's not $14,999 - it's $14,999 EVERY YEAR. Regardless of if there is an update or not. These might be good prices for colleges though - but they are bad for K-12 where currently you can get a $249 per building license for iLive or iWork.

[macmanuc]

Originally Posted by Dnaricke

We have a site licence for Iwork '08 and I was thinking of proposing ILife '09 for older tiger macs. The site license worked well, $250 site license for 120 macs and growing, you do the math. If they kill site licenses I'm going openoffice and whatever comes with the mac and never upgrading unless absolutely needed (upgrade meaning trying ubuntu on legacy mac hardware!!!).

Sounds like software assurance (buy office/windows/other microsoft software, then pay 15-30% to "insure" you have the most current version. Looks good on paper but you will only get one upgrade per Software assurance if you want it.

They killed the site licenses - as of today they are gone.

[ksec]

I think this is for upgrade rather then new users. For those school that just switched to a Mac. Buying a one year update will be useless since some Apple products dont update yearly.

Since iLife is included in every Mac. It is iWork that matters.

I hope iWork 10 will see some major improvement............

[Maximara]

Originally Posted by Cubert

I think Apple needs to give away iWork for free on any new Mac like they do with iLife. I guarantee far more people will upgrade it with the next cycle, like most do with iLife. Most people new to the Mac platform don't even take advantage of the free iWork trial let alone purchase it outright.

Why? Openoffice already is free and currently has more to offer than the iWork suite.

[fmaxwell]

Originally Posted by Maximara

Why? Openoffice already is free and currently has more to offer than the iWork suite.

You are quite wrong. For example, Keynote is widely regarded as the best presentation package available. While OpenOffice offers a presentation package, it is not nearly as good as Keynote. There are also numerous cut and paste issues, including a loss of formatting, when pasting from OS X applications into OpenOffice (an X11 app). As far as usability and interface, iWork shames OpenOffice (and NeoOffice).

I'm sure that for many users who have to move between platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac), OpenOffice is a good choice. But it's not yet in the same league with iWork and Microsoft Office.

[Dnaricke]

Originally Posted by fmaxwell

You are quite wrong. For example, Keynote is widely regarded as the best presentation package available. While OpenOffice offers a presentation package, it is not nearly as good as Keynote. There are also numerous cut and paste issues, including a loss of formatting, when pasting from OS X applications into OpenOffice (an X11 app). As far as usability and interface, iWork shames OpenOffice (and NeoOffice).

I'm sure that for many users who have to move between platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac), OpenOffice is a good choice. But it's not yet in the same league with iWork and Microsoft Office.

The only thing openoffice has that Iwork NEEDS is "save as" M$ extensions. Export is a new idea for users transition from Windows. School teachers and students leave this step out and they cannot continue their work on a windows machine! Oh the Apple/Microsoft money train/death loop!

[Dnaricke]

Openoffice is FREE! Ms office is $60 for schools on school machines w/ $15 3year software assurance! The only reason I like a small portion of iWork is keynote. Export to Flash works well when creating looping sideshows.

Tell me again why I need to buy into this "new" purchasing system Apple came up with?

Oh Yea, pad Steve Jobs pocket, like him or any of those guys need it!

[carterx]

Is this just US? Would love to see this arrive in Canada as well.