Back in April, I wrote a well received article on where the best place to buy a Mac from and it turned out that you get the best offer at the Apple Store directly – you can read that article in full here, but he’s a few secrets that the Apple Store don’t think anyone would notice…

You can buy the simplest Macs at most electrical outlets – John Lewis, Argos, PC World/Curry’s, Comet… you get the idea. Those are all sold at the ‘same price’ as the Apple Store though, but when it comes down to student discount, there is nothing like going online.

I began a search to see how cheap I could purchase a MacBook Pro 13″ and began by visiting the different stores. They couldn’t offer me any discount, or even a deal that could benefit me in someway so I ended up in the Apple Store. But still, it was the same as everywhere else, £999. A pretty round figure I know, but that’s the price of the machine I was looking for. That is the standard price for the computer, and so after knowing about the student discount I asked what price I would get it for with my current discount (which at the time was college level) to which they offered me the computer at £939.60 which is roughly 5% off! That’s like saying “here’s £60 to spend on a sleeve…” seriously, it is.

You can then ask for the university student discount for the machine – and even with proof of studies, they can not issue you the higher level of discount! It’s something you have to do online through the university network as it takes you to a specific website where you can buy most items on the online store at the highest discount rate. Of course, what use is that, when you still have 4 weeks left before freshers week? Remembering that I did my search in April when I received my BTEC results, I was eager to get started on my nw machine right away so I did a little bit of research.

I then (after receiving my Uni confirmation on UCAS) bought my Mac with 15% discount from the university pages – while sitting in my back garden. £839.40 was the price I paid for the MacBook Pro, brand new. Nothing second hand, refurbished, or what ever. £160 off the machine straight away, no questions asked.

It sounds good doesn’t it? £160 could buy you a new iPod and accessories, or what ever floats your boat really. A printer may be useful, or you could pocket the savings for freshers week? Again, what ever. I don’t really care.

How I did it?

It was the day I received my university confirmation through UCAS and I payed a visit to a link I discovered back in my original search. It is stressed by both myself and Mike Wilson who wrote the original article, that you have your accepted university position BEFORE you make the purchase through their network for obvious legal reasons. However here’s the article; How To get a 15% Discount At The Apple Online Store From Your Own Home and use it wisely.

If you can’t find the original link he talks about, this is it;

http://store.apple.com/uk_edu_

And don’t forget to add your university’s code to the end of it (just the number beginning with ’500…’ directly after the underscore)

Goodluck to those going to university of course, and those returning after their first summer off!