Apple Launches Back To School Offer: How To Snag Up To $150 Gift Card

Apple's Back To School annual event has begun.

Apple

The Apple Back to School offer, an annual promotion for students and educators has now gone live in the U.S. after initial rollouts elsewhere. The promotion doesn’t mean direct price cuts but instead uses a strategy of offering a gift card with purchases of select products. Here’s what’s on offer.

Apple Back To School Offer: Promotion Eligibility and Dates

The offer has just started and runs for more than a month, closing on August 27, 2026. The promotion is on top of Apple’s education pricing, which offers lower prices to eligible buyers. For instance, a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 processor, which costs from $1,999 is available from $1,899 in education pricing.

These prices are available to current higher-education students and those who have now been accepted for the upcoming educational year, to the faculty and staff at higher-education institutions and to parents who are buying on behalf of a qualifying student.

Apple Back To School Offer: Mac Purchases

The promotion applies to two different versions of the Mac, that is, the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. There are no gift cards available for the MacBook Neo, the Mac mini, Mac Studio or iMac.

If an eligible customer buys a MacBook Pro (14-inch or 16-inch, any storage capacity or other configuration) they will receive the highest-value gift card in the promotion: $150.

The MacBook Air attracts a $100 gift card. As above, this is in addition to the education pricing, which means that a MacBook Air 13-inch, normally priced from $1,299, starts at $1,199 for eligible buyers.

Apple Back To School Offer: iPad Purchases

Of the four versions of iPad, the gift card only comes with the iPad Pro and iPad Air — the iPad mini and regular iPad are not included, though they receive smaller discounts in the Education Store. For instance, the iPad which costs $449 and up is from $429 in Apple’s education pricing.

The iPad Air pricing starts at $749, or $699 in the Education Store. In the promotion, this comes with a $100 gift card. The iPad Pro, priced from $1,199 normally or from $1,099 for eligible buyers, also attracts a $100 gift card.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Apple recently increased prices for the iPad and Mac lines (though not yet for the iPhone). For instance, the iPad Air, just a couple of weeks ago, cost from $599, so the new $699 education pricing is $150 up.