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Apple beefs up 2016 Back to School sale, offers free Beats with Mac, iPhone or iPad purchase

Apple's 2016 Back to School sale is an improvement from last year, offering a better model of Beats headphones with the purchase of an eligible Mac, and also expanding the promotion to include free headphones with the purchase of an iPad Pro or newer iPhone.

Apple is now offering a free pair of Beats Solo2 Wireless Headphones to students and faculty with the purchase of an eligible new Mac. The headphones carry a retail price of $299.95.

That's an improvement from last year, when Apple offered the wired BeatsSolo2 headphones with its annual promotion. Customers could pay an extra $100 to upgrade their free pair to the wireless model, but that's not necessary with this year's beefed-up promotion.

The deal applies to all new MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro purchases. The Mac mini desktop is not included in the sale, and enrollment verification is required.

In another improvement from last year, Apple is also offering a free pair of Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless headphones with the purchase of an iPad Pro, or a handset from the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s series. There were no free headphone offers with iPhone or iPad in last year's Back to School sale.

The fitness-focused Powerbeats 2 Wireless headphones have a retail price of $199.95, or $100 less than the Beats Solo 2 Wireless models that come with new Mac purchases. Both connect to Mac and iOS devices through Bluetooth and feature integrated rechargeable batteries.

Shoppers — both students and otherwise — looking to save more money on the purchase of a new Mac or iPad can view the AppleInsider Price Guide, which features a number of exclusive discounts on MacBook Pros, the new 12-inch MacBook with Retina display, iPad Pros and more. Deals include up to $70 of Apple's latest 12-inch MacBook, and $280 off a 128-gigabyte iPad Pro with Wi-Fi and LTE.