Apple's Education Store is down ahead of Back to School offers

AppleInsider

Apple has taken down its online Education Store, and it is expected to be reopened shortly with the company's latest Back to School gift card deals.

Apple has taken down its US Education Store

As predicted

, Apple appears to be preparing to launch its Back to School 2024 promotion. Or at least it is for the US and Canada, as at present other versions of the store around the world are operating normally.

As ever, the US store says only "be right back" -- Canada's says "We'll be right back" -- with no schedule, or detail about what is changing. Consequently details of the Back to School promotion will not be known until the store reopens.

However, Apple does this promotion every year. It typically consists of bundling gift cards of varying value, so that someone buying a device today can get a discount on a later purchase.

That doesn't help with the current purchase, but eligible buyers do benefit from the Education Store's reduced prices. Apple has year-round student discounts that can be substantial.

Note, though, that even with the education discount and the kind of gift card promotion that Apple typically offers, it's easy to get better deals from third-party resellers. There are always hundreds of exclusive deals in our Mac Price Guide.



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holycow

I won't be expecting any gift card deals, if you expect and they don't deliver you'll be dissapointed, but if you don't expect it, it's gonna feel like a pleasant suprize and deal

kdupuis77

holycow said:

I won't be expecting any gift card deals, if you expect and they don't deliver you'll be dissapointed, but if you don't expect it, it's gonna feel like a pleasant suprize and deal

Well I expected the gift card offer and at last I snagged it! Glad I remembered about this annual sale and sent my M4 iPad Pro back a couple weeks ago. Super excited to get it back with the $100 gift card tomorrow!

mikethemartian

Back to school already?

jdw

And just to clarify... AGAIN...  these student discounts are somewhat misleading insofar as most students who want Apple products have a new iPhone atop their shopping list, but there are no Apple student discounts for iPhones.  These discounts apply to Macs and iPads.  

It's Apple Marketing at work, which benefits Apple instead of considering the needs of most students.  A more student-focused discount program would basically apply the Student Discount to ALL Apple products, not just a tiny slice of them.

Yes, yes... This is the way it has always been, but that doesn't mean there's never room for change. 

Marvin

jdw said:

And just to clarify... AGAIN...  these student discounts are somewhat misleading insofar as most students who want Apple products have a new iPhone atop their shopping list, but there are no Apple student discounts for iPhones.  These discounts apply to Macs and iPads.  

It's Apple Marketing at work, which benefits Apple instead of considering the needs of most students.  A more student-focused discount program would basically apply the Student Discount to ALL Apple products, not just a tiny slice of them.

Yes, yes... This is the way it has always been, but that doesn't mean there's never room for change. 

Unless they are bought without a service, iPhones are sold via the network carriers, even when they are bought from Apple. Those companies offer discounts:

https://www.att.com/deals/back-to-school/

Apple just passes the sale on to them when they are bought on contract. They could offer a discount on the standalone price but it wouldn't be much of a saving.

$599 iPhone, 10% off = $539, over 36 months = $15/month and there has to be a service fee on top. AT&T is offering $13/month.

I doubt an iPhone discount via Apple would improve their overall sales, they are still selling near their all time high around 250 million units/year. Monthly payments and carriers are the main things that distinguish iPhone sales from Mac and iPad.