Tech giant Apple started giving away gift cards on its annual back-to-school promo. Does this signal the imminent release of the next Apple devices?

Apple gives out gift cards to students and teachers who buy a new Mac, iPhone or iPad for the upcoming school year.

The Apple back to school promotion gives out $100 App Store gift cards to students who buy a new Mac between now and September 6, 2013. The promotion applies to every newly purchased Mac from the 11-inch MacBook Air up to the Mac Pro. Apple only shows its selection of notebooks on the promotion page.

The gift cards will let users buy apps for their new Mac, though the gift cards also apply to the iTunes Store and the App Store. Users can use the gift cards on Mac Apps, iOS apps, music, movies or TV shows.

Apple will also give students a gift card for every new iPad, iPad mini or iPhone they buy from the Apple Store. The promotion offers $50 App Store gift cards for each iOS device (excluding the iPod touch) that students buy for college. Those gift cards apply to all of the same stores as the ones given to Mac users.

In addition to getting the $50 or $100 gift cards students save money by using Apple's education store. Apple makes new MacBooks slightly more affordable to students, knocking as much as $200 off each device. On the lower end the discounts are lower, but students can still get a base model 11-inch MacBook Air starting at $949, $50 less than the standard price.

To qualify for the App Store Gift Card and get education pricing on a Mac, you must be a college student, a student accepted to a college, a parent buying for a college student, or a faculty or staff member from any grade level.

Rumour has it that the next iPhone will include a faster A6X processor, larger storage capacity up to 128GB, added security feature such as the fingerprint sensor and longer battery life.

The alleged low cost iPhone, on the other hand, is rumoured to have the specs of either iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S and will be available in a variety of colors.