back to article Apple offers free iPods, upgrades MacBook

Apple has launched its annual buy-a-Mac, get-an-iPod Back to School program in the US, and confirmed to The Reg that the same program will be available in the UK from Thursday, May 28. The offer is open to college students and faculty and staff members at all grade levels. To get in on the giveway, qualifying folks will need …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    worked for me

    Did this last year.

    Cheque from Apple (emblazoned with Apple logo, ooh, should you frame it, or cash it?) arrived within time stated. Money off! What's not to like?

    Alternate version...

    Got an ipod nano for £9, which sort of sweetened the SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY FUCKING QUID for the macbook.

    Not.

  2. Wrenchy
    Linux

    Can't sell them?

    My suspicions were true. These iPods are junk.

    Apple has to resort to giving these things away. What a joke!

    If it doesn't run Android, I don't want it.

    Wrenchy.

  3. vincent himpe

    aha. the apple definition of 'free'

    Its like a cell phone contract. get a free phone , but we nail you for 2 years at 80$ a month...

    you get a cheap 99$ ipod but it costs you a grand , and you may still have to buy a bunch of software and install XP on it since schools require word and excel documents. And any other software you may need for school work is 99% of the cases windows -only ...

  4. Steven Knox
    Dead Vulture

    @vincent himpe

    Whilst I agree with you on the completely scurrilous use of the word "free" (Really, El Reg, "free"? When you have to pay for it and pray Apple will actually give you your money back? When to get this "reimbursement" you have to buy something worth 6x the value of the "free" item and pay 10x the value of the "free" item? But I digress.) I have to take issue with the rest of your argument, Vincent.

    First of all, Word and Excel are available for the Mac platform. Second, even if the school requires Windows-only software (~50-75% chance), these are college students we're talking about. Trust me, a good percentage of them won't be buying Windows XP.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    oh my godz

    calling all appletards and iTards - Bend over, here it comes again

  6. simon gardener

    and some colleges wont support vista

    my sister is currently doing a teaching qualification at a higher education establishment in the UK that warns incoming students to make sure that if they are running windows that it is xp not vista as they will provide no support to anyone running vista.

    its all very silly really when all they require is assignments handed in in a certain file format and most commercial or open source word processors and spreadsheets will export to a office format if required .

    lets not forget why pcs are so cheap - they are subsidised by the companies whose trial software is preinstalled on your machine - software that a sizeable percentage of people will end up paying a subscription to to protect their machines from viruses.

    sure, macs are more expensive but if you want an ipod this is a cracking deal

  7. Juan Inamillion
    Flame

    Meh

    It's always amusing to see the rabid anti-Appletards get their bile into the comments section first.... Kids (it always is), if you hate Apple so much why do you bother reading Apple-related articles?

    I really shouldn't feed the trolls but it's a quiet morning....

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @vincent himpe

    "and you may still have to buy a bunch of software and install XP on it since schools require word and excel documents"

    Open office 3 works great on the mac and should do anything school kids need, as well as being able to generate docs in MS office formats. Teaching kids about variety in computing is no bad thing, rather than them just relying on all the menu options being in the same place they are at school. What would happen if MS were to completely change the UI for office for example (obviously they'd never do that, would they).

    I really don't think I'd get my kids a macbook though - a cheap windows (or linux) machine would seem much more appropriate, since they'll only want a new one next year (once they've dropped this one a couple of times)...

  9. John Tuffen

    Kids? Macbook?

    @AC 08:28: "I really don't think I'd get my kids a macbook though - a cheap windows (or linux) machine would seem much more appropriate"

    Since I let my kids (5 & 8) use my Macbook, they are now reluctant to use the XP PC anymore... They get bored waiting for the PC to boot (and then load up the AV, Parental Control, etc. etc.). The Parental Controls built into Safari are just fine, and they can get browsing in < 30 seconds.

  10. Lee Sexton

    Makes me laugh

    the old apple vs pc debate flies off again. Personally speaking, the mac is just a pc now, it uses the same parts as a pc and uses a unix based os. Shove a good linux distro on a pc and you have much the same but better specced and half the price. Your paying for a brand, wish people would realise it, apple is no better or worse than a pc (although the apple is using older and cheaper parts which probably do run slower than a pc you can buy right now off the shelf).

    @simon gardener: I think you mean if you are thinking about buying a macbook then this is the way to go, if you want a free ipod then I think your cheaper just buying one :p

    @John Tuffen: If your xp pc is taking this long to boot I think you might want to take a look at it, I've never had a pc (windows xp or vista or anything else) that takes longer than a minute to boot unless of course its filled with spyware/viruses. Maybe time for a cleanup? :)

  11. Shakje
    Stop

    @simon gardener

    "lets not forget why pcs are so cheap - they are subsidised by the companies whose trial software is preinstalled on your machine"

    Actually Simon, it's because hardware is dirt-cheap. Macs are so expensive because people still buy them despite a horrendous markup. About a year ago I did a comparison of a fresh PC and the equivalent Mac. Including peripherals which I already owned, and price of the OS my PC was still 800 quid cheaper than a Mac.

    "sure, macs are more expensive but if you want an ipod this is a cracking deal"

    Are you actually that stupid? If you want an ipod, buy an ipod for the couple of hundred quid they're offering. If you want a new Mac, might as well take advantage. Seriously (and this isn't a dig at fanboys just a dig at stupid people), if you think that spending a grand to get something that's a couple of hundred quid is a good deal you do actually need your head looking at.

    On the plus side at least this might hammer home just how much of a markup Apple put on their products, or maybe not.

  12. Ascylto
    Coat

    @ Lee Sexton

    "Your (sic) paying for a brand, wish people would realise it ..."

    You really are getting above yourself! I buy Apple products largely because it's a 'Brand'. I happen to trust that brand to give me what I want from computing etc., in a similar way to someone buying a BMW rather than a Ford. I KNOW I'm paying that bit extra for Apple branded goods but, by and large, I KNOW they're going to work and work with each other. I don't even know the first thing about Linux and wouldn't dream of criticising someone who, like yourself it seems, does.

    When the Mac/Apple stops giving me what I want, I'll stop buying it. Maybe I'll buy a PC with Linux on board (if, by then, I've found out how Linux works!). Until then I remain firmly in my 'comfort zone' of Apple branded products ... making you laugh.

    Mine's the one with the Apple logo on the back.

  13. Alvin
    Alert

    Apple bumps up price of white Macbook to £749

    Following the minor specification upgrade of the white polycarbonate Macbook in the UK, Apple have now increased the price of their low end Macbook model by £30, from £719 to £749.

    http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=26132

    http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA

  14. P. Lee
    Stop

    No No No!

    It isn't Mac vs PC.

    Its OSX vs OtherStuff

    You pay for the ability to run OSX.

    PC users may care about hardware specs, Mac users care about their OS interface, apps and integration. Probably the hardware interface too. :)

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