Apple's Back to School Promotion - Bonus iTunes Gift Card for Students
Student discounts are one of the greatest perks of studying. It almost makes up for the all nighter study sessions and living off 2 minute noodles for your whole degree. Apple has now jumped on board and is offering a Back to School special for university students, parents of school students and teachers.
Between January 17 and April 17 2012, when you buy a Mac for education, Apple is giving a $100 Back to School gift card which can be spent at the Mac App Store, the App Store, the iTunes Store and the iBookstore.
This gift card can be used to buy programs to use on your computer, ebooks to use for research or even music and games for when you need a break.
So how do you know if you're eligible to receive this offer? Apple has stated on its website that anyone who is: an employee of a private or public K-12 educational institution in Australia, students who are currently attending or have been accepted into a Higher Education institution, staff of a Higher Education institution and parents who are buying on behalf of their child who is attending or accepted into a High Education institution.
In the promotion the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro are the computers you can choose from.
As an owner of the MacBook Air, I would recommend this laptop. Being a Windows user my whole life, it was a challenge in some aspects to convert to a Mac. However, the MacBook is compact, so it's easy to take anywhere and it has all the same office tools as a PC, if not more.
The Air is great for students in creative studies such as film, music or photography. There are great programs such as iPhoto and GarageBand that will be beneficial for these studies.
The one drawback of the MacBook Air is there is no disk drive, so if for any reason you need to use a CD/DVD for your studies, the Air will be no help. The MacBook Air is available from $1,099.00. The MacBook Pro is fairly similar to the Air, however it is slightly bigger and is also able to hold more data, therefore it may be more suitable to a university student as it will be able to hold more information and files. The MacBook Pro is from $1,399.00.
For home, either the iMac or Mac Pro would be the best option, depending on what you want to spend. The iMac can hold up to 16GB of memory, double what the MacBook Pro can hold, and is available for the same price. The Mac Pro is claimed to be the fastest and most powerful Mac ever. It can hold up to 32GB of memory and up to 8TB of internal storage and five USB ports.
There are some accessories that are a must for students to help with producing the perfect A-graded assignment. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 is $169.95, down from $199.95.
The MacBook bags are secure and lightweight - perfect to carry from class to class. They range from $54.95 to $99.95. If your desk is running out of space, you can use the Twelve South BookArc Desktop stand to store your MacBook vertically. This stand is also currently on sale for $59.95 down from $69.95.
There is also a combination laptop lock available in order to keep all of your valuable information safe. There is a keyless four digit combination lock and a pushbutton design which enables easy installation. It is available for just $69.95.
Having trouble remembering everything the lecturer says? The Livescribe Echo 2GB Smartpen is not only a writing utensil, it also records audio. It can link your audio recordings to your notes just by tapping on the notes. You are able to record 800 hours of audio and can transfer this to your Mac with a MicroUSB Connecter. This is a great idea in case the lecturer does sneak in a quick fact that could be included in the exam.
If you are living on a student's budget and don't think you can afford a new laptop, think again. There are several finance options suitable for consumers, businesses and students. Just click on the financial support page and it will give you the phone number to call to apply. The Apple store also has free shipping on all of it's products.
There is also a great program on the website where students and teachers can get special education prices for Apple products. All you need to do is select your University and then you will be shown the discounted prices.
The Apple store has a great range of Macs and accessories suitable for students and teachers. With the Back to School promotion, those studying will get a free taste of the great applications available for the Mac.
