Apple launched a new online store for U.S. military service members and veterans with a 10% discount. Similar to the company’s long-running education store, “current and Veteran members of the U.S. Military, National Guard and Reserve,” and their families, will be able to buy Apple products with that discount.
“At Apple we are deeply grateful to the men and women of our armed forces,” the company said in a statement issued to TechCrunch. “We’re proud to offer active military and veterans a new dedicated online store with special pricing as an expression of our gratitude for their brave service.”
Customers are asked to agree to the Apple Veterans and Military Purchase Program Terms and Conditions to use the new store.
I am retired military and have bought several Apple products from the “Exchange”. Often with a small discount, but I also don’t pay sales tax. The products are limited to what is on the shelf, you can’t configure with say an iMac with a bigger hard drive. I am sure that I will use this new online store.
Home Depot also gives me a 10% Veteran’s discount.
Not sure I like this idea – wait let me rephrase that – I definitely do not like this idea. No disrespect to our (US) military, but what if other countries ask for a discount for their service members? Should Apple extend this discount to service members from other NATO countries? Then where does it stop? You could argue that the Korean military protects Samsung (an important Apple supplier) from aggression by North Korea – should their military receive a discount too? If so, what about the Japanese military? or even the Chinese military? This is a very slippery slope and fraught with peril…