Apple now requires proof that you are a student for discount

It was just too good to be true.

On Friday, people online noticed that Apple has now started requiring proof that you are eligible for their education discount (either a college student, or family of a college student, or a K-12 teacher) through UNiDAYS. This ends a long period where Apple never checked if you were a student, and you could get the discount without any checks.

However, it seems as though Apple is cracking down on the unauthorized use of the discount and requiring verification. This could be due to a number of reasons, possibly because of the RAM prices.

Although Apple has managed to dodge some of the hits when it comes to RAM prices on their devices, there is only so much they can do. At some point, their previously cheaper stock (bought before the RAM prices skyrocketed) will run out and they will have to raise prices. Combine this with AI and the ever-growing demand of Mac mini and Mac Studio models for local LLMs, and supply becomes scarce.

Apple needs to make back this cost in some way, and the MacBook Neo may be the solution. The MacBook Neo has been wildly popular, especially in the education market, so ensuring that these discounts only go to eligible people is crucial for Apple to maintain profits.

Since Apple is also relying on binned chips for the MacBook Neo, and is running out of these chips fast, $100 of profit is not something to throw away, especially at this price point. In order to keep momentum going for the MacBook Neo, Apple needs to keep their profits as high as possible.

In addition to this, Apple is also including discounts on Apple Watch models for education customers for the first time. This is interesting because for years, it has been strictly limited to iPad and Mac.

This is also not the first time that Apple has tried to limit their education discount. Around four years ago, Apple started requiring verification through UNiDAYS to receive their education discount, before it was silently removed from the website, and went back to no verification. Let's see if this one sticks around, or has the same fate as the first try.

Apple's education discount is a great discount for teachers and students, but is now being verified to ensure that people are not receiving the discount when they are not eligible. We will have to wait and see what Apple does soon.