Filed under: iPod Family
Has Apple done away with the education discount on iPods?

Apple dropped the prices of the 5.5 gen video enable iPods, and everyone rejoiced. But take a look at the picture above. Notice anything? Of course you don't, but what if I told you I took this screenshot from the Apple Store for Education?
That's right, the price of all iPods (video enabled, nano, and shuffle) is the same in both the regular store and the education store. It would seem that Apple has done away with the education discount on all iPods. We haven't received official word from Apple about this, so the education discount might make a comeback but I'm not that optimistic about that.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Update: A secret TUAW mole in an Apple Store (somewhere) tells us that education discounts for iPods are, in fact, gone for good.
Update II: The saga continues. Jacqui over at Infinite Loop bought a brand new iPod nano and received the education discount, at the insistence of an Apple store employee. Curiouser and Curiouser.

![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cris said 1:06PM on 9-13-2006
more of a pressing issue - where are the TV and Movie downloads on the UK iTunes Store?
poor US students, but i still think the UK ones are missing out on more
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Sebastiaan said 1:10PM on 9-13-2006
A shame :(
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KennyB said 1:08PM on 9-13-2006
This is true, i taked to apple rep and they said because of the price reduction, this is the lowest price they can offer without loosing money from a production standpoint. I guess they are betting on the fact that buyers will bring most profit in thorugh the apple store.
However, corporate discounts are still available for those with apple benifits through their company. I saw their discount for an 80GB at only $329. (not Bad)
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Alvaro said 1:10PM on 9-13-2006
On a side note, the offer for getting a rebate when buying a macbook or an imac together with an Ipod is still on till the 16th of this month but you get a 5th gen Ipod 30GB or 60GB
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bophojones said 1:11PM on 9-13-2006
Well, at least we "poor US students" still get the discount on the Applecare extended warranty...
I talked to the guys here at the ASU computer store, and they hadn't heard from the Apple rep to be able to tell me if we "poor US students" will get out discount back.
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Evan Conklin said 1:20PM on 9-13-2006
Well, I was ordering Office Student Edition yesterday and when I had selected the Education Store I had to agree that I was a student and then it had that list of how many things I could buy. I noticed that the iPod wasn't on the list because it normally says that I can only buy one. After reading this it now makes sense.
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Jason Reich said 1:22PM on 9-13-2006
Just been investigating this missing discount business.
In the UK education store the shuffle will cost you £5 less.
But the 2GB Nano will cost you a penny more. WHAAATT!!!!!
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Lars Ivar Henriksen said 1:24PM on 9-13-2006
I got a discount when I shopped for my Shuffle yesterday in norway! :D 8$ cheaper.
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deisy said 1:56PM on 9-13-2006
on how many do you give a guarantee on iPod?
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johno said 1:26PM on 9-13-2006
I ordered a shuffle this morning on the irish apple education store and got the discount . 82 eypos . Happy out !!
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AndyB said 1:26PM on 9-13-2006
Gov't discounts are still there. Federal Employee pricing is US$189 for nanos, US$234 for 30GB and US$328 for 80GB. NIce! And it's only a part-time job for me (Reservist) ; )
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Jamus said 1:36PM on 9-13-2006
Boo! Hiss!
No more purchasing them from the Apple Store then. I will put my purchases through somewhere else online. The edu discount was the only thing keeping it competitive from them since they charge TAXES and many other online resellers do not, PLUS sites like PCMall or CDW will often throw in a free case or some other small acessory.
BAAAAD move Apple. Who do think are some of the largest purchasers of your iPods?
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Daniel said 1:41PM on 9-13-2006
Oh give me a break, people. It was nice while it lasted, but really - educational discounts for personal electronics?!?!? It's a stretch to justify the need for an iPod in your academic endeavors. It's nice to have, but it's not productivity oriented. As long as they keep the discounts alive for computers and software, there's nothing to complain about - not rationally at least.
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Joey S. said 1:41PM on 9-13-2006
Had the size of the ipods gone up and the price stayed the same, this would really frustrate me. But think about this. The education on the 30 and 60 gig ipods was $30 before. Now you can get 30 and 80 for $50 less (regular price). To get a 30 gig is twenty dollars cheaper (for students) than the day before yesterday. That's not so bad. Why look for things to complain about? Of course I'd never mind a discount on top of the price drop :)
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PaperQueen said 1:42PM on 9-13-2006
It’s funny how different viewpoints can be. While students see this as the loss of a discount, I see it as a discount being offered to the masses....
But then I’m also old enough to remember when “education discounts” only applied to education related items like computers and software, which is how I got my first Mac...or, more accurately, my first Apple. (grin) Color me ancient.
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Angel said 2:20PM on 9-13-2006
I guess you could make the argument that it's an educational item if you took into account the calendar, using it as a drive, or listening to podcasts from your class. Oh well, at least the discount exists on the computers.
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GRO said 2:38PM on 9-13-2006
Now two points are unbelievable:
1/ For Apple 1 Euro equals once again to 1 USD !!!
2/ And now, no educational discounts...
I will finally agree with another subject considering Jobs as a Gates 2.0 :(
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Cary said 2:58PM on 9-13-2006
Interesting. I wonder if they will continue to have the educational price on ipods at university computer stores any longer--since they generally do buy in bulk, at a discount.
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M. Rod Von Hugenstein said 11:24AM on 9-14-2006
Just buy a refurbished unit for $199, and enjoy it. Besdides the box, there is no way to tell is isn't a full price ipod.
30GB Ipod with video $199.00. That is hard to beat, and it has the full one year warranty. I got one a few weeks ago and am completely happy with it.
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Brian Sexton said 3:11PM on 9-13-2006
I noticed that too, but it is hard to complain about these prices . . . unless you just bought an older iPod. I just bought an iPod Nano last month for $249 less a $20 student discount and that $179 rebate since I also bought a new iMac. Of course, I would have preferred to have the faster 64-bit iMac with double the memory for $100 less and a more durable-looking iPod Nano with the same capacity for $50 less ($30, actually, after offsetting that student discount), but that was not an option a few weeks ago, it is too late to return the iMac for one of the newer models (longer than 14 days) even if I am willing to pay the restocking fee, and the new iMacs do not qualify for the iPod rebate anyway.
That is a lot to consider, but that $150 price difference ($100 + $50) compares very favorably to $199 worth of student discount and rebate ($20 + $179); it seems easily worth the difference to have the newer iMac (with 1GB instead of 512MB!) and the newer iPod Nano.
I thought there was no way Apple would revise either of those hardware lines so soon--not during a large rebate promotion--but I was wrong. I wish I had waited until the last day of the rebate promotion before committing to purchasing either a new Mac or a new iPod.
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