Apple is known for making long-lasting laptops and tablets, but that quality comes at a high cost. Students can save money on products like MacBooks and iPads by using an Apple student discount through UNiDAYS, or by taking advantage of Apple education pricing directly from the company.
Who Is Eligible for Apple Education Pricing?
Unlike most student discounts, Apple’s education pricing is available to a range of students and educators across all grade levels. To qualify for Apple education pricing, you need to meet at least one of these requirements:
- Currently enrolled at a college or university.
- Newly accepted to a college or university.
- A teacher at any grade level.
- A homeschool teacher at any grade level.
- Faculty or staff at a school of any grade level.
You can save money on a new Mac, MacBook or iPad purchase via the Apple Education Store if you are a student, teacher, lecturer or someone who works for an educational institution. Apple offers discounts to qualifying students and those who work in educational institutions all year round. The Apple education discount varies depending on the product, but is typically around 10% off the retail price. To shop at the Apple Education Store and get a student discount from Apple, you will need to create an account with Apple and provide proof of eligibility.
Apple has a separate education store that offers hefty discounts on Mac computers and iPad tablets to appeal to students. Most Apple customers are unaware of the store or think the discount does not apply to them, but this is a mistake. The education net is quite wide for Apple, meaning there is a good chance you qualify for the discount if you are enrolled in a higher education course or work in a school, college, or university.
If you are in or going into university, you should definitely take advantage of Apple’s student discounts! You can save a lot of money on a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac mini at the Apple UK Education Store, the US Education Store, the CA Eductation Store, or the AU Education Store.
How much is the Apple student discount?
Apple offers different prices for each product range and currently only offers discounts for iPads and Mac computers. Below we will take a more detailed look at each product category.
Apple does not offer any discounts on the iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, or HomePods, or on accessories or software for these items.
How much can students save on Macs and MacBooks?
Apple is offering discounts on MacBooks, iMacs, and the Pro Display XDR
In the UK you can get the following discounts on the entry-level Macs, there are bigger discounts on the more expensive models:
Macs:
In the US, these are the discounts you’ll find on Macs:
- M1MacBook Air: Usually $999 for M1 model, students pay: $899. $100 off.
- M2 MacBook Air: Usually $1,199, students pay $1,099 for students. $100 off.
- 13in M2 MacBook Pro: Prices start at $1,299, student prices from: $1,199.$100 off.
- 24in iMac: Prices start at $1,299, student prices from: $1,249.$50 off.
- Mac mini: Prices start at $699, student prices from: $649. $50 off.
In the UK the discounts are as follows:
- M1MacBook Air: Usually £999 for M1 model, students pay: £899. £100 off.
- M2 MacBook Ai: Usually £1,249, students pay £1,149 for students. £100 off.
- 13in M2 MacBook Pro: Prices start at £1,349, student prices from: £1,249. £100 off.
- 24in iMac: Prices start at £1,249, student prices from: £1,124.£125 off.
- Mac mini: Prices start at £699, student prices from: £649. £50 off.
The disadvantage of the best deals is that they won’t come with free AirPods if you are buying during Apple’s Back to School promotion.
How much is Apple’s iPad student discount
You can also get a discount on iPads in the Education Store.
In the US you can save across the iPad range:
- iPad – MSRP $329 Student price: $309
- iPad mini – MSRP $499 Student price: $449
- iPad Air – MSRP $599 Student price: $549
- iPad Pro – MSRP $799 Student price: $749
You can save up to £80 on the more expensive models in the UK.
- iPad – MSRP £329 Student price: £309.60
- iPad mini – MSRP £479 Student price: TBC
- iPad Air – MSRP £569 Student price: £526.80
- iPad Pro – MSRP £749 Student price: £711.60
If you want to get a closer look at the prices in Apple’s UK, US, or AU Education Stores, you can do so by visiting any of those stores’ websites.
You can find the best deals on our iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad 10.2in, and iPad Pro models by checking out our deals round ups.
You may be interested in purchasing an iPad for your college or university studies, in which case you should read our guide to the Best iPad for students.
Who can get an Apple student discount?
There are some limitations to the student discount. High school students do not qualify for the discount, although their school could buy equipment for students at a discount.
There are three types of people who can qualify for a student discount:
- Students in higher education.
- People who are buying for education institutions.
- Parents of higher education students buying on their behalf.
Apple provides more details about this in its terms and conditions.
For the US these state that the following groups are “eligible to purchase from the Apple Store for Education”:
- K-12staff – Any employee of a public or private K-12 institution in the United States is eligible, including homeschool teachers (this doesn’t include people educating their children during lockdowns, unfortunately). In addition, school board members who are currently serving as elected or appointed members are eligible. PTA or PTO executives currently serving as elected or appointed officers are eligible.
- Higher Education staff and students – Faculty and staff of Higher Education institutions in the United States; and students attending, or accepted into a Higher Education institution in the United States are eligible to purchase. Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale.
- Higher Education Parents– Parents purchasing on behalf of their child, who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private Higher Education Institution in the United States, are eligible to purchase.
Apple has a similar set of terms and conditions for eligibility in the UK:
- Employees of any education institution– Any employee of a public or private education institution in the UK.
- Post-secondary Education Students– Students attending or accepted into a post-secondary education institution in the UK.
- Parents of post-secondary students– Parents purchasing on behalf of their child, who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private post-secondary education institution in the UK.
So if you go to college or have been accepted into college you can get an Apple discount. (In the UK post-secondary means university or any other formal education that happens after secondary education. So this doesn’t include sixth-form colleges, but it might be worth asking at an Apple Store if they would make an exception.)
Although parents of students do not receive the discount when they purchase a Mac for themselves, they are able to get a discounted Mac for their son or daughter from the education store. This discount is only available to parents of post-secondary/higher education students.
If you work in an educational environment, you qualify for a discount on some Apple products. This discount is not just for teachers and professors, but also for administrators and other staff members. Basically, anyone who works at or for a school, college, or university is eligible for the discount. (This covers more than just post-secondary institutions. Apple includes “any education institution” in their definition.)
Although you cannot get a discount for a Mac or iPad for your child who is currently at school, the school could make the purchase and provide the equipment for students.
If you are not eligible for the Apple Education Store discount, we recommend that you look at the Apple Refurbished Store instead. This store offers discounts for everyone, but you cannot use a student discount. You could also look at our round ups of the latest and best Apple deals from various Apple resellers.
How many products can I buy?
The answer is no. Asking if you can use your student discount more than once will result in a no.
According to this Sales Policy document on the Australian Apple site and the same on the UK Apple Education site, students can purchase the following with 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
How to get an Apple student discount
Assuming you qualify for an education discount, there are a few ways to get money off at Apple.
To get the discounted prices at the Apple Store for Education, you will need to verify that you are a student or that you work in a school or college.
How to get an Apple student discount – US
If you are a student in the US it is quite easy to get an Education discount at the US Apple Store, in fact a loophole may mean it is possible to get one without any proof that you are a student, although we expect that Apple will rectify that. If you are a student you should follow these steps:
- Visit Apple’s US Education Store.
- Choose the Mac of iPad you want and click on your selection.
- Once you have customised your Apple product, click Continue.
- Enter your delivery details and check out.
- Beware that Apple can request to see evidence that you are a student at any point during or after the purchase and will charge an additional fee if you fail to provide it.
If you run into any problems, our advice is to get your student status verified with UNiDAYS, or to log in from your university network. Be sure to have quick access to some form of official identification that proves you qualify for the education discount – your student ID, for example.
How to get an Apple student discount – UK
- Click this link to Apple’s UK Education Storeto access the Apple Education site.
- Once there you’ll be encouraged to sign up on student discount website UNiDAYSto access Apple’s educational discounts. Alternatively, UK customers can also use the rival verification service Student Beans, which works in the same way as UNiDAYS.
- On whichever site you use, you’ll need to provide your email address and a password, your name, institution, subject of study, years of study and course length.
- Once you have completed the registration process and signed in you will be able to access Apple’s student discounts.
If you don’t want to register for an account on a website, you can also call Apple, use Apple’s Chat online feature, or visit an Apple Store. The staff there will help you through the process.
How to get an Apple student discount – Australia
- Visit Apple’s Australian Education Store.
- It’s usually best to log on from your university network if you can.
- You will also want to make sure you have quick access to some form of official identification that proves you qualify for the education discount. Your student ID is a good choice.
- However, you may find you don’t actually require any sort of login or ID to order from the Apple Education Store – but beware that Apple can request to see evidence that you are a student at any point during or after the purchase and will charge an additional fee if you fail to provide it.
How to buy Apple products for an education institution
This store is also for those who want to lease Macs or iPads for an educational institution. If you are in charge of buying new Macs or iPads for a school, college or university, then Apple has a special store for you. This store is designed for those who are buying Macs for an educational institution (for students to work on, rather than for individual students to own). This store is also for those who want to lease Macs or iPads for an educational institution.
- You should visit the the US Apple Store for Education Institutions, the UK Apple Store for Education Institutions, or the Australian equivalent.
- You’ll need to search for your Educational Institution: enter your institution’s details and click on search.
- If your institution is found you will be able to sign in to access your institution’s store.
- You may still need to register before you can use the store.
- If your school, college or other institution isn’t found then you may need to call Apple to discuss registering your school.
To get a student discount on Apple Music and Apple TV+, you need to sign up with a valid student ID. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to access the student discounts for both services.
Apple Music is currently offering a 50% subscription discount to students enrolled in full-time education. This deal includes access to Apple TV+ for a limited time. To take advantage of this offer, students can sign up for Apple Music here.
You can get three free months of Apple Music if you sign up now. Click here to get started.
The student discount for Apple Music Membership is available in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and Denmark. With this discount, the monthly cost of Apple Music Membership is $4.99/£4.99. Additionally, Apple TV+ is bundled in for free with this discount.
In order to receive the student discount, you must show that you are enrolled at a qualified university or college.
FAQ
- What do students do to qualify for an Apple education discount?
as they may have changed again. Apple has changed their education discount policy a few times in recent years. As of early 2022, the most recent policy change Walked back the requirement for verification of a student ID. However, it is still a good idea to check the Apple education site periodically, as the requirements may change again in the future.
- Are there limits on Apple education discounts?
You can’t buy more than one iPad from the Apple Education Store in a year. You can buy other combinations of devices as long as they are from different product categories.
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