Macworld Forums: Apple Back to School deal offers $100 gift card - Macworld Forums

Post your comments for Apple Back to School deal offers $100 gift card here

"...if you are a college student in the U.S. who has been sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to purchase a Mac or not, this offer may just tip the scales."

Yes, but tip the scales which way? A lot of people who were hoping for a $199 credit towards an iPod/iPad will be disappointed.

This "promotion" is just an attempt to force people into using the Mac App Store. Meanwhile MS is offering a free $199 Xbox 360. I guess we'll see which appeals more to students...

I agree, I think it should have been a $100 gift card, period. If I buy a Mac now I'm going to get Lion for free anyway. Would have been cooler if we were able to buy a Mac and put the $100 toward an iPad. But regardless I think most students will choose the Mac over a PC.

To me, it's not so much what they chose, but the amount/value that is disappointing. I'm not a student, so I don't qualify anyway, but I already have an iPhone, so no use for an iPod. I would rather have iStore credit, but it would have been nicer if they would have kept it at around $200. Not sure what the profit margin on an iPod is, but we know that with the App Store, 30% of that is going back to Apple.

While this is better than no deal at all or Apple's paltry discount for Black Fridays, it would hardly tip the scales when considering a new Mac computer.

$100 in the Mac App Store would go fast, especially for students. Could Apple either up the ante or come up with a more creative deal? Is our favorite company becoming just a bit smug?

This seems very cheap for a company that has record profits. As stated, MS is giving an Xbox 360 (what has more appeal, a gaming center or $100 worth of apps?). IMO, this is a mistake by Apple. At a minimum, I would have left it as was (the free iPod).

Sorry, I like this deal WAY better. Chances are, most of the kids already have an iPod. Why foist another one at them. If the $100 can indeed be used in the Apple Store as well as the Appstore, sign me up. If it is Appstore only...nevermind.

The 100 dollars can be spent in any store where you use your Apple ID. It's not limited to the Mac App store.

And just how many kids do you think there are who have enough money to go to college and buy a new PC but don't have an Xbox?

I guess if they were really smart, they could buy the PC, get the free Xbox and then sell them both for some extra money to use in the Apple Store!

j1h15233, on 16 June 2011 - 10:30 AM, said:

Uhh, most? College is expensive for almost anyone that wishes to attend. Even 18 year olds are faced with financial constraints and prioritizing their purchases. Do I need a new laptop that can last me 4 years for school work and play, or should I spend that money on an Xbox? The answer is clear. I'd say that's the issue for many more incoming students than people who want to have both. It sure was when I was entering college.

I, for one, am a bit disappointed in this promotion. I've had my current MacBook since high school, it's over 4 years old now. I had to buy it when my old laptop died on me, or perhaps I could've enjoyed the Back to School program 4 years ago. I just missed it by a few months, so when I scraped up the dough, I bought an 80 GB iPod classic in the fall of 2007. I've been debating buying a new laptop this year or push it another year, but the iPod touch offer would've probably swayed me to buy a 15" MBP this year. It would've killed two birds with one stone - need a new laptop, need a new iPod.

In a way there's probably no point in waiting for next year. I'm sure this promo won't really make any difference in sales, just perhaps the happiness of the customers who waited for this promo. Due to this, once Apple has made their decision for the $100 towards iTunes/App Store, I'm sure there's no turning back and we will not see the iPod promo come back next year.

What would've been nearly a given - new job, 4.5 year old laptop, 3.5 year old iPod getting replaced with the old promo - now is making me have some hesitations. If only the laptops in the free Xbox promo offered better GPUs. If they did, it would be a given that I'd purchase one. The Xbox is great, but there's still some games on PC that I've been missing out on due to my dreadful Intel GMA 950 graphics.

This post has been edited by JoeMalinowski: 16 June 2011 - 10:56 AM

I totally understand why Apple ditched the iPod rebate this year, as last year, many of those iPods ended up on eBay and Kijiji. That said, I would've like to have seen a rebate of $150.

If you can keep waiting the new iPods will about out in the fall. The current laptops were released in March so they should be up for a refresh in November, maybe we'll see the rumoured move to 16:9 aspect screens at that time (higher-res would be nice too). It'll also be interesting to see if they drop the DVD±RW from the MacBook Pros with the next revision to make them lighter and thinner.

tfrogh, on 16 June 2011 - 08:57 AM, said:

I agree. It would be better if the value were $199 :-)

tony_d, on 16 June 2011 - 08:12 AM, said:

It is. From the Apple page linked to in this article: "*Buy a qualifying Mac from Apple or a participating Apple Authorized Campus Store from June 16, 2011, through September 20, 2011, and receive a $100 Back to School Card for use on the Mac App Store, the iTunes Store, the App Store, and the iBookstore."

As much as it pains me to admit this, Microsoft has the far superior offer. If I was a teenager going off to college a free XBOX 360 is the much better deal.

xStep, on 16 June 2011 - 03:28 PM, said:

Read again. He says it should have been a $100 Gift card, period which you can use in the Apple Store to buy anything from the Apple Store to put towards and iPad or Apple TV, not strictly for the Apps, book or music stores. I would prefer a $100 Apple Gift card, but $100 to use in the iTunes does have its appeal.