Tim Cook reduced Apple's Federal Government Employees Purchase Plan to almost nothing

[JTK Awesome]

I've been with the Federal Gov't long enough to have enjoyed a better Federal Government Employees Purchase Plan at Apple than what we have now. It was never amazing, but it was generally 3-5% off of just about everything, including Macs.

Between 2020 (prior Mac purchases) and now, that discount has evaporated to almost nothing. Nearly every major Apple product, from HomePods to iPhones to Macs, is the same price from the EPP site (below) vs. in-store, Apple Store app, general public site, etc.

https://www.apple.com/us_epp_55499/store

The only discount now is a few % off Apple-branded accessories, and 10% off AppleCare. The latter is non-existent when either (a) financing an Apple purchase with an Apple Card, or (b) purchasing AppleCare after the fact.

Awfully greedy of Tim Apple and his $394B company to choose not to shave a few dollars off of their products' prices for the 1.5% of the US workforce that earn over 22% less than their private-sector counterparts. Boy do I feel thanked by Apple for my public service.

Perhaps greedy Tim was missing his annual upgrades for ivory backscratchers?

 

[mittencuh]

Same thing for my state government job as well. I can get a better discount buying equipment via our agreements with Verizon or AT&T.

PS, I like your avatar, great show.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Was it really Tim Cook?

Or could it be someone at the Fed govt procurement office deciding not to purchase $xxx from Apple that provides for an in-kind discount to Federal employees?

In other words, it was the government's choice, not Tim Apple's.

 

[raythompsontn]

Apple still provides a 10% discount to veterans.

 

[ericwn]

Oh the outrage when someone has to pay as much as the common man on the street. Kidding aside, I think no one would object more savings from any of these luxury-ish type of brands.

 

[turbineseaplane]

No surprises here with the bean counter in charge

I know many really love Tim's "leadership"

(probably due to the stock price - nice work on the endless buybacks Tim! /s)

Personally, I mainly see erosion of the brand ideals over time

I'm ready for someone new in charge of Apple.
Tim's relentless "optimization" has run its course.

 

[ThrowerGB]

I've been with the Federal Gov't long enough to have enjoyed a better Federal Government Employees Purchase Plan at Apple than what we have now. It was never amazing, but it was generally 3-5% off of just about everything, including Macs.

Between 2020 (prior Mac purchases) and now, that discount has evaporated to almost nothing. Nearly every major Apple product, from HomePods to iPhones to Macs, is the same price from the EPP site (below) vs. in-store, Apple Store app, general public site, etc.

https://www.apple.com/us_epp_55499/store

The only discount now is a few % off Apple-branded accessories, and 10% off AppleCare. The latter is non-existent when either (a) financing an Apple purchase with an Apple Card, or (b) purchasing AppleCare after the fact.

I'm retired now, but it used to be that we were prohibited from using our positions as a Federal Government employees to obtain something an ordinary member of the public could not obtain. Unless one was purchasing off a legitimate Government contract. For example, the Fed Gov't has contracts for airfares and hotel accommodation that provide good rates. And one is supposed to show travel orders to obtain those rates. But it was prohibited to walk up to the airline or hotel, show your Gov't ID and ask for the Gov't rate. The argument for this was that it was an avenue for bribery. A hypothetical example of this might be a Fed employee and a contractor who's preparing to submit a contract proposal, and they make an arrangement that the Fed employee gets a free trip to the Caribbean if he gives the contractor proprietary information belonging to a competitor.
With respect to the comment below about veterans, if the veteran isn't a Fed employee, then it's OK.

 

[macsound1]

I don’t think those discounts are actually a good deal anyway, they just seemed like it.
Better off buying on sale from B&H using MacRumors buying guide.

 

[JTK Awesome]

I don’t think those discounts are actually a good deal anyway, they just seemed like it.
Better off buying on sale from B&H using MacRumors buying guide.

Hard to do BTO Macs that way.

But agree on other items. Amazon sales on iPads, aTVs, and my ASD were better than my former discount.

 

[dork]

The academic discount persists, and last I checked, they do nothing at all to verify that you're actually student or faculty....

 

[Seeds]

Im surprised to hear they ever gave the government a discount.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Was it really Tim Cook?

Or could it be someone at the Fed govt procurement office deciding not to purchase $xxx from Apple that provides for an in-kind discount to Federal employees?

In other words, it was the government's choice, not Tim Apple's.

Possibly, but my Agency currently uses Apple products, as does another where I used to work.

I'm retired now, but it used to be that we were prohibited from using our positions as a Federal Government employees to obtain something an ordinary member of the public could not obtain. Unless one was purchasing off a legitimate Government contract. For example, the Fed Gov't has contracts for airfares and hotel accommodation that provide good rates. And one is supposed to show travel orders to obtain those rates. But it was prohibited to walk up to the airline or hotel, show your Gov't ID and ask for the Gov't rate. The argument for this was that it was an avenue for bribery. A hypothetical example of this might be a Fed employee and a contractor who's preparing to submit a contract proposal, and they make an arrangement that the Fed employee gets a free trip to the Caribbean if he gives the contractor proprietary information belonging to a competitor.

There's a difference between buying for gov't use and buying for personal use. Two different stores. Apple lists out the differences (and associated sites) here - "Shop for your agency" vice "Shop for yourself."

Apple Store for Government - Apple

The latter is the subject of this thread.

Federal Government employees can purchase select Apple products and third-party solutions for themselves and their immediate family members at a special price. Note, this program is for personal use only and not intended for purchases using agency funds.

 

[raythompsontn]

The academic discount persists, and last I checked, they do nothing at all to verify that you're actually student or faculty....

I believe they check the email address for academic affiliation. For VA discount ID.ME is used which has verified veteran status via uploaded documents such as the DD-214.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Possibly, but my Agency currently uses Apple products, as does another where I used to work.

Right, but you don't have any idea if that will continue in the future, at what volumes, etc.

So it's really Tim Cook's fault, or your agency's supply chain manager, Barry?

 

[Apple_Robert]

What is greedy, is complaining about a discount you have never been owed in the first place.

 

[izzy0242mr]

Possibly, but my Agency currently uses Apple products, as does another where I used to work.



There's a difference between buying for gov't use and buying for personal use. Two different stores. Apple lists out the differences (and associated sites) here - "Shop for your agency" vice "Shop for yourself."

Apple Store for Government - Apple

The latter is the subject of this thread.

Which agencies are these? I didn't know federal agencies used Apple products (beyond iPhones, I assume you also mean Macs)?

 

[goodcow]

I remember when Apple offered "one per department" discounts above and beyond the standard education discount back in the late 2000s.

I got a MacBook Pro with AppleCare for something like 25% off retail pricing, and that was my gateway into the Apple eco-system, having built my own Windows PCs before then.

 

[Analog Kid]

Awfully greedy of Tim Apple and his $394B company to choose not to shave a few dollars off of their products' prices for the 1.5% of the US workforce that earn over 22% less than their private-sector counterparts. Boy do I feel thanked by Apple for my public service.

Perhaps greedy Tim was missing his annual upgrades for ivory backscratchers?

Greedy is making backscratcher jokes while demanding a discount that 98.5% of the US workforce wouldn't be eligible for. I'm all for properly compensating government employees to ensure competent operation of services, but we shouldn't be paying for it through corporate largess.

 

[mittencuh]

Which agencies are these? I didn't know federal agencies used Apple products (beyond iPhones, I assume you also mean Macs)?

My agency has comms staff using Macs for design work. I've seen this at other agencies as well.

 

[dork]

I believe they check the email address for academic affiliation. For VA discount ID.ME is used which has verified veteran status via uploaded documents such as the DD-214.

I've used the education discount for literally every eligible Apple product I have ever bought in the last 40 years (legitimately - I am now faculty, and before that I was a student) - never once have I been asked to show a school ID or to provide a .edu email address. At some point, decades ago, I did have to identify the school, but it's been a long time since even that was required.

 

[GMShadow]

I missed the part where I'm supposed to feel bad? Do you think you deserve a discount?

 

[poorcody]

1.5% of the US workforce that earn over 22% less than their private-sector counterparts. Boy do I feel thanked by Apple for my public service.

Total compensation for federal employees is usually higher than private employees:

Source: Congressional Budget Office

 

[sunman42]

I don’t think those discounts are actually a good deal anyway, they just seemed like it.
Better off buying on sale from B&H using MacRumors buying guide.

At least for me, living in Maryland, they almost always covered (within a couple of per cent) the state sales tax. It was a nice favor on Apple's part, but nothing compared with educational discounts enjoyed by, say, college students.

A surprising personal benefit of working for the government came about because in my job, I purchased a number of desktops, laptops, and accessories for people who worked with me, as requirements developed, on a government purchase card. Some of those were Apple hardware, and Apple evidently didn't keep separate Customer Support records for business/government and personal purchases; they just indexed them by name. Whether it was over the phone with Customer Support, or bringing a machine in to an Apple Store, there was always a slight pause when the Genius/Associate/CS person and looked up my name (and found something like 30 - 40 systems purchased, between work and family, over the preceding decade). "Oh, yes, Mr. <Sunman>, we can take that in right now, and we'l have it back to you tomorrow."

Or, back in the salad days of the first color PowerBooks, when I'd made the bozo move of not reading the operating limits in the back of the user manual, and taken the 180c along my one night at 9200 ft in Northern New Mexico in "summer," when it got down below 40 F. Surprise: the LCD display was hosed the next morning. When I got back to work, I called Apple Care and fessed up. "No problem, Mr. <Sunman>, you'll be getting a padded box via DHL by tomorrow morning. The delivery person will wait until you've packed, sealed, and put the address label on the box, and then take it for shipping." I had the machine back, with a new display, the afternoon after the DHL pickup. No charge. Boy howdy, those were the days.

 

[sunman42]

Total compensation for federal employees is usually higher than private employees:

Source: Congressional Budget Office

Depends what you do for a living.

This is, if you don't mind the unintended pun, a comparison of Apples to oranges. The right-wing "think" tanks come up with even more pernicious results. Only a very small percentage of federal jobs are held by people without at least a four-year college degree. Where I worked, a small but non-negligible fraction of the workforce was made up of college-educated contract specialists, procurement experts, and professional office administrators. Some of the engineers ha only bachelor's degrees, but many had master's. Virtually all the scientists, of who there were a lot, as well as many of the most senior engineers, had Ph.D.s.

That may not have been the case for the flame jumpers, or the Park Service, or a couple of other agencies, but by and large, federal employees do jobs that no one in the private sector does, and generally in minimalist working conditions.

In my field, at least, I had to read numerous proposals from people in my field of research. Detailed budgets were included, and I could compare my salary and benefits to those of people at a similar level at universities. For people at large state universities and highfalutin' private ones, the salaries were typically 20 - 35 % higher than mine, and the benefits, both while working and after retirement, were comparable. As a result, I have serious doubts about the methodologies that would lead to publishing a figure like that without showing the average figures across the entire federal workforce. Certain politicians may enjoy running "against Washington" (where, of course, less than half of all federal employees work), and claiming that the feds sit around all day doing nothing, but that's contrary to my experience.

 

[poorcody]

Only a very small percentage of federal jobs are held by people without at least a four-year college degree.

"Approximately sixty percent of all federal workers do not have a college degree."