Apple Walks Back UNiDAYS Verification Requirement for U.S. Education Store

Earlier this week, Apple began requiring that customers taking advantage of educational discounts in the United States verify their status as a teacher, student, or school staff member through UNiDAYS.

apple college discounts
The requirement was a major change as Apple had never asked customers to go through a verification process in the United States before, and now, just three days after verification was added, Apple has removed it.

As of today, discounted iPads, Macs, and other products can be purchased from Apple's education website in the U.S., and Apple is not asking for any proof that a customer is a student or teacher.

After the UNiDAYS requirement rolled out, there were complaints from some MacRumors readers that suggested the UNiDAYS site was broken for staff member verification, as it was asking customers to upload a student ID with an expiration date. Staff members were prevented from obtaining discounted products, which could be why Apple has nixed the requirement.

It is not clear if Apple will reimplement an institution verification process after working out kinks to make it available for students, teachers, and school staff, but for now, there is no requirement to make a discounted purchase.

Apple has long required UNiDAYS verification in countries like the United Kingdom, so it would not be too much of a surprise to see it added again as a requirement in the United States at some point in the future.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...

Top Rated Comments

appleArticulate Avatar
49 months ago
Wait...there is no verification process for the EDU pricing??
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnediii Avatar
49 months ago
As a homeschooling parent, I don't particularly care, but would prefer that the make a path for us as well.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
49 months ago
I never knew that Apple did not ask for verification. So now that they announced it many people who never tried to cheat the system will begin to.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
49 months ago
Not sure why they can't just require the purchaser to have a university E-mail address from an approved list. That's how other sites have been verifying university affiliation for years.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
49 months ago
I’m so happy Apple has decided to remove it. It was a total waste of time in the first place. Maybe Apple VP saw the sales have started to decline.

Honestly, A 3 trillion-dollar company is relying on some third-party website for verification? That’s wrong! ??
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nquinn Avatar
49 months ago
Just ran into this with my mom who is a teacher. It's kind of ridiculous because the home screen says it's for both staff and students, but literally every other verification form is around student ID's and information only.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)