How to Buy Apple Products Cheaply (Latest Tips)
Apple products (iPhone, MacBook, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.) are known for being expensive, but if you use discount programs, promotions, and used-device options, you can buy them at about 5~20% off in many cases.
Here are practical ways to do it.
If youโre a student, prioritize education discounts first.
The best option is to use Appleโs official education store, which students, new university students, and school staff can use right away.
(Apple official site)
https://www.apple.com/us-edu/store
The next option is to buy through Costco and get reward points at the same time.
There are other methods too. See the details below.
- Use the education discount store (student/teacher discount, up to 15% off)
If youโre a university student, graduate student, teacher, or school staff member, you can buy Mac and iPad with a discount at the official Apple education store. For example, a MacBook Air with a regular price of about $929 can be around $776, about a 10~15% discount.
How to do it: Go to the Apple education store โ upload student ID or enrollment certificate โ purchase. Parent-purchase on behalf of the student is also possible.
Tip: Bundle discounts for Apple Pencil or keyboards may also apply.
- Apple Trade In (trade-in used devices for about $67~$334 in credit)
If you return an existing Apple device (iPhone, iPad, etc.), you can receive credit toward a new purchase.
Example: iPhone 14 can get about $201 in credit.
How to do it: Enter your device details on the Trade In page โ check the quote โ submit online or in-store. Credit can be applied immediately or received as a gift card.
Tip: Credit is usually higher when the battery condition is good. Trading in an older model right after a new iPhone launch is often more favorable.
- Buy from the Refurbished Store (15~20% off, Apple-certified pre-owned)
These are refurbished by Apple from returned/repaired units, are close to new in condition, and include a 1-year warranty. The latest models may not always be available, but previous generations are usually cheaper.
How to do it: Check the Apple Refurbished Store. Example: MacBook Pro M2 at about a 20% discount from the regular price.
- Use online shopping promotions (Costco, etc., 5~10% card discounts)
Buy iPhone, AirPods, and other products during sales on Coupang and similar platforms. Waiting 1~2 months after launch often allows opportunistic coupon stacking for extra savings.
Costco: Apple event promotions can offer about 5% off, and with Hyundai Card you can earn 3% points on purchases of $334 or more.
How to do it: Search โApple saleโ in Coupang โ join Rocket WOW membership ($3.34/month) for free shipping and discounts.
Black Friday (November) are strong timing opportunities. You can also check real-time sale alerts on X.
- International shopping (Amazon, Japan Apple Store, usually 10~20% cheaper)
If exchange rates are favorable, buying in the U.S. or Japan can help. Apple stores in Japan may be cheaper due to tax refund options.
How to do it: Check unlock status and buy unlocked devices on Amazon/eBay. Be sure to account for shipping and customs tax (13%)โimports under $67 may be exempt.
Tip: A day-trip โairfare + shoppingโ strategy can also work, especially when the yen is weak.
Today's News/Tips
How to Record Losslessly Using x264vfw
Before getting started, you must install the x264 codec in advance. If you do not know how to install it, please refer to the Help section.
Click the Codec menu in oCam, then click the External Codec menu item.
Select Use External Codec, choose the x264vfw codec, and then click the Settings button.
Using the default x264vfw settings as a base, change the parts highlighted in the yellow box in the image below as shown.
The following settings need to be changed.
Preset - Ultrafast ( Set this to improve encoding speed. The file size may become larger, but if you choose other options, significant lag may occur. )
Profile - High 4:4:4 ( The default profile may cause quality loss, so change it to High 4:4:4 for lossless encoding. )
Keep input colorspace - Keeps the color space of the internally received input buffer. ( If you use other options, encoding may fail. )
Rate control - Single pass - lossless - Change this for lossless encoding.
Click the OK button to apply the settings.
When recording 64-bit games, the settings are applied to x264vfw64 for 64-bit, so run x264vfw - Configure x264vfw64 from the Start menu and configure it in the same way as shown above.
If you record with the above settings, the video will be recorded losslessly. One important point is that if you want to play back the lossless video without quality loss, you must change the settings in your video player.
Below is how to check a lossless video using PotPlayer.
Run PotPlayer, then click Preferences ( F5 ).
In the Preferences window,
click Video - Color Space/Attributes on the left, then in the Color Space group box on the right, select Convert manually if possible - Default output color space. ( If you do not configure this, even if the recording is lossless, the screen colors may still be altered during playback. )
Click OK, then play the video recorded losslessly.
At this point, press Ctrl + F1 in PotPlayer. As shown below, the output format of the video codec must be displayed as RGB(32 Bits).
Also, in the playback information under the File Information tab, the following properties must match as shown below.
Format profile : High 4:4:4 Predictive@L3
Color space : RGB
Color range : Full
Matrix coefficients : RGB
Please note that Windows Media Player does not play this properly, and preview thumbnails will not be displayed in Windows Explorer.