With all that said, there’s still one issue in favor of PC’s – they generally cost less. (In my mind, the increased cost for a Mac is well worth it, but let’s put that aside for now.) So, with cost in mind, here’s a few tips on how to get that Mac you want for as little cash as possible. We’ll take a 15″ MacBook Pro retailing for about $2,250 as an example.

1. Use educational or company discounts. Apple offers educational discounts for many schools in the US and around the world. Chances are, if you’re a student, teacher, or administrator working in a school, you will qualify for a discount somewhere in the range of 10%. Apple also has discount agreements with many companies, so that their employees can get a few bucks off of their computer purchases (or purchases of any Apple products). Typically, these discounts are a little less than the ones in the educational store.
Discount: 10%, or $225

2. Get a free printer and sell it. Apple also has a standing offer for buyers purchasing a new computer. They offer $100 toward the purchase of a new printer. If you already have a printer, all the better. Take the offer and buy a printer that costs $100 from Apple. They will refund the purchase price for you, and you can take your free printer and sell it somewhere like eBay, effectively taking your purchase price down even further. In my experience, I’ve found sales on eBay will net me about 75% of my purchase price after fees.
Effective Discount: $75

3. Wait until the summer, get a free iPod, and sell it. Historically, Apple run its Back-to-School promotion every year from June to September, whereby it offers a free iPod to students purchasing a new computer. A buyer could take the iPod and sell it on eBay along with the printer to net even more of an effective discount. Last year, Apple offered students a free 8GB iPod Touch, which retails for $299.
Effective Discount: $225

Let’s tally up our savings!

Original purchase price: $2,250
- Educational/corporate discount: $225
- Printer sold: $75
- iPod sold: $225
= $1,725

That’s a total of $525 in savings, or 23% or the original purchase price! Quite a deal!

I’ll note here that some of the steps above require the buyer to be a student (or for a student to at least “help” you with your purchase). For to who can’t take advantage of those, Apple sells refurbished computers for a discount of roughly 15%, another great way to save some cash.