You know that card in your wallet, the one they stamp at your coffee shop so you get a free cup for every ten you buy? Well Apple has a program like that too. Except it’s for customers who buy lots of computers, not coffee. Apple’s IT-focused loyalty program provides discounts for schools and businesses that buy $5,000, $35,000, and $200,000 worth of Apple products each year, respectively.
Apple seems to value their enterprise customers more than ever, as they’ve recently made some improvements to the program. According to TechCrunch, Apple has bumped up the discounts for many Apple store products by a couple of percentage points.
The discount on Macs has increased from five percent to six percent off for the lower tiers, and jumped up as high as eight percent for the large scale buyers. Third-party accessories got an even bigger price cut, rising to a ten percent discount, up from five percent before the switch. (There are exceptions, though, for the less business-y accessories like the Jawbone Up or Beats headphones.)
iPads, on the other hand, remain at a two-to-four percent discount, depending on the model and tier. That said, Apple has also added a bulk discount for customers who purchase at least 50 tablets at once.
The biggest changes, however, are first-time discounts on both unlocked iPhones and Apple TVs. Pairing the Apple TV discount with a bulk iPad offer may be aimed at getting more schools to put iPads in their classrooms. Using Airplay and an iPad has to be a major improvement over that old slide projector, and it’s definitely quicker than using that easy-to-lose adapter. If every student has one, they can put show their work right from their desks. The iPhone discounts have not yet been determined, but it’s a safe bet they’ll sport a similar discount to the iPad, under five percent.
So if you’re in IT and looking for an excuse to get new Macs in your office, you’ve got a pretty good excuse to upgrade or make the switch.
