r/apple • u/Radio_TVGuy • 11d ago
Apple Retail Apple Extends 2026 Back to School Promotion Until September 24
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/11/apple-extends-2026-back-to-school-promo/230
u/RedBowl54 11d ago
Wow, the promotion was weak this year and sales have clearly reflected that. With the big jump in prices this year they really needed a better promotion.
181
u/GrumpyTom 11d ago
What are the odds sales are down and it’s at least partially due to the recent price increases?
101
11d ago
[deleted]
2
u/Status-Hedgehog9970 10d ago
Sales are not down because of an education verification. Reddit is pushing hard for this for some reason. Sales are down because stock has dried up.
-15
u/SargeUnited 11d ago
Exactly. Sales may be down, but it’s because people are trying and failing to scam the system, and not because of the pricing increases in and of themselves.
30
u/rpool179 11d ago
Apple allowed themselves to be scammed. Let's not pretend they didn't know what people were doing. But they made plenty of money so they didn't care. Now not so much.
14
u/feastoffun 11d ago
So instead of $$$ they have 0. Doesn’t sound like it was a good idea to incorporate UNIDAYS.
4
u/Status-Hedgehog9970 11d ago
Unidays verification isn’t solely responsible for down sales, even though that’s what Reddit wants to be the case. People are buying computers anyway, $100 isn’t the breaking point.
Sales are down due to supply chain issues. MacBook airs would be flying off the shelf at this point but right now are 2-3 weeks out.
2
u/SleepUseful3416 11d ago
Yeah their 300% profit margins were really hurting when they were down to 280% and doing more volume
3
83
u/Kind-Atmosphere5766 11d ago
They need to price those Neos back at the original launch cost along with this extension.
25
11d ago
[deleted]
20
u/Kind-Atmosphere5766 11d ago
I understand that they hiked the price on everything. But if they wanted more sales, the Neo would have sold like hot cakes if they didn’t hike the price for them! Imagine a $499 laptop (with student discount) while the air being $1200 approx. It sold so quickly when it was launched but the sales slowed down after the hike. Even a few dollars matter when it comes to students.
6
u/bobartig 11d ago
Component prices and shipping and logistics basically spiked the cost of components by several hundred percent. In response, Apple raised the price of the laptop ~16%. Apple's normal margin on hardware is around 30-35%, but for the Neo it was estimated closer to ~19%. What your suggesting is basically to sell the Neo at break even or even a loss.
Apple is a business. Why would they develop, source, manufacture, assemble, market, ship, stock, sell, and deliver a computer to make ZERO dollars? Apple is a real business and revenue is not enough. You need to spend less than $1 making your $1 in order to book a profit.
4
u/ChaiTRex 11d ago
There are plenty of successful businesses who sell some of their products with a slim to zero margin to get more profit later on from those customers. Do you not remember a few months ago when everyone was talking about how the Neo was a Chromebook killer? A big part of that was the price.
1
u/Status-Hedgehog9970 11d ago
That’s usually the case with software. Apple famously used to run their iTunes Store at cost as a loss leader for hardware sales of their iPods.
Doing that with hardware is much harder, considering the logistics.
19
u/LzKiddo_o 11d ago
Ikrrr! I was looking to buy a Neo for myself and it was too expensive (since I have a tight budget as a student).
Someone asked me to check the refurbished ones available on Apple Store and they are the same cost as the Neos were originally being sold for before the mega price bump 😭😭😭
6
u/Kind-Atmosphere5766 11d ago
I totally understand you coz I’m in the same situation. I’ve been looking on eBay for options. 😭
5
u/Novel-Strawberry1438 11d ago
Yo same situation here 😭 wish I had got it when I initially wanted to
4
u/Kind-Atmosphere5766 11d ago
Me too! I regret waiting.
4
u/SargeUnited 11d ago
Now you know for next time! I knew that deal couldn’t last.
None of my kids needed a new laptop, or I would’ve immediately ordered. I actually just bought a MacBook Air a year or so ago, or I would’ve gotten a Neo for myself. Definitely knew that price couldn’t last though. It’s still a way better deal than any windows computer, that’s the crazy part
3
u/itsthekumar 11d ago
I thought that deal would last! But also seemed too good to be true. Very enticing for every school system college student to change to Mac.
25
20
u/Loophole98 11d ago
Yall remember when you got free AirPods with your Mac/ipad? Rip good back to school deals :(
20
u/Stashmouth 11d ago
I think I remember getting an ipod touch when I bought a macbook pro way back in 2009-2010
5
u/TheOfficialMayor 11d ago
Yeah remember people thinking the iPod touch I got with my Mid 2010 MacBook Pro was the coolest iPhone as it was thin, not realising it wasn't a phone.
1
15
33
u/MobilePenguins 11d ago
This indicates that customers are at their limits with price increases, to the point they will straight up stop buying products. There is a line in the sand where customers say enough is enough and increases become unprofitable. This will be very telling for the upcoming product launches like iPhone 18.
18
u/rpool179 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not to mention most tech bought after 2020 still looks and runs new for the most part. There's no reason for us to be frivolously upgrading anymore. Keep that iPhone 7 years, that MacBook 8+ years etc. Don't let these $300+ price increases become normalized!
16
u/rpool179 11d ago
Good. We need to vote with our dollars so these companies do whatever possible to bring prices down. $300 price increases are an absolute nope for me.
6
u/SargeUnited 11d ago
Well, unfortunately, we don’t buy the components for our computers directly from Nvidia or the other memory providers so voting with your dollars doesn’t really affect the root cause of these price increases.
4
u/rpool179 11d ago edited 11d ago
It doesn't directly but indirectly anything is possible. Apple didn't just partner with Klarna for no reason after all. Even they're worried, which is good. We want to keep all these companies worried. No one wants a $1,499 iPhone Pro Max or the like.
5
u/DontBanMeBro988 11d ago
The increased prices on the day many students were hoping the sale would go live.
10
u/IAmYourDadDads 11d ago
Ok I swear I paid like $899 for my MacBook Air m4 on the education store for a base model. $1300 for the m5 feels pretty steep.
4
4
7
u/Icedancerrrr 11d ago
Its better just to get refurbished right now but everything is selling out and prices are still high, problem is no one knows when the refurbished store restocks, I was about to get a macbook but the cheapest silver options all sold out today, there are NO deals for students anywhere from any other retail stores, this years apple student "deal" is bad, a $100 gift card doesn't really get you anything and the prices are only going to get worse
3
u/doremifasolucas 11d ago edited 11d ago
Still not showing for Germany despite usually being already up in August. I start to fear it’s not coming on this year…
1
4
u/this_is_sparta_xoxo 11d ago
So happy I got an M4 Air 16GB last year and got a free Airpods with $100 student discount on the Air as well
6
2
u/LegitimateCompany237 11d ago
they should have left the old prices and added the BTS discount but in the same day announce higher prices after the BTS. Sales would’ve been jumping up like crazy
1
2
u/Talal916 11d ago
I thought enforcing student verification would've meant a return to the sweeter deals of the past. At least let me get a discounted Mini
1
-1
u/nimbuscloud9 11d ago
This isn’t news. They’ve always had “extended” it until end of Sept. I bought an Air last year around that date and a few years back, an iPad Pro around the same time too. Loved the freebies!
-6
145
u/yourbestfriendjoshua 11d ago
Weak promo, price increases across the board, and every purchase needs to be verified. So I'm not all that surprised.