- Jun. 24th 2022 5:42 am PT
Apple has officially launched its 2022 Back to School promotion for students, educators, and staff. This year comes with a switch from offering free AirPods to including a free $150 gift card with select Mac purchases and $100 gift card on iPad Air and Pro purchases.
Apple announced its long-running Back to School promo on its Education landing page today with the tagline “Only Apple gets you supercharged for college.”
As we heard earlier this week from Bloomberg, Apple indeed has replaced the tradition of giving free AirPods/Beats headphones with a $150 gift card ($100 for iPad).
That offers nice flexibility for those who don’t need a pair of AirPods but it also means the promo value is down again from last year’s $159 and the $199 promo credit we saw in 2019.
Apple is also offering 20% off AppleCare as it normally does for students, educators, and other eligible staff plus the standard education discount of $100 on Macs and $50 on iPad Air and Pro.
Apple is offering the promo on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac plus the iPad Air and iPad Pro. It runs from today June 24 through September 26 for US customers (other dates and details may apply for other countries).
Even though the new 2022 MacBook Air isn’t available, Apple is linking to it so customers don’t accidentally buy the 2020 M1 MacBook Air without realizing the new M2 is arriving in July.
While many will want to wait for the new MacBook Air to launch, check out our detailed comparison for everything you need to know about the difference between the MacBook Air, Pro, and more.
The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip is now available. But that will probably be less popular with students and teachers as the M2 MacBook Air has a larger screen, better battery life, lighter design, and more affordable price with the same M2 chip as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
You can find all the fine print at the bottom of Apple’s website but we’ve also got a guide that answers all of the important questions.
“Education pricing is available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels.”
“Qualified Purchasers receive an Apple Gift Card when they purchase an eligible Mac or iPad at a Qualifying Location. Only one Apple Gift Card per eligible Mac or iPad per Qualified Purchaser. Offer subject to availability. While supplies last. Qualified Purchasers shall receive a discount equal to the value of the Apple Gift Card off the price of the eligible Mac or iPad, but will be charged for all items in their cart, including the Apple Gift Card.”
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Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.
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