Apple offers BTS deal: Free iPod Touch with Mac purchase

Could this be a sign of something new to come? I just received an email from Apple about their “Back to School promotion.” If you are going to college currently or are going to be a college freshman next year, and buy a Mac anytime from now until September 7th, you get an iPod Touch 8GB Second Generation for FREE.

Now, there are a few things I would like to draw your attention to. Firstly, this promotion is filed under the “BACK TO SCHOOL” section. (What?) Things at school are wrapping up. Students are taking finals. Yearbooks are being signed. Summer plans are being made.  Nerds aside (no offense) , the last thing any student is thinking about is the next school year. Yet, here is Apple promoting it.

This brings us to a more important part. Earlier this month I put up a post about the rumored  iPod Touch “leaked” photos, and this may be some evidence to support that. The end of this sale date is September 7th. Hmm… September… Oh yeah, that’s when Apple usually unveils its latest upgrade for the iPod Touch. Could we expect this to be when Jobs makes his announcement? Apple is usually pretty consistent with its releases. Here  is what the release history looks like:

First generation: September 5, 2007

Second generation: September 9, 2008

Third generation: September 9, 2009

This leaves us to suspect that the 2010 release will be somewhere in that area. With the sale ending the 7th, Apple may be hoping to get rid of the ‘old’ and bring in the ‘new’ just in time for a release.

So, it seems that only time will tell. What do you think — coincidental cost cutter or perfectly planned promotion? Weigh in below in the comments section.