Apple Launches 2014 'Back to School' Promotion with Apple Store Gift Cards Up to $100

As indicated yesterday, Apple today launched its annual Back to School promotion offering qualified educational purchasers an Apple Store gift card of $100 with the purchase of a new Mac or a $50 gift card with the purchase of an iPad or iPhone. This year marks the first time that Apple is giving out Apple Store gifts cards with purchases, as the company has usually offered iTunes Store/App Store/iBookstore gift cards in years past.

apple_bts_2014

Get a $100 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy a Mac for college. Or a $50 gift card when you buy an iPad or iPhone.* You’ll also save on a Mac or iPad with education pricing.

Eligible devices include all Macs except the Mac mini, all iPads (fourth-generation, iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina Display, iPad mini), and all iPhones (5s, 5c, and 4s). The full eligibility requirements for the program can be found in Apple's terms and conditions (PDF).

apple_store_graphics_june14

New Apple Store graphics (Image Credit: IFOAppleStore)

Apple has also updated its in-store graphics at its various locations, with IFOAppleStore noting that the photography style of the newer images used are richer and darker than the previous ones. The new graphics are also said to be based on the recent "Your Verse" iPad ads which featured music composer Esa-Pekka Salonen and travel blogger Chérie King.

Apple's Back to School promotion runs from today through September 9 and is available in the United States. The program is expected to also be made available in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Update: For those purchasing through authorized campus stores, Apple is offering the traditional iTunes/App/iBooks Store gift card rather than an Apple retail/online store gift card.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...

Top Rated Comments

12dylan34 Avatar
148 months ago
All I can say is this to everyone tempted by this offer......

DO NOT BUY!!!! I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY!!!! WAIT TILL THIS FALL AFTER THE PROMO.

Why?!?! Of course, new iPods, iPhones and iPads this fall. And another MacBook Pro refresh.

Trust me, owning new device is much better than getting $100 in gift card as return.

$100 isn't worth an imperceptibly faster processor in a MacBook Pro to me, and probably isn't to most people, to be honest.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
148 months ago
All I can say is this to everyone tempted by this offer......

DO NOT BUY!!!! I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY!!!! WAIT TILL THIS FALL AFTER THE PROMO. .

People actually need to buy stuff for school, its not feasible to tell them to wait until late Q4 or even Q5 for a new Mac - makes no sense.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uofawildcats96 Avatar
148 months ago
All I can say is this to everyone tempted by this offer......

DO NOT BUY!!!! I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY!!!! WAIT TILL THIS FALL AFTER THE PROMO.

Why?!?! Of course, new iPods, iPhones and iPads this fall. And another MacBook Pro refresh.

Trust me, owning new device is much better than getting $100 in gift card as return.

Waiting until the fall (most likely October for Macs) is simply not reasonable, when most colleges start in mid-August.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
saving107 Avatar
148 months ago
I remember when the Back to School promotion got me a free iPod... and had so much more value!
At this point if you don't already have an iPod of any kind message me and I will let you pick one out of my drawer because I've lost count of how many iPods I have, I don't need any more.

Seriously though, I'd rather get the $100 in store credit because I need a new router.

Only iPod option < $100 towards anything else
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleguy123 Avatar
148 months ago
Better than iTunes Giftcards.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rafterman Avatar
148 months ago
Because it's a cheaper device with less dollars in profit most likely. Though considering the age of the current Mini they should be making a fair bit on it now.

They always exclude the Mini from this promotion.

Then Apple should make it $50 instead of $100. The minimum $600 still isn't pocket change.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)