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Apple Back-to-School promo to offer free 8GB iPod touch

Apple on Tuesday will formally announce details of its 2008 Back-to-School promotion, which will offer a free 8GB iPod touch to students who purchase a qualifying Mac.

People briefed on the promotion Monday confirm that this year's incentives will be the electronics maker's most compelling ever, offering a rebate good for a $299 8GB iPod touch, as was first reported by AppleInsider last week.

"We've already ordered lots of iPod touches to be ready for [this] week," said one person familiar with the promotion. That person added that students will also have the option to apply the $299 credit towards the purchase of a higher capacity player, namely the $399 16GB iPod touch or a $499 32 GB iPod touch.

MacRumors is also confirming that a free 8GB iPod touch will be the highlight of the promotion, adding that students could alternatively elect to receive a $199 iPod nano for whatever reason.

The largest incentive previously offered by Apple came last year in the form of a free $199 4G iPod nano. However, the company was motivated this year to boost the value to the equivalent of its cheapest iPod touch as a surefire means to rapidly grow the install base of its multi-touch platform ahead of this month's App Store launch. The more iPhones and iPod touches in the hands of consumers, the larger the target audience for third party application developers.

In order to participate in the program, students will need to purchase a qualifying Mac — MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, or Mac Pro — at the same time they purchase the 8GB iPod touch. Educational discounts are also applied as part of the promotion, reducing costs even further.

Official details are expected on Tuesday (tomorrow) morning. Previous Back-to-School promotions have run through the first half of September.

Update: The promo has now been announced.



63 Comments

rbonner 18 Years · 635 comments

Does anyone know how apple defines a student? My high school student would love to upgrade to a Mac, and as the Dad/IS guy at home, I would love it as well. (Way fewer issues)

SpamSandwich 20 Years · 32917 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by rbonner

Does anyone know how apple defines a student? My high school student would love to upgrade to a Mac, and as the Dad/IS guy at home, I would love it as well. (Way fewer issues)

If you take adult education classes (or even just 1 class, any subject) you are a student also and you can get a student ID.

jimzip 22 Years · 431 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by rbonner

Does anyone know how apple defines a student? My high school student would love to upgrade to a Mac, and as the Dad/IS guy at home, I would love it as well. (Way fewer issues)

You need to be enrolled at one of the universities, colleges or schools that Apple recognises, and you'll have to present your student card or your ID at the store (or online) to make a purchase with student pricing.

http://www.apple.com/education/hed/s...discounts.html

Jimzip

macd-to-death 17 Years · 15 comments

1. Is this promotion going to go on all summer? More specifically, if I wait for the new Macbooks to come out sometime in July, will it still be going on?

2. Will we be able to exchange it for $299 of Apple store credit in general or only towards the purchase of a different ipod touch? I want to use it towards an iPhone!

rawhead 22 Years · 89 comments

Nwice. I'm looking to upgrade my Macbook sometime this year. If a compelling upgrade comes out before the end of this promo, I shall be very pleased ;-)