Fusion drive or apple care

[Gumbys69]

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

[MatthewAMEL]

Fusion Drive. You can purchase Apple Care up to a year after purchase.

[dmw16]

Originally Posted by MatthewAMEL

Fusion Drive. You can purchase Apple Care up to a year after purchase.

I agree.

But really, adding Apple Care shouldn't be stretching your budget that badly or you're probably spending too much as it is.

[Johnf1285]

Originally Posted by Gumbys69

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

I say go for Fusion over Apple Care. Generally speaking, the odds are in your favor that the machine will continue to work, as it did new, beyond 3 years.

[Gumbys69]

Originally Posted by dmw16

I agree.

But really, adding Apple Care shouldn't be stretching your budget that badly or you're probably spending too much as it is.

True, it's not a budget thing but I'm heading to Hawaii soon and that's an extra $200 I can blow over there haha . I think I may buy it within a year though, thanks for the advice everyone.

[CaptMike]

Originally Posted by Gumbys69

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

Apple care can be purchased for $61 for 3 years of support with purchase of imac at BH Photo
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Computer.html

[DeafRaiders]

Is Applecare only for an year when you buy anything from Apple?

[Steve121178]

Originally Posted by dmw16

I agree.

But really, adding Apple Care shouldn't be stretching your budget that badly or you're probably spending too much as it is.

I was just going to say the same thing. It sounds like he's stretching himself far too much to make this a viable & sensible purchase if he's asking such a bizarre question like this.

I'd personally wait for Haswell anyway, particularly if you want cutting edge hardware. Buying premium Ivy Bridge based machines this late into the cycle just doesn't add up.

[Shivetya]

Originally Posted by Gumbys69

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

Really, if your purchase is this constrained shouldn't you be considering not buying now?

[tuccillo]

IF you are that tight on money, save yourself a bunch and order a refurbed 2011 model.

Originally Posted by Gumbys69

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

[KyleProBoller]

Originally Posted by Gumbys69

So I'm going to order a new iMac and should I get fusion drive, apple care or squeak both in my budget? I've never been one for extra warranty stuff. Thoughts?

Personally I would opt for the Fusion drive if it was an "either or" situation for me.

Outside of the box thinking though, I'd buy a refurbed 2011 model. It will most likely be new or look like it is (the one I bought a month ago did). You'll save a few hundred bucks.

[Mundty]

Originally Posted by Shivetya

Really, if your purchase is this constrained shouldn't you be considering not buying now?

This train of thought makes no sense at all. The question is not whether he can afford an iMac w/ AppleCare and a Fusion Drive... he wants to know if it's worth it.

There's nothing wrong with someone wanting to save money, or not spend more than they need to. AppleCare is not a necessity for everyone, it depends mostly on the end-user. The extended replacement warranty is immensely helpful, but Apple has been known to replace components with early failure, even if they're out of warranty... we're talking about piece of mind here. Most software issues can be resolved via Google, so telephone support is more of a convenience than anything else in my opinion.

If you're the kind of person who wants to have someone else do all your software/hardware diagnosis/repair, then AppleCare is the way to go. Otherwise if you're comfortable getting your hands dirty, and using resources like iFixit and the Apple forums, then AppleCare is much less valuable. Not to mention that money can be put towards upgrades or savings. As someone pointed out, you have a year to decide... I see no reason in shelling out money for AppleCare at purchase, unless it's required like AppleCare+.

To answer the OP question, I never buy AppleCare because I've had good experiences with Apple replacing early out of warranty failures. Worst case if something does fail, you might have to shell out some money for a repair but will it be more expensive than $169 AppleCare warranty? Hard to say, we don't know how accessible the new iMacs will be compared to the old models.

Weigh your choices, there are Pros and Cons. AppleCare is not a must have product... it really depends on the end-user.

[iMcLovin]

I've never had apple care in my life. Never caused me problems even if my house is packed with apple products.
Probably gonna get it this time around, but that's only because it would make it easier to sell the iMac in a couple of years.

But yeah get the fusion drive an use a year to consider the apple care.

[talmy]

Anyone so cash-stretched that they have to decide between a Fusion Drive or AppleCare probably cannot afford the cost of a repair if the computer fails. Therefore the best thing to do is buy AppleCare. A working computer is much better than one that is simply a bit slower.

That said, AppleCare is just an insurance policy. In the long run, over many computers, it is a losing proposition to buy insurance -- it is a big moneymaker for the sellers. Only buy insurance to cover losses you cannot afford to cover yourself.

[Ademordna]

I could easily afford both, but like you I would love to save money in the short term and delay the Apple Care costs.

But

I did this in 2009 with my macbook Pro, and somewhere along the line I simply forgot. It's like you think it will be a simple matter of paying later (you have a year after all!) but it often doesn't work out that way: you forget, or time slips by whilst you are distracted by other things,,,,,,and so on.

I had the money initially and ought to have bought the insurance straight off. Because less than 18 months later my Macbook Pro needed a new motherboard, the track pad messed up and the magsafe connector needed replacing. Essentially, I was screwed. I wouldn't advise paying for it later.

I didn't learn the first time around either: I replaced the Macbook Pro and again decided to ignore the Apple Care. I am 20 months down the line now and hoping not to hit any issues. Don't be like me.

[carter2]

Fusion Drive is operating at the "sub-file" level, which is good news. I had speculated that it was purely a file-based technology, which does have some advantages, but sub-file neatly works around the disadvantages that file-based tiering brings when working with very large files that exhibit high rates of change.Fusion Drive behaves itself, waiting for uninterrupted idle time in order to do its tiering rather than stealing IOs away from the user while the system is active.

[bbucy]

Originally Posted by CaptMike

Apple care can be purchased for $61 for 3 years of support with purchase of imac at BH Photo
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Computer.html

That is a heck of a deal on AppleCare!!! Everyplace I see it it's $169 for the iMac. No chance that is a bait-and-switch price, meaning $69 sounds more like AppleCare for the ipad.

[CaptMike]

Originally Posted by bbucy

That is a heck of a deal on AppleCare!!! Everyplace I see it it's $169 for the iMac. No chance that is a bait-and-switch price, meaning $69 sounds more like AppleCare for the ipad.

Nope...that's the real deal...BH Photo has great offers and is also including a choice of free software with the iMac purchase....explore their iMac listing for more info

[TrboMac]

Originally Posted by CaptMike

Nope...that's the real deal...BH Photo has great offers and is also including a choice of free software with the iMac purchase....explore their iMac listing for more info

So true, I didn't know this until after I bought mine elsewhere and was helping a friend find a 2011 iMac. Actually, their separate price for Applecare is about $40 cheaper than most places. I plan to get it there sometime soon in the new year since I missed their bundle price.

[CaptMike]

Originally Posted by TrboMac

So true, I didn't know this until after I bought mine elsewhere and was helping a friend find a 2011 iMac. Actually, their separate price for Applecare is about $40 cheaper than most places. I plan to get it there sometime soon in the new year since I missed their bundle price.

If you watch their listings for the iMac you will see more bto options for each model as some time passes. Also you may see a small price reduction on each model just like the discounted prices they offered for the last generation models.

[Gumbys69]

Originally Posted by Mundty

This train of thought makes no sense at all. The question is not whether he can afford an iMac w/ AppleCare and a Fusion Drive... he wants to know if it's worth it.

There's nothing wrong with someone wanting to save money, or not spend more than they need to. AppleCare is not a necessity for everyone, it depends mostly on the end-user. The extended replacement warranty is immensely helpful, but Apple has been known to replace components with early failure, even if they're out of warranty... we're talking about piece of mind here. Most software issues can be resolved via Google, so telephone support is more of a convenience than anything else in my opinion.

If you're the kind of person who wants to have someone else do all your software/hardware diagnosis/repair, then AppleCare is the way to go. Otherwise if you're comfortable getting your hands dirty, and using resources like iFixit and the Apple forums, then AppleCare is much less valuable. Not to mention that money can be put towards upgrades or savings. As someone pointed out, you have a year to decide... I see no reason in shelling out money for AppleCare at purchase, unless it's required like AppleCare+.

To answer the OP question, I never buy AppleCare because I've had good experiences with Apple replacing early out of warranty failures. Worst case if something does fail, you might have to shell out some money for a repair but will it be more expensive than $169 AppleCare warranty? Hard to say, we don't know how accessible the new iMacs will be compared to the old models.

Weigh your choices, there are Pros and Cons. AppleCare is not a must have product... it really depends on the end-user.

Very well said and exactly what I meant when I asked the question!

[toddzrx]

Having bought a dozen or so Apple products over the last 7 years ranging from an iPod Nano to an iMac (and everything in between), I have never considered buying Applecare except for last year when we bought the new iPhone for the wife. And the only motivation for getting coverage on the phone was to cover it being dropped, which I think is more likely than it just dieing. Anyway, passing up Apple Care has worked out great for me. The only significant problem I've had was when my 2006 MBP screen died, but that happened well after Apple Care would have expired anyway. I figure the only reason Apple sells it is because they probably make a descent profit on it.