$99 AppleCare+ for iPad Coming Alongside iPad 3?

scoobydoo99 · Mar 6, 2012

jackhdev said:
I know that. I'm already losing the same amount on AppleCare because I get it anyway, as I said. If it's $100 more to get AppleCare+ and one new replacement, then it is worth the money. If the iPad has a completely new outside and everything internally is working, then by my definition it is "like new." Just go to one of those recycling sites for electronics. The price margin between a "perfect" device and a slightly scratched one is $200+. Additionally, the general population does not know when the new iPad is about to come out. Only we do, so if we sell our iPads right before the invitations for the press conference are sent out, we get the most money possible.

I don't get why you'd buy Applecare in the first place. Insurance is, by definition, a losing proposition for the consumer. But, regardless, it seems like a lot of trouble to conceivably make an extra, what, 50 bucks? (after the cost of insured replacement)

Amazing Iceman · Mar 6, 2012

dagamer34 said:
You still have to pay $50 for a different one, and it's likely to be refurbished, not new.

Wouldn't that be better than having a broken unit that doesn't work, and wasting hundreds of dollars because it broke?
I would rather pay $50.00, instead of loosing all my investment.
And who cares if it's refurbished; your own broken unit would need to be refurbished anyways, so unless you are willing to wait weeks to get it repaired, it's always better to get a working unit as a replacement right on the spot.

crisss1205 · Mar 6, 2012

saud0488 said:
if only people weren't lazy and actually followed stuff like ifixit

Next time your car breaks down fix it yourself, if a house burns down rebuild it yourself with no help from others. Lets see how far that gets you.

swingerofbirch · Mar 6, 2012

The article says Apple used to have leeway with the $199 replacement fee, meaning they would just give you a new/refurbished phone for free in the past if you broke yours? That's pretty good service, considering the $199 price is already the contract price. I've never had a smartphone but when I have had dumb phones break in the past, I've had to pay the out of contract price for a new one. So free replacement for a smartphone is pretty nice. If you break something on a Mac portable, the repair costs could be well over the cost of the original portable.

If that's how it used to be with the iPhone (sometimes waiving the $199 replace fee) I don't see great value proposition in AppleCare+. You're waging $100 at the outset to save $50 ($200 [replace fee] - (100 [AC+] +$50 [Deductible])) if you do accidentally break your phone (versus not waging any money at the outset and paying $200 if you break your phone). Apple must like the odds or they wouldn't offer it. Still it's better than the options on the Mac side.

Do most smartphone manufacturers have such reasonable replace policy costs? As someone who once shattered the screen of a 12" PowerBook G4, it's a refreshing change to see these policies from Apple. I think they wanted about $800 to replace it.

crisss1205 · Mar 6, 2012

swingerofbirch said:
meaning they would just give you a new/refurbished phone for free in the past if you broke yours?

Yep, my mother broke her iPhone (broke the front glass), they replaced it for free. However with the introduction of AppleCare+ they have been a little tight about free replacements.

Amazing Iceman · Mar 6, 2012

scoobydoo99 said:
I don't get why you'd buy Applecare in the first place. Insurance is, by definition, a losing proposition for the consumer. But, regardless, it seems like a lot of trouble to conceivably make an extra, what, 50 bucks? (after the cost of insured replacement)

The day your iPad breaks, your confusion will go away and you will fully understand the purpose of having insurance.

appleguy123 · Mar 6, 2012

Amazing Iceman said:
Wouldn't that be better than having a broken unit that doesn't work, and wasting hundreds of dollars because it broke?
I would rather pay $50.00, instead of loosing all my investment.
And who cares if it's refurbished; your own broken unit would need to be refurbished anyways, so unless you are willing to wait weeks to get it repaired, it's always better to get a working unit as a replacement right on the spot.

HE was talking about dropping his iPad right before he sold it to profit on a new unit. Your case makes sense, as insurance. His doesn't.

nagromme · Mar 6, 2012

GREEN4U said:
AppleCare is a bonafide rip-off. If you use your American Express to purchase it, you automatically get an additional 1-year warranty on top of the manufacturer's. You also get 90 days of protection from theft, etc. If you don't have AmEx, you can apply for one free with your Costco membership. If you don't have a Costco membership, then what the heck are you doing?

Now rate my post Up because I just saved you $99.

And not just AmEx; various cards offer this. My Visa does, and they reimbursed me for a replacement HD in my out-of-warranty 1st-gen MacBook Air. There were hoops to jump through, and I had to pay for the repair up front... but I jumped, and I got my check!

GREEN4U · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
Do you have to have good credit to get accepted? Could I use this as my first credit card? Sorry, I just turned 18 and know nothing about this, but I need to start accumulating a good FICO score.

That's a good question and to be honest, I don't know. You'll just have to try to find out. Usually first credit cards are issued by your bank, at least that's what mine made me do. FYI, it's not difficult to build good credit and it doesn't take long either. I think by the time I was 19 I had a 700 credit score. I'm 25 y/o now and have a 780. Just don't spend more than you earn and keep paying off your bills every month with auto payments. I'm sure you're smart enough to know all that.

crisss1205 · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
Do you have to have good credit to get accepted? Could I use this as my first credit card? Sorry, I just turned 18 and know nothing about this, but I need to start accumulating a good FICO score.

Most Amex Cards are NOT credit cards. They are charge cards. That means that if you "charged" a $800 iPad on your Amex card, once the bill comes in the mail you owe $800. There is no financing or payments.

jackhdev · Mar 6, 2012

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What part don't you understand? I get AppleCare so that if during the year I have problems, I can get a new one. Additionally, AppleCare is an incentive for people to buy the iPad. If I pay a little more and can get a brand new one right before I sell it, I make a bigger profit as a scratched iPad is WORTHLESS. That's an immediate 50% off. Get what I'm saying?

appleguy123 · Mar 6, 2012

crisss1205 said:
Most Amex Cards are NOT credit cards. They are charge cards. That means that if you "charged" a $800 iPad on your Amex card, once the bill comes in the mail you owe $800. There is no financing or payments.

That's probably what I need. I have the money to buy iPad 3. How does AMEX make money though if there is no interest? Is there a yearly charge?

budselectjr · Mar 6, 2012

crisss1205 said:
Most Amex Cards are NOT credit cards. They are charge cards. That means that if you "charged" a $800 iPad on your Amex card, once the bill comes in the mail you owe $800. There is no financing or payments.

plus annual fee for most of them.

crisss1205 · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
That's probably what I need. I have the money to buy iPad 3. How does AMEX make money though if there is no interest? Is there a yearly charge?

Yes, after the first year of use they charge you something like $95 a year for the standard green card. Then after a while there is a better chance of them approving you for an actual Amex Blue Credit Card.

appleguy123 · Mar 6, 2012

jackhdev said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What part don't you understand? I get AppleCare so that if during the year I have problems, I can get a new one. Additionally, AppleCare is an incentive for people to buy the iPad. If I pay a little more and can get a brand new one right before I sell it, I make a bigger profit as a scratched iPad is WORTHLESS. That's an immediate 50% off. Get what I'm saying?

What I don't understand is that every iPad comes with free AppleCare for one year. If you sell every year, you get no benefit on AppleCare. Having AppleCare doesn't even get you close to selling it for $100 more. I've tried it, I had 2 replaced iPhone 4's. I got $15 more for the AppleCared phone.

budselectjr · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
That's probably what I need. I have the money to buy iPad 3. How does AMEX make money though if there is no interest? Is there a yearly charge?

I'm sure like other cc issuers, their requirements have tightened ever more and would hard to get for someone with out credit history to get approved.

jackhdev · Mar 6, 2012

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Brand new iPad = $829 + sales tax = $900

Scratched iPad being resold = $900/2 = $450, so I lost $450, and this is what I got for mine on eBay

AppleCare+ and drop = $150

$900 + $150 = $1,050

If I sell my "new" iPad for $700 (including AppleCare+), then $1,050 - $700 = $350 lost, and I'm sure I could get more for it

appleguy123 · Mar 6, 2012

jackhdev said:
If I sell my "new" iPad for $700 (including AppleCare+), then $1,050 - $700 = $350 lost, and I'm sure I could get more for it

We're going to have to agree to disagree here. I've sold lots of iPads/iPhones/Macs and they simply don't sell for this much on ebay near next gen release. You;d be lucky to get $575 for a new 64+3G iPad close to release. Unless you commit fraud and sell it as new or like new.

GREEN4U · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
What I don't understand is that every iPad comes with free AppleCare for one year. If you sell every year, you get no benefit on AppleCare. Having AppleCare doesn't even get you close to selling it for $100 more. I've tried it, I had 2 replaced iPhone 4's. I got $15 more for the AppleCared phone.

Appleguy123, in your situation I wouldn't worry about getting a hold of an AmEx for this purchase...I also wouldn't bother getting the AppleCare if I were you, whether its with cash, credit, or whatever.

If you are intent on on purchasing the iPad with credit,however, I strongly suggest you look into what your bank can offer you. They often have student credit cards meant to help build your credit and can even waive annual fees, if any. The AmEx charge cards are simply not worth it. I just looked into it on their website. You should never have to pay an annual fee; there are usually better cards that dont have fees or at least mechanisms to avoid these types of fees.

scoobydoo99 · Mar 6, 2012

Amazing Iceman said:
The day your iPad breaks, your confusion will go away and you will fully understand the purpose of having insurance.

I understand the purpose. I said I don't understand why you'd buy it. ANY insurance, including Applecare, makes money for the seller of the insurance. That means, statistically, consumers never recover enough in claims to offset the purchase price. If you buy a $499 iPad and spend $148 on a replacement ($99 + $49 deductible), you "saved" $351. And several other people bought Applecare and never used it.

Self insurance is always the best financial choice when the loss is absorbable (i.e. - you can afford to handle the loss without insurance). Homeowners insurance is a good idea. iPad insurance, towing insurance, and videogame controller insurance (which Target offered me once) are really bad ideas.

appleguy123 · Mar 6, 2012

GREEN4U said:
Appleguy123, in your situation I wouldn't worry about getting a hold of an AmEx for this purchase...I also wouldn't bother getting the AppleCare if I were you, whether its with cash, credit, or whatever.

If you are intent on on purchasing the iPad with credit,however, I strongly suggest you look into what your bank can offer you. They often have student credit cards meant to help build your credit and can even waive annual fees, if any. The AmEx charge cards are simply not worth it. I just looked into it on their website. You should never have to pay an annual fee; there are usually better cards that dont have fees or at least mechanisms to avoid these types of fees.

Yeah, I'm pretty weary of credit cards in general. I much prefer just using cash/paypal. I won't get that AMEX card because I wouldn't use it enough to justify $100 a year or more in fees.

crisss1205 · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
Yeah, I'm pretty weary of credit cards in general. I much prefer just using cash/paypal. I won't get that AMEX card because I wouldn't use it enough to justify $100 a year or more in fees.

I told myself I would never get a credit card until I have a good paying job and I am out of college. I suggest others do the same.
(I'm still in college so I do not have anything but a debit card)

Also, sine you said you just turned 18 I am assuming you will be attending college this fall. If that is the case then the best way to start building up your credit is to take student loans. Even if you don't really need them take them anyway. With some of them you have 6 months after you graduate to pay in full without any interest charges. This way you can easily build credit and not pay interest.

GREEN4U · Mar 6, 2012

appleguy123 said:
Yeah, I'm pretty weary of credit cards in general. I much prefer just using cash/paypal. I won't get that AMEX card because I wouldn't use it enough to justify $100 a year or more in fees.

Well with that Amex charge card you don't have to pay $100 until the second year and the card still includes their Extended Protection, so assuming you get approved you COULD buy the iPad with it and cancel the card before the year is up, hahaha. But that's a big if and seems like a lot of hoops to jump through.

Anyways, just do whatever you're comfortable with. That's always the most important thing in life haha.

ShiftClick · Mar 6, 2012

saud0488 said:
nope definitely lazy. It's great for those providing the service. Especially warranties. Apple and others bank on people never utilizing it and recycles the old malfunctioning product and sells as refurbed.

Most repairs like the back panel replacement for an iPhone 4/4s take 30 seconds and are a quick google search would show that.

Or some people in this world work to much(or other time demanding life requirement) to have time to tinker with an ipad and simply playing 70 more dollars than I originally would on the purchase anyway. Well worth it. When you grow up and have other responsibilities you will understand and not just offer a blanket insult to people who appreciate this type of service.

Amazing Iceman · Mar 6, 2012

scoobydoo99 said:
I understand the purpose. I said I don't understand why you'd buy it. ANY insurance, including Applecare, makes money for the seller of the insurance. That means, statistically, consumers never recover enough in claims to offset the purchase price. If you buy a $499 iPad and spend $148 on a replacement ($99 + $49 deductible), you "saved" $351. And several other people bought Applecare and never used it.

Self insurance is always the best financial choice when the loss is absorbable (i.e. - you can afford to handle the loss without insurance). Homeowners insurance is a good idea. iPad insurance, towing insurance, and videogame controller insurance (which Target offered me once) are really bad ideas.

Depending on the risk factor, don't you think?
If I'm spending $800 on something I'm going to take everywhere I go, with a high risk of accidental damage, I'm definitely getting it.
I would rather pay an $150 than loosing $800.

The math is simple.

$99 AppleCare+ for iPad Coming Alongside iPad 3?

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