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russell_314

macrumors 604
Feb 10, 2019
6,681
10,288
USA
Maybe you should ask your teacher to explain this one to you. I find that if something is confusing writing it down on paper also helps. Good luck with the education and your new Mac šŸ˜€
 
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izzy0242mr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2009
691
491
Maybe you should ask your teacher to explain this one to you. I find that if something is confusing writing it down on paper also helps. Good luck with the education and your new Mac šŸ˜€
How's OP wrong? You're not getting a $150 discount by getting a free $150 Apple gift card unless you already planned to spend at least $150 extra buying something new from Apple.

If you're like me and the only things you ever buy from Apple are computers (no iPhones, no services, etc.), this would basically be worthless unless I can sell the gift card. Because I wouldn't have spent $150 with Apple after getting a Mac anyways, so it does nothing but encourage people to get tied into the ecosystem (which is how Apple justifies giving it away; they hope people will use it on subscriptions or nonrenewable products like AirPods).
 

daavee80

Cancelled
Jul 17, 2019
77
132
How's OP wrong? You're not getting a $150 discount by getting a free $150 Apple gift card unless you already planned to spend at least $150 extra buying something new from Apple.

If you're like me and the only things you ever buy from Apple are computers (no iPhones, no services, etc.), this would basically be worthless unless I can sell the gift card. Because I wouldn't have spent $150 with Apple after getting a Mac anyways, so it does nothing but encourage people to get tied into the ecosystem (which is how Apple justifies giving it away; they hope people will use it on subscriptions or nonrenewable products like AirPods).
The ā€˜Back To Schoolā€˜ promotion is not the educational discount itself but a separate thing. The educational discount is not ā€™fakeā€™. Nowhere does Apple state that the ā€˜Back To Schoolā€˜ promotion is a ā€discountā€. You and the OP are mistaken if you believe this to be the case.

As for the usefulness of the gift card then if you see no value in it then you could always buy for example some AirPods or an Apple Pencil with the voucher and sell that on. I think that you may be able to use it on the App Store too and for subscriptions. So plenty of free stuff to be had. Other than that people are free to shop elsewhere or just ignore the gift card altogether. They would still be getting the educational discount.
 

izzy0242mr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2009
691
491
I understand that the gift card can't be used to pay for AC+ at the time of purchase but could the card be used to buy AC+ at regular price after the purchase is complete?
In another thread on the same subject, people were saying no, that you have to buy AC+ at the same time as your original purchase.

I've never done that before so can't verify myself.
 

izzy0242mr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 24, 2009
691
491
The ā€˜Back To Schoolā€˜ promotion is not the educational discount itself but a separate thing. The educational discount is not ā€™fakeā€™. Nowhere does Apple state that the ā€˜Back To Schoolā€˜ promotion is a ā€discountā€. You and the OP are mistaken if you believe this to be the case.

As for the usefulness of the gift card then if you see no value in it then you could always buy for example some AirPods or an Apple Pencil with the voucher and sell that on. I think that you may be able to use it on the App Store too and for subscriptions. So plenty of free stuff to be had. Other than that people are free to shop elsewhere or just ignore the gift card altogether. They would still be getting the educational discount.
Fair point. Apple indeed doesn't call it a "discount."

I've definitely heard of a lot of people on this site describing it as a "discount," though, and that's more what my comment was directed at. But yeah, Apple at least isn't calling it a discount. Given how much Apple users call it that, though, I am not surprised at OP's confusion.
 

xdmys

Suspended
Sep 2, 2019
18
18
This gift card offer is stupid. Just give me some damn AirPods! Put a maxed out mba m2 (24gb, 1tb) price came to $1,939. Page shows ā€˜With Special Offerā€™ $1,789 and then jumps back up to $1,939 and puts a magical gift card into the cart. So in reality you are NOT saving $150, only the $100 from the normal educational discount. This obviously shows that you donā€™t have to be smart to work in the marketing department at Apple.
 

daavee80

Cancelled
Jul 17, 2019
77
132
Fair point. Apple indeed doesn't call it a "discount."

I've definitely heard of a lot of people on this site describing it as a "discount," though, and that's more what my comment was directed at. But yeah, Apple at least isn't calling it a discount. Given how much Apple users call it that, though, I am not surprised at OP's confusion.
Very true. The perception that many people have of it is that itā€™s an ā€™extraā€™ $150 in their pocket or that itā€™s somehow a discount when in reality itā€™s (free) credit towards things that Apple sells and holds no value outside of that.

And if thereā€™s nothing that Apple sells that people want other than the Mac or iPad that theyā€™re buying it can seem to them that Apple are somehow acting in bad faith. But even if you would never spend $150 on Apple products outside of buying a Mac, aside from buying stuff to sell on, thereā€™s always the possibility of finding some apps that you may find useful or even just get free Apple TV or Music for a period of time and then cancel before you have to start paying for it. Free is free regardless of how you get there.
 

shyam09

macrumors 68020
Oct 31, 2010
2,248
2,510
I don't understand this pricing.

The cart shows a discount of $150, followed by a charge of $150 towards the gift card. So there's no real discount if I'm actually buying the gift card. Not sure what the logic is here. Perhaps Apple is hoping a big chunk of these gift cards will end up unused? :rolleyes:

14-inch MacBook Pro - Silver: $2,299.00
Special Offer: -$150.00
Price with Special Offer: $2,149.00

Special Offer Apple Gift Card by Email: $150.00
Subtotal: $2,299.00
The promotion is: Save on Mac or iPad with an education discount. Plus get a gift card up to $150.

So if you buy through the EDU store, you get an EDU discount and a free gift card.

It's similar to those Amazon promotions where you get a $10 promo gift card if you buy a $50 gift card. You're getting $60 of value from a $50 purchase.

Here, you're getting $2299 + $150 = $2499 of value from a $2299 purchase.
 

boak

macrumors 68000
Jun 26, 2021
1,633
2,825
This gift card offer is stupid. Just give me some damn AirPods! Put a maxed out mba m2 (24gb, 1tb) price came to $1,939. Page shows ā€˜With Special Offerā€™ $1,789 and then jumps back up to $1,939 and puts a magical gift card into the cart. So in reality you are NOT saving $150, only the $100 from the normal educational discount. This obviously shows that you donā€™t have to be smart to work in the marketing department at Apple.
Nothing's stopping you from purchasing AirPods with the gift card, with change to spare LOL
 

thv

macrumors regular
May 12, 2022
185
212
How's OP wrong? You're not getting a $150 discount by getting a free $150 Apple gift card unless you already planned to spend at least $150 extra buying something new from Apple.

If you're like me and the only things you ever buy from Apple are computers (no iPhones, no services, etc.), this would basically be worthless unless I can sell the gift card. Because I wouldn't have spent $150 with Apple after getting a Mac anyways, so it does nothing but encourage people to get tied into the ecosystem (which is how Apple justifies giving it away; they hope people will use it on subscriptions or nonrenewable products like AirPods).
OP: "I pay $2299 at Amazon
I pay $2149 + $150 at Apple
Aren't they both the same"

That's how OP is wrong. Amazon = 2299, you get a Macbook. 2299, you get the Macbook AND a $150 gift card. Pretty clearly not the same, whether you want the gift card or not.

re "is it a discount" in big text on the education store home page:

Save on Mac or iPad with an education discount. 1
Get 20% off AppleCare+.footnote 2
And a gift card up to $150

How is it not clear that those are three separate things? If you scroll further it again repeats they are separate things. At some point people can't be helped
 

thv

macrumors regular
May 12, 2022
185
212
This gift card offer is stupid. Just give me some damn AirPods! Put a maxed out mba m2 (24gb, 1tb) price came to $1,939. Page shows ā€˜With Special Offerā€™ $1,789 and then jumps back up to $1,939 and puts a magical gift card into the cart. So in reality you are NOT saving $150, only the $100 from the normal educational discount. This obviously shows that you donā€™t have to be smart to work in the marketing department at Apple.
You get the $100 discount; then on top of that you get your "magical" $150 gift card credit, instead of just paying that $150, they give you a $150 credit.. Why is this so hard to comprehend? You're really saying you'd rather be forced to get the airpods, worth $129 via Apple (surely people don't expect v3 or pros) vs having the option of getting them with money left over, or something else??
 
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AstroRexaur

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2021
176
237
You cannot remove the $150 card from your cart.

It should be obvious to anybody why Apple does this -$150 then +$150. If Apple didn't do this and instead charged $0, people would return their MacBook and pocket the gift card.
I know that, but im talking the $150 gift card they already gave you. Using it for another computer and return the student deal one they ā€giveā€ you the gift card.
 

KingofGotham1

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
111
156
Iā€™ve lost all hope for humanity by reading these postsā€¦. People really are confused at this.

(Also you can sell the gift card if youā€™re that upset about it.)
 
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wilberforce

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2020
2,932
3,210
SF Bay Area
Apple always charges for a "free" gift card, and instead discounts the product price. Reason is: in case you return the product, you don't end up getting a free gift card for no purchase.
Note also: the gift card is not returnable.
 

trevor-b

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2022
110
52

russell_314

macrumors 604
Feb 10, 2019
6,681
10,288
USA
Thanks for the clarifications, I get it now (maybe there's hope for humanity after all) :)

fwiw, Adorama is now offering the MBP for $2149

I think Apple could have worded it better. B&H also has deals sometimes on MacBooks. I think the main reason they can do this is the return policy. You're paying a premium from the Apple store because the accept returns without penalty. This means you can order 3 of the same MacBook in different colors, use them for a week and then return the two you don't want. I don't think it's very common but people do it so it adds to the price.
 

oliverades

macrumors member
May 18, 2015
68
123
Save on Mac or iPad with an education discount.footnote 1

Get 20% off AppleCare+.footnote 2

And a gift card up to $210.footnote 3

This makes it sound like a buyer is getting an education discount, 20% off AppleCare+, AND a gift card.

A buyer doesn't realize the gift card isn't free until after reading the fine print and cannot buy the hardware without buying the gift card.
The gift card IS free. The customer is not paying for the gift card.

Say Iā€™m trying to purchase the base 16 in MacBook Pro.

Retail is 2500.
But on the education store, it lists as 2300. $200 discount. Footnote 1 complete.

Then they additionally send a $210 gift card.

So youā€™re paying 2300, and getting 210 free.

The thing that makes it super confusing is that that 210 doesnā€™t go towards the computer youā€™re buying, itā€™s intended to go towards another apple product.

But for some reason, they show you ā€œPrice with Special Offerā€ but that phrasing isnā€™t accurate. Itā€™s showing off the VALUE youā€™re getting. But the price is still $2300, even if youā€™re getting a free $210. Which is why the subtotal would say $2300.
 

darkpaw

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2007
761
1,461
London, England
Let's ignore that it's $150, and say you buy a pair of AirPods with it.

You're already getting a $200 education discount. You're then paying $2,299 (actually less because tax is charged on $2,149) and you receive a MacBook and a pair of AirPods.

You could go to Amazon and pay $2,299 but you only get a MacBook.

It's that simple.
 
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