Apple’s 2026 Back to School promotion, originally scheduled to end August 27, will now run through September 24, giving eligible students and educators an additional four weeks to claim gift cards with qualifying Mac and iPad purchases.
The extended deadline of September 24 lands after the expected iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max launch, which means that students who buy a MacBook Air or iPad Pro now can get a $100 gift card and use it for a new iPhone a few weeks later, a different dynamic from back-to-school promotions that have traditionally expired well before fall flagship launches.
The gift card values in the US remain unchanged from the original offer:
- MacBook Pro: $150 App Store and Apple Store gift card
- MacBook Air, iPad Pro, or iPad Air: $100 gift card
These amounts come on top of Apple’s standard education pricing, which already discounts most Macs and iPads by roughly 5% to 10%. Eligible buyers include current and newly accepted higher-education students, faculty and staff at higher-education institutions, and parents purchasing on behalf of a qualifying student. UNiDAYS verification is required to complete a purchase.
In China, Singapore, and Vietnam, the promotion takes a different form, with customers receiving a pack of 4 AirTags rather than a gift card. Indian customers can choose between 4 AirTags, AirPods 4, or an Apple Pencil Pro depending on the device purchased.
Several products are missing from the eligible list, including MacBook Neo, Apple’s new entry-level laptop and an obvious fit for the college market, is excluded entirely, as are the iPad mini, the entry-level iPad, and all desktop Macs including the iMac, which was eligible in some prior years.
The promotion structure is also a step back from 2025, when Apple offered free accessories worth up to $199, including AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, Magic Trackpad, and Apple Pencil Pro. This year’s gift cards are worth less in most scenarios and offer less flexibility than last year’s accessory bundles, and they arrive after Apple raised prices across its Mac and iPad lines by more than $150 just weeks ago amid a Apple’s DRAM shortage driving up memory component costs, a pressure that also left the MacBook Air back-ordered through late August.
