William Gallagher
The Apple Education Store online has been revamped to require verification through the Unidays student or staff education status.
Apple has quietly revised how its Apple Education store works, with students, teachers, and other education workers now required to verify their status before ordering. For the US, and countries including the UK and France, education status must now be confirmed via the Unidays service.
Unidays is a free service which manages getting students and education users assorted discounts on products and services from a wide range of companies. Originally formed in the UK, it was aimed at what are known in that country as sixth form students — the equivalent of senior year in high school - and older.
Apple's Education Store limits it to "current and newly accepted university students," but also adds "teachers and staff at all levels."
It's not clear when Apple made the change, but Unidays verification was not a requirement as recently as November 2021.
Apple's discounts for education users vary, and sometimes include extras such as the recent offer of free AirPods with Mac or iPad purchases.
Even with discounts, however, students can regularly get better deals on Apple devices through third-party vendors.
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12 Comments
No change in Scotland for me when accessing the UK Education Store...always thru Unidays since I started Uni in September...
I ordered a 14" MBP in December for my son who is a full time university student in the US. I was shocked that I was not asked for any verification of his status as a student. The discount was substantial -way more than you find on a Black Friday deal. I felt rather guilty about thinking that I should get my next machine this way.
Based on their policy I presume that Apple does not care about education below the level of University. That’s something of a disappointment, as the father of a middle school age child that is required by the school to have an Apple laptop.
Long overdue. Apple tightened up the Military/Veteran store and 3rd party Corporate Employee plans several years ago. One thing I admire about Apple is trying to fairly adjudicate policies. I may not like a policy but there is a fair chance someone else isn't skating by it. In my days I've seen lots of resellers try to take advantage of discount policies this tightens up one more loophole.