Angela Ahrendts Promises Details on Apple's 'Back to School' Situation Next Week

As we noted earlier this week, Apple has yet to launch its annual "Back to School" promotion that in recent years has launched in early July and offered educational customers free $50-$100 Apple Store or iTunes/App Store gift cards with the purchase of a Mac or iOS device, in addition to the usual educational discount available on some products.

With the usual timeframe having come and gone and no signs of an imminent launch for the promotion, many have speculated Apple has decided to end the long-running program.

ahrendts_back_to_school
According to Consomac.fr [Google Translation], however, Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts in her latest video message to store employees this week revealed that she will "share a little bit more insight" on the Back to School situation with them in next week's video.

I'm sure many of you are thinking also 'but is there anything else for Back to School'? Well, I need you to wait until next week's video and I'll share a little bit more insight with you then.

Ahrendts' comment does not confirm that the usual Back to School promotion will be launching in the near future, but the report notes her "enthusiastic tone" suggests the company will be offering something for customers.

Ahrendts is in Tokyo this week and recorded her weekly message from there, but the reason for her trip is unknown.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Magenta and Blue

Apple TV+ Curbs Costs After Expensive Projects Fail to Capture Viewers

Monday July 22, 2024 5:11 am PDT by
Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports. This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix's 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim,...
bsod

Microsoft Blames European Commission for Major Worldwide Outage

Monday July 22, 2024 11:55 am PDT by
Last Friday, a major CrowdStrike outage impacted PCs running Microsoft Windows, causing worldwide issues affecting airlines, retailers, banks, hospitals, rail networks, and more. Computers were stuck in continuous recovery loops, rendering them unusable. The failure was caused by an update to the CrowdStrike Falcon antivirus software that auto-installed on Windows 10 PCs, but Mac and Linux...

Top Rated Comments

Quu Avatar
118 months ago
Feels like she's making a lot of mistakes since taking over. The watch online only at launch, macbook online only at launch, no lines outside stores that many fans enjoy for new products, delayed back to school program etc
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WelshDog Avatar
118 months ago
Feels like she's making a lot of mistakes since taking over. The watch online only at launch, macbook online only at launch, no lines outside stores that many fans enjoy for new products, delayed back to school program etc
I don't think any of those things could be characterized as mistakes.
And most of the things you listed don't sound like decisions she would have made. She doesn't work in a vacuum. Any big change she plans to make has to be run by Tim and the gang.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AreanFSL Avatar
118 months ago
I suspect that the promotion might be 12 months of Apple Music or something like that. It's probably just taking some extra time to get the deals in place with the record companies.
That would be one sad promotion.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DanielSw Avatar
118 months ago
She sends weekly videos to the apple store employees?
If I was working at the store I'd find that really odd/patronising.
Doesn't seem very 'Apple like'
I think your comments are really odd. How else can she stay in touch with her thousands of employees? Patronizing? No way.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Simplicated Avatar
118 months ago
Why is that? That's a $120 value. That means it's worth more than the $100 Apple Store gift cards of the past.
Because with the gift card they used to give you, you could purchase anything to your heart's content. A $120 Apple Music subscription is great, but not everybody wants to be forced to be subscribed to it.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dagamer34 Avatar
118 months ago
Feels like she's making a lot of mistakes since taking over. The watch online only at launch, macbook online only at launch, no lines outside stores that many fans enjoy for new products, delayed back to school program etc
1) Honestly, anyone who's used 3rd party apps on the Watch knows that they aren't worth using because of the lag communicating the extension with the Watch itself. Fortunately, that's mostly fixed with watchOS 2 coming in the Fall.
2) MacBook launch - no longer an issue, no one will care or remember it
3) Lines - the lines were cute in the beginning, but I think they've become unruly and honestly make no sense in a world where pre-ordering items has been possible (i.e. forever). Sure, fans can camp outside if they want, but since the average person needs to work to make a living during the day, pre-orders should and *need* to be the preferred way to buy new Apple products.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)