Apple's Back to School deals are unusually early and compelling for select iPad buyers
The conditions of the deal/s may have changed since the initial publishing of this post.
While many US students are still waiting to hear whether or not they will be allowed to go back to school in the literal sense this fall, Apple wants you to get ready early by kicking off its traditional yearly promotions.
These are available as of yesterday, June 15, and they will run until September 29, which is an unusually lengthy promotional period for the tech giant's Back to School deals. Last year's special offers, for instance, were good from July 9 to September 26, while 2018's students, faculty, and parents-exclusive discounts were available even later in the summer.
As always, Apple is not technically slashing any device prices, instead throwing in a cool freebie with purchases of select Mac and iPad variants. It's also completely unsurprising to see no iPhone deals offered whatsoever, but on the bright side, you can get complimentary or deeply discounted AirPods this time around instead of having to settle for slightly less appealing and significantly less popular Beats headphones.
Check out all the deals here
Another great thing about Apple's 2020 Back to School/Higher Education promo is that you don't necessarily have to spend a small fortune to qualify for a $159 AirPods discount. That's because even the reasonably priced iPad Air (2019) is eligible for your choice of gratis second-gen AirPods with a standard charging case, $40 AirPods with wireless charging case, or $90 AirPods Pro.
The list of "eligible iPads" obviously includes high-end iPad Pro models as well, but alas, there's no love for the iPad mini or the 10.2-inch "standard" iPad. Meanwhile, iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air buyers can get the same aforementioned discount on their favorite AirPods version in Apple Store locations, the online Apple Store for Education, Apple Authorized Campus Stores, or by calling 1-800-MY-Apple.
There are three main categories of qualifying customers, by the way, including employees of public and private K-12 institutions, Higher Education parents, and of course, Higher Education faculty and students.
If you're part of any of these groups and were eyeing a new tablet or computer for the start of the next school year, now's definitely the time to pull the trigger, especially considering how rare deep AirPods discounts still are at authorized US retailers, not to mention Apple itself.
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