Educational discount restrictions

[RandomsScrandoms]

So I've recently bought a MacBook Pro (M4 Pro, 48GB, 2TB) for a family member who just started at university, sort of as an early gift for Christmas, and I used their uni email to get an education discount for it.

I've never owned a MacBook, but having used it a little bit to help them get it set up, I've decided I want one now (hehe). I have recently started my own Ltd company (I'm in the UK), and so I would like to purchase one for business use. But I have a few options...

- Buy a new MacBook Pro (M4 Max, 64GB, 2TB) with my company account.
- Buy a new MacBook Pro (same as above) with a personal 24 month 0% APR credit card, and create an expense report to my company. This is my preferred approach.
- OR, turns out that my family member would prefer a MacBook Air (the Pro is too heavy and they want it in gold...), so they suggested I can buy the MacBook Pro "from" them and expense it to my company, and buy them the Air. I say "from", as I'm the one who originally spent the money anyway...

I have a few questions about the last approach.

- From reading reviews, it seems that the M4 Pro performs fairly similarly to the M4 Max in CPU benchmarks. For someone doing software engineering (not much LLM / AI), would there be a significant difference in real world usage? By significant, I mean £1830 worth of difference.
- They have already started using it, so I would have to reset it. But because it was bought with an education discount, does that mean there are some education restrictions on the laptop that would prevent it being used for professional / business use? And since it was bought for them, would it be tied permanently to their Apple account in some way? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I know Windows devices I've used that have been tied to an education organisation still maintain that even after being reset.
- Since their educational discount has already been used for buying the MacBook Pro, can it be used again to buy a MacBook Air, or can it be only used once?
- Does any one know of any legal / accounting issues that might arise in "buying" the laptop second hand this way? I think buying it second hand would be fine, but since I'm the one who already paid for it, even though it's owned by someone else, would there be an issue?

My main goal is to try and understand any downsides of this approach since it seems fairly win-win, but I'm reluctant to do something illegal/shady just to save a bit of money. I should note that my company has only recently started and is not VAT registered, otherwise the second option would be a no brainer.

Thank you for any and all help!

 

[Igantius]

Firstly, you sound like an awesome person to have in the family!

There are restrcitions to how many products you can buy from the store in a year: (see https://www.apple.com/uk-edu/shop/browse/open/salespolicies/edu):

Purchase Quantity​

Those eligible to purchase from the Apple Store for Education will be allowed to purchase the following quantities of products per year. Not all products have special Education Pricing.

• Desktop: One (1) may be purchased per year
• Mac mini: One (1) may be purchased per year
• Notebook: One (1) may be purchased per year
• iPad: Two (2) may be purchased per year
• Accessories: Two (2) accessories with Education Pricing may be purchased per year

The above purchases can be made either online or in an Apple Retail Store. Total product quantities remain the same regardless of where your purchase is made.

The laptop won't be restricted in anyway and there's nothing to stop someone buying through the Edu Store and selling it on (hence the limits above).

On the link it says who can access the discount (e.g. a parent) and potentially, that could be a way of getting a discount on a second laptop in a year.

Also, most premium Apple resellers in the UK offer a similar (or identical) discount for students.

 

[RandomsScrandoms]

Firstly, you sound like an awesome person to have in the family!

There are restrcitions to how many products you can buy from the store in a year: (see https://www.apple.com/uk-edu/shop/browse/open/salespolicies/edu):



The laptop won't be restricted in anyway and there's nothing to stop someone buying through the Edu Store and selling it on (hence the limits above).

On the link it says who can access the discount (e.g. a parent) and potentially, that could be a way of getting a discount on a second laptop in a year.

Also, most premium Apple resellers in the UK offer a similar (or identical) discount for students.

Thank you for the compliment and that link!

So it's good to know that there wont be any practical limitations in the laptop itself.

In terms of the quantities, doesn't that mean that the MacBook Air can't be purchased with the discount, since I already used their email to get the MacBook Pro?

Eligibility​

Individuals eligible to purchase from the Apple Store for Education include teachers, staff, students and parents as follows:

• Employees of any education institution - Any employee of a public or private education institution in the UK is eligible.
• Tertiary education students - Students attending or accepted into a tertiary education institution in the UK are eligible to purchase.
• Parents of tertiary education students - Parents purchasing on behalf of their child who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private tertiary education institution in the UK, are eligible to purchase.

Purchases from the Apple Store for Education are not for institutional purchase or resale.

Regarding this section, I sort of fit into the 3rd category when I was buying for them (I'm an older cousin). But the last sentence suggests that resale is not a possibility, so I wouldn't be able to "buy it back" from them?

 

[Igantius]

Thank you for the compliment and that link!

So it's good to know that there wont be any practical limitations in the laptop itself.

In terms of the quantities, doesn't that mean that the MacBook Air can't be purchased with the discount, since I already used their email to get the MacBook Pro?



Regarding this section, I sort of fit into the 3rd category when I was buying for them (I'm an older cousin). But the last sentence suggests that resale is not a possibility, so I wouldn't be able to "buy it back" from them?

A pleasure!

I also meant to say that KRCS, a UK premium reseller, currently has a 10% off on all Macs for all buyers. I’m eligible for the Education Store and when I was looking at various options, found that the KRCS discount during Black Friday was as good or better than the Edu Store. So if you’re looking to buy now, it’s a good option.

Regarding resale in the T&Cs, my understanding is that in this context it means people who are buying it with the sole intention of selling it at a profit. Going from memory, there used to be a limit of two laptops per year and suspect the reduction is to try and prevent people buying a couple and selling one on in order to subsidise a purchase.

If an email has been used already, then in theory it can’t be used to buy a second laptop this year but I don’t know how carefully this is monitored. My partner works for the NHS at she’s gotten similar discounts in-store and although there are similar restrictions on the amount of kit she can get at discount, it’s not been an issue. Personally, I’m always careful with these kind of things.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

In terms of the quantities, doesn't that mean that the MacBook Air can't be purchased with the discount, since I already used their email to get the MacBook Pro?

Correct. It isn't clear if it means once per CALENDAR year - in which case you could buy it Jan 1 - or there has to be a year between purchases.

 

[RandomsScrandoms]

Correct. It isn't clear if it means once per CALENDAR year - in which case you could buy it Jan 1 - or there has to be a year between purchases.

I couldn't find anything specific in that article, but reading around it seems to be September - September. Even if there is no discount on the MacBook Air purchase, the savings on the MacBook Pro were higher, so it makes up for it, but ONLY if we end up keeping it.

 

[RandomsScrandoms]

A pleasure!

I also meant to say that KRCS, a UK premium reseller, currently has a 10% off on all Macs for all buyers. I’m eligible for the Education Store and when I was looking at various options, found that the KRCS discount during Black Friday was as good or better than the Edu Store. So if you’re looking to buy now, it’s a good option.

Regarding resale in the T&Cs, my understanding is that in this context it means people who are buying it with the sole intention of selling it at a profit. Going from memory, there used to be a limit of two laptops per year and suspect the reduction is to try and prevent people buying a couple and selling one on in order to subsidise a purchase.

If an email has been used already, then in theory it can’t be used to buy a second laptop this year but I don’t know how carefully this is monitored. My partner works for the NHS at she’s gotten similar discounts in-store and although there are similar restrictions on the amount of kit she can get at discount, it’s not been an issue. Personally, I’m always careful with these kind of things.

Thank you for that, I'll check out those sites! That might even make it worth sticking to the original plan.

Still curious to hear about whether buying it this way would be feasible or not. My guess is it should be fine, especially if there are no specific restrictions on use when buying with the education discount. My main concern was that it would be a breach of some Apple T&C if you buy something for education use but end up giving it away or using it for non education use.