Is AppleCare REALLY worth it for the MacBook Air?

Mike in Kansas said:

It's less of a matter of the warranty cost versus the price of the object that the warranty is on; it's more about what a typical repair will cost you.

You'd be hard pressed to have Apple repair your MBA for under $200; however I have often walked out of a auto repair shop spending less than 17% of my car's cost. One repair to your MBA in year 2 or year 3 will completely wipe out the savings by not purchasing AppleCare. It's not the price that's the issue, it's the probability that you'll need it.

I have 4 Mac devices, and all 4 have (or had) Apple care. My two oldest, both 2008 iMacs, needed new SuperDrives before they turned 3, and both needed new parts with respect to the graphics and internal power cables. In that case I am currently ahead on what those repairs would have cost me.

We'll just have to see how it plays out on the MacBook Airs.

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That's my point. I see everyone praise apple on the "how premium" their products are but should buy the warranty because something will die in it.

But, I have 3+ old acer that isn't "premium" to some apple people sold it co worker and he uses it daily working just fine and looks brand new.

m98custom1212 said:

That's my point. I see everyone praise apple on the "how premium" their products are but should buy the warranty because something will die in it.

But, I have 3+ old acer that isn't "premium" to some apple people sold it co worker and he uses it daily working just fine and looks brand new.

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Although I've had to repair each iMac once over the past 5 years, my experience with my various Dell Latitude laptops (work issued) over the years has been much worse. Displays, motherboards, wifi cards, keyboards, etc. Thank goodness my employer purchases on site care (I work from a remote office). Easily 1 repair a year.

Most of the things that will break on your laptop won't be covered by Applecare, because it'll be wear & tear from age or some sort of accidental/physical damage.

Like with most insurance, I think it's best to keep the money in your pocket. If you have to spend $250 on repairs over 3 years, you can spend the $250. If you spend $300 on a warranty only to be told "that will be a $750 repair because it is not covered by applecare", that hurts.

l.a.rossmann said:

Most of the things that will break on your laptop won't be covered by Applecare, because it'll be wear & tear from age or some sort of accidental/physical damage.

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This... isn't true.

l.a.rossmann said:

Most of the things that will break on your laptop won't be covered by Applecare, because it'll be wear & tear from age or some sort of accidental/physical damage.

Like with most insurance, I think it's best to keep the money in your pocket. If you have to spend $250 on repairs over 3 years, you can spend the $250. If you spend $300 on a warranty only to be told "that will be a $750 repair because it is not covered by applecare", that hurts.

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*Looks at sig*













Seems legit

I base my post on the people I meet everyday, occasionally in tears. On top of the $250 they're paying to repair their machine, they spent $300 on insurance that did them nothing. That turns a bad day into a miserable one. It's not like my opinion will sway anyone, so if you're implying that I'm attempting to become a millionaire by getting the world over to stop buying Applecare with a forum post so they'll pay me for everything.... no.

Y So Jelly said:

*Looks at sig*













Seems legit

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My sig links to hours of how-to footage I filmed for free on how to repair problems, from basic repairs to advanced soldering. When utilized properly, these videos allow you to avoid giving me(or any other service provider) money. These videos are free, not ad supported - partly inspired by the plethora of questions I received via PM from users of this forum on how to do those jobs after participating in threads related to those jobs.

The extended warranty you can get through many credit cards is often cheaper than Applecare. $300 is pretty pricey, for a plan that doesn't even entitle you to a discount should you accidentally damage the machine. You can spend much less and get the same coverage through your credit card. You can spend way less than $300 and even get accidental damage coverage through your credit card! Why pay $300 for a plan that does nothing for a plethora of real world, common issues?

NMF said:

This... isn't true.

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You get a drop of water in the power button, you get quoted $750 - applecare or not.

You drop it, or keep an earbud inbetween the screen & keyboard while closing it, and crack the screen, it's $450-$750 for that $95 screen, Applecare or not.

Your headphones break off in the headphone jack, and they're quoting you $500-$1200 to replace a motherboard when all it needs is a $5 headphone jack - Applecare or not.

These all happen to real people, everyday.

Applecare never asks questions on DVD drives, hard drives, but these are things that cost $25-$75, which is far under $300. Logic boards do occasionally die 2 years into the machine WITHOUT accidental damage. The 820-2850 has tons of chipset problems, the 820-2915 runs hotter than the sun. These die more frequently than other Apple motherboards. So if you have one of those machines, Applecare does do its job. I just don't think consumers should have to spend money on an extended warranty to insure their designed-to-scorch motherboard. In these cases, Applecare isn't too bad. However, 3 years later, the board for the machine is usually $300-$450 anyway, and can be fixed for under that amount in most cases. It's not a crazy gamble I'm proposing here.

Don't get me wrong, accidental damage coverage shouldn't be free. No way. All I'm sayin', is if you paid $300 upfront for a few years of Applecare, maybe the $750 repair quote for a $14 part and 1 hour of labor could go down a bit? Maybe $200? Just out of respect for the $300 they plopped out upfront? Just because the part is $14 and requires max, an hour of labor to repair?

If you got ANY break from the genius bar on a lot of the "real" issues people encounter, I'd recommend Applecare. But you don't. A drop of water touches a $14 part on that Macbook Pro with 3 years of Applecare, you're getting bent over and sodomized as bad as you would be if you bought it on craigslist.

I can't recommend in good conscience that anyone spend $300 on Applecare when you don't even get 1% off a $700+ quote for a headphone plug stuck in the headphone jack. That problem alone comes in every couple of days.

Point being, if you're going to spend that much on insurance, you have less expensive options that offer more comprehensive coverage.

Worthless MacBook Air Warranty

I bought a MacBook Air less than a year ago and got the 3 year warranty.

Recently one of the USB ports stopped working. I took it to the Apple store where I bought it. The technician said that it would cost over $400 to repair. I told him that it was covered under the warranty, but he said it wasn't. I talked the manager and he told me that the warranty was void but would not discuss in at all why it was void. I know it wasn't liquid damage and there is almost no damage of any kind. There is small ding on one corner but it would not be enough to meet apple criteria's for physical damage that I have seen posted on other sites.

Bottom line, the apple warranty can be declared void at any time for no reason.

Not worth a dime.

I used it for a battery replacement and a MagSafe 1 replacement cord for my 2011 air. so it's been worth it.

YMMV.

dhiker said:

I bought a MacBook Air less than a year ago and got the 3 year warranty.

Recently one of the USB ports stopped working. I took it to the Apple store where I bought it. The technician said that it would cost over $400 to repair. I told him that it was covered under the warranty, but he said it wasn't. I talked the manager and he told me that the warranty was void but would not discuss in at all why it was void. I know it wasn't liquid damage and there is almost no damage of any kind. There is small ding on one corner but it would not be enough to meet apple criteria's for physical damage that I have seen posted on other sites.

Bottom line, the apple warranty can be declared void at any time for no reason.

Not worth a dime.

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I think I'd go back and keep talking to people until I got an answer as to why the warranty was voided.

Maybe take it to a local apple certified third party shop to see about it as well. Love The MacMan in OKC, they've held on even after the Apple store opening in the mall. What's better than an apple certified repair technician? An apple certified repair technician with twenty years experience!

FWIW, I've had two replacement chargers, a replacement trackpad, and a replacement hard drive under Applecare with my late 2011 MBP. Chargers are $70 each($140) and the trackpad would have been $130. If I hadn't had Applecare I likely would have done the hard drive myself, but even that would be $40-50 for a similar drive. If things stay on track, I'm likely going to end up with a replacement battery also as I'm hovering around 80% health with a little under 700 cycles. That's another $130.

I think that when I bought my computer, it was only an additional $100 for Applecare with the student discount. At that price, it was a no-brainer. Even at the full $300, in retrospect I would have already broken even and not had to do deal with doing the work myself.

l.a.rossmann said:

You get a drop of water in the power button, you get quoted $750 - applecare or not.

You drop it, or keep an earbud inbetween the screen & keyboard while closing it, and crack the screen, it's $450-$750 for that $95 screen, Applecare or not.

Your headphones break off in the headphone jack, and they're quoting you $500-$1200 to replace a motherboard when all it needs is a $5 headphone jack - Applecare or not.

These all happen to real people, everyday.

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All these situations arise because the user is at fault ... not hardware failure. Why is a warranty that covers manufacturers hardware failure responsible for this?

Like any insurance policy Applecare is a gamble, you are betting them that you'll get more $'s damage than it costs and they bet you won't and they give you odds.

In countries where there is a 2 year warranty like Australia, Applecare is probably not worth it because it is already covered for 2 years so the entire amount you pay for Applecare must be used only in the third year. Bearing in mind that if there is a big problem like the logic board or screen then it will probably make itself known within two years.

inscrewtable said:

Like any insurance policy Applecare is a gamble, you are betting them that you'll get more $'s damage than it costs and they bet you won't and they give you odds.

In countries where there is a 2 year warranty like Australia, Applecare is probably not worth it because it is already covered for 2 years so the entire amount you pay for Applecare must be used only in the third year. Bearing in mind that if there is a big problem like the logic board or screen then it will probably make itself known within two years.

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The Sale of Goods Act in the UK also gives consumers some protection if they do not extend their Apple warranty should their product have a hardware failure/defect within a certain time period.

I don't quite agree that Applecare or any other warranty/insurance is a gamble though. Whether you need to make a claim or get a repair or not, you still get something and that is peace of mind (should their be a hardware failure/defect within the set time period). This is what you are paying for in the end. For some people though, having to part with X amount of money and not get anything physical in return just isn't acceptable.

The answer is mostly, no.

The reason Apple is selling the Apple Care is because they earn quite a large margin selling it. (If they didn't they wouldn't be selling it).

The reason the margin is big is because the percentage of people covered by Apple Care who needs repair and actually requests it out of everyone covered by Apple Care is so small that the revenue from the Apple Care premium far outdoes the costs of the few repairs they do within warranty.

Thus whether or not you should get Apple Care is the question of whether or not you are among this small percentage of people. And seeing that most people are not, you are most likely not going to end up in that small group either.

That is seen from a statistical perspective and does not account for how well you take risks. If you find that the premium (200$) is well worth the small risk of falling into the "broken within warranty" group, then you should buy it. Most likely though you'll end up having paid for someone else's repair and not your own.

If you are going to be smart about spending your money, I suggest investing those 200$ in mutual funds for 3 years and you'll actually see a much better return on those money (they might even cover an accident like breaking your screen).

Most people never have use for Apple Care (usually it just comes down to switching your battery, which still most people do in their 4th year) and in most cases technology has advanced so much that you'll buy a new computer anyway in 3 years time.

abta1 said:

I don't quite agree that Applecare or any other warranty/insurance is a gamble though. Whether you need to make a claim or get a repair or not, you still get something and that is peace of mind (should their be a hardware failure/defect within the set time period). This is what you are paying for in the end. For some people though, having to part with X amount of money and not get anything physical in return just isn't acceptable.

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That is a fair point about the peace of mind, however unlike a house insurance or a life insurance the Apple brand peace of mind is limited to a single year (the third year, for countries with 2 years statutory warranty). It could be argued that you may even lose peace of mind as a result.

abta1 said:

All these situations arise because the user is at fault ... not hardware failure. Why is a warranty that covers manufacturers hardware failure responsible for this?

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I don't recall saying they should be responsible.

I was suggesting that if you spent $300 extra on a warranty, that you should be quoted a price where the repair shop makes $100-$200 in profit instead of $747.

An LP8550 is $2.50 for the general consumer, if I were to buy one. All I'm sayin', is if someone spent THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS upfront for a superior warranty.. maybe charge them $700 instead of $750 to replace the $50 IC?

If someone paid $300 UPFRONT for the BETTER WARRANTY.. maybe charge them $650 instead of $750 to replace a $9 keyboard?

You're probably right with your implication that I'm being unreasonable. I'm glad people like you exist, you allow us to make a living.

Yes, old thread, but this article brought it to mind. http://www.networkworld.com/article/3163499/macs/the-475-s-key.html