Everyone knows that if you’re buying an Apple computer, you’ll pretty much get the same price everywhere you go. Without using the “m” word, the prices are very close to the same everywhere, due to Apple’s implementation of a Minimum Advertised Price policy.
But there are ways, sneaky but legal, around that. For instance, Apple used to offer really steep discounts to students and teachers. These days, the discounts aren’t as good, but they’re still there. But they work out to only around 5% off – which is nice, sure, but hardly anything to write home about.
If you’re OK with buying a refurbished computer, one that had been sold before and returned to Apple, you’ll still get the full one-year hardware warranty, though you can’t purchase AppleCare to extend that warranty. And you may end up dealing with someone else’s problems, problems that had not been fully resolved during the refurbishment process.
So here’s a little trick. It’s good for a one-time-only steep discount on a full system (computer + monitor + accessories).
<a href="http://developer.apple.com/products/student.html
“>Go here and sign up for the Student Developer program ($99). You’ll need to provide proof that you are, in fact, a student. It helps if you are, in fact, an actual student – but just knowing someone who is a student will work, too, as far as I can tell.
Then go here and use your one-time Developer discount.
Even paying the $99, you still get deep discounts on the hardware. For instance, getting a MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.2 GHz):
Retail base price: $1999
ADC base price: $1599
You still save $300!