The Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops are both popular choices for students. The MacBook is especially popular due to its reasonable price of around $1,000 and portable size of 5lbs and a 13.3″ screen. The good news is that Apple has a student discount that covers every age range of student, from kindergarten to grad students, and also those employed in the academic field. If you’re a parent of a student buying it for them you are eligible for this discount as well.
In general, the deals offered by Apple via the academic discount get you about 10% off of certain Apple products purchased either online or in an Apple retail store. As an example, the current base line MacBook costs $1,099 for regular customers, but using the academic discount you can get this same laptop for $999. The higher the price the greater the discount can become, for instance a Mac Pro desktop computer retailing for $2,799 is sold for $2,599 with the education discount.
Prices before student discount
Prices after student discount
How to get the discount
To get the academic discount online all you have to do is visit the following link: http://www.apple.com/education/shop/ and when you shop the discounts are automatically displayed. If you want to try out a product before buying it, you can go to an Apple store or a university campus Apple authorized reseller.
If you buy in store then it is likely that you will be asked for some type of student ID to prove you are a student. Buying online is generally on the honor system, Apple has an online agreement that contains the requirements for the discount and you must accept them by clicking an “Accept” button. It is assumed Apple will do spot checks on customers buying online and using the student discount, so be honest or you might get embarrassed!
Are there back to school offers?
Yes! Apple will often do back to school offers on top of the student discount offers. Usually between June 1st and September 1st they will do offers such as getting a free printer with a Mac purchase, or even a free iPod with Mac purchase. It can pay to wait for the back to school shopping period if you like freebie promotions.
Is there any way to get an even larger discount than 10%?
There is. Apple has what is called the Apple Developer Connection program (ADC). If you are a student of over 18 you can register for the Student ADC which costs $99 per year to join. The benefits include getting about 20% off of a one time hardware purchase, download of the latest version of Mac OS X and access to X Code development tools plus any X Code updates. Apple is more stringent in checking those that register are qualified for this, basically you must be a university student to qualify and they will indeed check. If you are a college student but not a developer, it can still pay to sign up for this program if you are buying an expensive item such as a Mac Pro. A purchase of $3,000 will get you about $600 off, so the $99 up front for the student ADC cost pays for itself. If all you are buying is a $1,000 MacBook then just use the plain vanilla student discount (unless you had some use for the latest copy of Mac OS X).
