Apple Is Offering a $150 'Back-to-School' Gift Card When You Buy One of These MacBooks or iPads

The offer is for college students, as well as faculty, staff, and employees of K-12 institutions.

BigThink BigThink
Aug 14, 2026 - 01:16
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Apple Is Offering a $150 'Back-to-School' Gift Card When You Buy One of These MacBooks or iPads

Daniel Oropeza

Daniel Oropeza Shopping Editor

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Daniel is Lifehacker's Shopping Editor covering tech deals and reviewing TVs, headphones, speakers, and projectors. He earned his master’s in journalism from Columbia University and has reported for the Miami Herald. He lives in Atlanta.

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August 13, 2026

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iPad, Macbook, and Macbook Pro on a colorful bbackground

Credit: Rene Ramos

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Back-to-school sales are aplenty this time of year, and one of the most popular deals in recent years comes from Apple, which offers eligible customers discounts and/or gift cards with the purchase of certain Apple devices for school use. This year, students, faculty, staff, and other eligible customers can get up to a $150 Apple Gift Card when buying a MacBook Pro, or $100 for a MacBook Air, iPad Air, or iPad Pro. You can read the full terms to see who is eligible, and the product list is below.

The discount comes at a particularly opportune time: Apple recently raised prices on many of its devices by $100 or more—meaning you might be able to buy a MacBook today for what it effectively would have cost you back in June. And if you need more time, Apple extended its original Aug. 27 deadline until Sep. 24, giving us more time to shop for the right product.

Here's the bad news: The new MacBook Neo isn't part of the deal, nor are the iPad mini, the iPad (11th Generation), or any desktop Macs.

The Apple products must be purchased directly from Apple to get the gift card. At the moment, that could save you double, as Apple already offers educational discounts for eligible students purchasing many of these products—and that discount stacks with this gift card offer. You must use the gift card credit on Apple products, accessories, and apps, or subscription services like Apple Music and iCloud+ storage.

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Who is eligible for the gift card offer

If you're a current or newly accepted higher-education student, a faculty or staff member at a higher-education institution, a parent purchasing on behalf of an eligible student, or an employee of a K-12 institution, you are eligible. As with the educational discount, you'll need to complete verification through UNiDAYS to get your gift card.