Applecare Question

[volntitan]

I bought my daughter a macbook pro from our friendly local apple store. I also purchased Applecare. Should I hold off on activating it? If I wait for a year, does it extend my warranty longer?

[Maxiseller]

It makes no difference when you activate it. You get two years extra after the original warranty has run out, which begins as soon as you take delivery of the item.

Activate it now.

[interlaced]

Activate it now to get the full 3 years of phone support. It begins from the original date of purchase regardless of when you activated it.

[puckhead193]

activate it now or you'll forget like my brother did and then your gonna have to plea with apple to receive it

[volntitan]

THANKS! And have a great Christmas and a Apple New Year!

[Mac'Mo]

wait how do you activate it? also do you have to activate applecare if you only have the 90day/1year warranty? also can you choose to purchase the extended warranty after your orig is up?

[devilot]

wait how do you activate it?I believe it's as simple as going to Apple's Support page (http://www.apple.com/support/) and then clicking on "Register and View AppleCare Agreements."also do you have to activate applecare if you only have the 90day/1year warranty?Nope, that's the standard warranty or AppleCare that's automatic. also can you choose to purchase the extended warranty after your orig is up?You can purchase AppleCare after your original warranty is up... but you can NOT register it. ;)

Another added bonus of registering AppleCare in the beginning is if you ever phone in or bring the hardware in for any hiccup, I've found that the people I speak with are nicer.

[iW00t]

Another added bonus of registering AppleCare in the beginning is if you ever phone in or bring the hardware in for any hiccup, I've found that the people I speak with are nicer.

How would they know?

[devilot]

How would they know?When they ask for your machine's serial #, it pulls up relevant info, including whether or not your machine is still under warranty, and whether or not you've purchased the full 3-year AppleCare.

[qbmcnabb108]

So you can only have a warranty for 3 years from the date of purchase and then thats it? Or can you buy another warranty after the 3 years are up?

[iW00t]

When they ask for your machine's serial #, it pulls up relevant info, including whether or not your machine is still under warranty, and whether or not you've purchased the full 3-year AppleCare.

So... you can really get better service if you have Applecare?

[devilot]

So you can only have a warranty for 3 years from the date of purchase and then thats it?The most coverage you can ever have w/ AppleCare is 3 years from original date of purchase.

So... you can really get better service if you have Applecare?*shrug* Just my personal experience.

[qbmcnabb108]

oh, ok. Thanks

[Maxiseller]

The most coverage you can ever have w/ AppleCare is 3 years from original date of purchase.

*shrug* Just my personal experience.

I agree with this.

In fact when I had the problems with my macbook, the folks were decidedly short with me until I mentioned that I had applecare and then suddenly they couldn't do enough for me!

[qbmcnabb108]

I am actually wondering if I should purchase AppleCare for my MacBook. I have it for my iPod becasue I learned a lesson from my mini but thats over with. Is it more beneficial to have it, besides having it for the extra two years?

[MaaseyRacer]

I would wait 90days before activating it. Here is why, you have 90 days of free phone support. If any thing goes wrong with the machine in the first 90 days it is a royal pain in the you know what to transfer the Applecare over to a new machine. I hold off minimum of 90 days each time I get a new mac.

[orangemacapple]

? how many computers really need the extra 2 years of applecare?

if you're going to find a defect, it'll probably be in the 1st year. how many have problems after the 1st year and before the end of the 2nd year. most defects would show up immediately, or problems might happen when the computer is old and otherwise obsolete.

that 2 year period cost 25% of a mb, for what i would guess would be the most trouble-free period.

[qbmcnabb108]

I would wait 90days before activating it. Here is why, you have 90 days of free phone support. If any thing goes wrong with the machine in the first 90 days it is a royal pain in the you know what to transfer the Applecare over to a new machine. I hold off minimum of 90 days each time I get a new mac.

I see, thanks for the reply!

[iW00t]

If your daughter isn't pleased with the display on the screen I'd hold on to the box and wait for the next model before activating it.

Applecare does not add back much to the eBay resale value of the laptop within the first year.

[jtown]

Activate it at the last possible moment. A few days before the 1 year coverage is up. It won't do you a bit of good (unless you need phone support) until then and there's no telling what could happen to your computer between now and then. It could get stolen, dropped, run over by a car, destroyed in a fire, etc. All sorts of things that won't be helped by applecare. Once it's activated, it's tied to that machine and you gain nothing by doing that any sooner than necessary.

[Macky-Mac]

...if you're going to find a defect, it'll probably be in the 1st year. how many have problems after the 1st year and before the end of the 2nd year. ...

statistics about such things are hard to find, but here's one study that shows that you're almost as likely to have problems surface in the combined years 2&3 as you are in the 1st year....(one problem with this study is that it's hard to separate damage caused by accidents from hardware defects)

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/laptops.html

[SC68Cal]

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/laptops.html

I think that is probably one of the best pieces of information on the net. I love reliability studies.... so I might not be unbiased enough to say that :-)

[mjstew33]

If your daughter isn't pleased with the display on the screen I'd hold on to the box and wait for the next model before activating it.

Applecare does not add back much to the eBay resale value of the laptop within the first year.

That's not true at all.

The reason my iBook hit over 1K after the Macbooks were released was because I had AppleCare... and I made the auciton look good (left at $1,300 :D)

[iW00t]

That's not true at all.

The reason my iBook hit over 1K after the Macbooks were released was because I had AppleCare... and I made the auciton look good (left at $1,300 :D)

I also had a 3 weeks old Macbook that sold for $10 less than a similar Macbook with no Applecare (ie: the cost of AC totally burned me in that sale).

I certainly won't count on the bidders appreciating the value of extended warranty.

Like Homer Simpson says after that crayon was squished back into his brain "Extended warranty?! How can I lose!"

[iW00t]

That's not true at all.

The reason my iBook hit over 1K after the Macbooks were released was because I had AppleCare... and I made the auciton look good (left at $1,300 :D)

I also had a 3 weeks old Macbook that sold for $10 less than a similar Macbook with no Applecare (ie: the cost of AC totally burned me in that sale).

I certainly won't count on the bidders appreciating the value of extended warranty.

Like Homer Simpson says after that crayon was squished back into his brain "Extended warranty?! How can I lose!" You just have to be that stupid to bet in such a gamble with such a high cost (ie: 25% of the cost of your computer) and such low odds of winning (your computer actually needed repairs beyond 25% the cost of your machine).