News > Computers Apple Education Discount Loophole Is No More It now requires verification through UNIDAYS By Rob Rich Rob Rich Twitter News Reporter College for Creative Studies Rob is a freelance tech reporter with experience writing for a variety of outlets, including IGN, Unwinnable, 148Apps, Gamezebo, Pocket Gamer, Fanbolt, Zam, and more. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on January 19, 2022 11:18AM EST Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Western Kentucky University Gulf Coast Community College Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Computers Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Apple's discount for university students, teachers, and staff used to allow anyone to claim it, but the company has tightened restrictions and closed the longstanding loophole. The change was spotted on Reddit by siddharthsure, who noted that Apple's education store has begun requiring student or educator status verification through UNIDAYS. The education store itself can't even be accessed until verification is provided. In addition, the discount is being limited to one device per year. While verification has been the norm in other countries, this is a new development for the US. Apple Previously, anyone could claim to be a student or educator and receive the discount with no verification needed. Instead, Apple would sometimes check random discounted purchases for validity and charge the difference if eligibility was determined to be invalid. It also didn't limit the discount to a specific number of items—so long as you bought it from the education store, you got it. Apple Many Reddit users have been keen to point out that it's still possible to find MacBooks and other equipment at a discount from other authorized retailers. In some circumstances, it's allegedly even cheaper than using the student discount directly through Apple. Especially during "back to school" sales and the like. However, this approach does have its own limitations as the sale prices only apply to stock hardware. So if you need specific components or memory requirements, you might still have to go through Apple. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit