Applecare $350, worth it?

apple's quality control is way down, and some ppl say there is a clock inside apple's product, waiting for warranty to expire, so your choice

$350 goes a long way towards that next upgrade.

Let's say every year you upgrade your machine once. The new machine costs $1999, you sell it at $1000. All that's left is a $650 (or $50+ bucks a month!) and you get that latest and greatest.

Applecare contributes very little to the resale value of your Mac and if you are a frequent upgrader it doesn't matter to you anyway, since you are always under warranty.

I vote for not buying applecare and saving the $350 toward your next laptop. I think you've already had your share of problems with your MBPs, so it should run "really perfect" from now on.

Just to add, if you are a "smart" consumer and only buy refurbished systems, that $350 really goes very far.

You don't even need $350 to buy Applecare these days, just check eBay and you'll find unused AppleCares for $180-$240.

I refuse to buy extended warranty for products (It's something you shouldn't have to pay for) so it's pretty much your call. If you plan on keeping your laptop for 3+ years, it might be a good investment.

Gotta disagree, remaining Applecare makes it way easier to sell a machine, particularly on eBay or non-F2F transaction. It gives the buyer assurance they won't be stuck with a problem purchase.

If you don't buy Applecare, and your machine breaks down, the resale value of a broken Mac is poor, so the 'sell it for $1000 and buy another' scenario is out the window.

Applecare is like any other insurance, it is for the risk-averse. Apple HAS set the price at the point where (bar catastrophic line-wide failure like the Sony LiIon batteries) Apple will make, on average, more money from AppleCare premiums than it costs them in repairs. Just like insurance companies.

If you feel lucky, don't buy it.

CanadaRAM said:

Gotta disagree, remaining Applecare makes it way easier to sell a machine, particularly on eBay or non-F2F transaction. It gives the buyer assurance they won't be stuck with a problem purchase.

If you don't buy Applecare, and your machine breaks down, the resale value of a broken Mac is poor, so the 'sell it for $1000 and buy another' scenario is out the window.

Applecare is like any other insurance, it is for the risk-averse. Apple HAS set the price at the point where (bar catastrophic line-wide failure like the Sony LiIon batteries) Apple will make, on average, more money from AppleCare premiums than it costs them in repairs. Just like insurance companies.

If you feel lucky, don't buy it.

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Not really, I have found that if you sell a system within its warranty period (giving the next buyer the chance to get Applecare for himself if he wants it), the impact of Applecare to the final price is minimal.

Another way of thinking about it would be like this; people either care about extended warranty, or they don't. If they care about extended warranty, they would have gotten it regardless of whether your machine has it or not. If they don't care, to them your machine is no different from the next eBay listing with "2 years Applecare" in the title.

Upgrades like ram or hard drive do make a difference however.

An out of warranty system is a different story of course, but more often than not you do not get back what you put towards Applecare when selling, and hence I find it a bad deal.

CanadaRAM said:

Gotta disagree, remaining Applecare makes it way easier to sell a machine, particularly on eBay or non-F2F transaction. It gives the buyer assurance they won't be stuck with a problem purchase.

If you don't buy Applecare, and your machine breaks down, the resale value of a broken Mac is poor, so the 'sell it for $1000 and buy another' scenario is out the window.

Applecare is like any other insurance, it is for the risk-averse. Apple HAS set the price at the point where (bar catastrophic line-wide failure like the Sony LiIon batteries) Apple will make, on average, more money from AppleCare premiums than it costs them in repairs. Just like insurance companies.

If you feel lucky, don't buy it.

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RAM makes some very good points.

Personally, I've found it to be a very valuable for laptops.

Maybe it boils down to how long you plan on keeping your computer. I tend to keep mine for a long time. My PowerBook 15 just pasted the 3 year point. Apple Care has kept it in fine running condition. It should last another year or two easily.

that 2 year period cost 25% of a mb

i posted this on a dead thread earlier.

? 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.

companies know how long their product will last. and it always breaks 2 weeks after the extended warranty runs out.

true, you might be the exception and need it in that time frame. selling warranties is just playing on people's fears - another way to make money.

Yes, I like how you put the cost of extended warranty as a proportion of your machine's price.

Is it worth 25% more of your mac laptop's price for 2 more years of Apple's ****** service?

Not true something will go bad in 1 year. On my Sager computer, the logic board died about 1.5 years later...luckily, I got an extended warranty for it.

yes, there will be a very small percentage of machines that will need attention during that period. it's just like the fail rate for the birth control pill.

yes, your old sager needed help in 1 1/2 years. you bought that extended warranty and how many before and since -- spending how much? and after the 1 1/2 yr, weren't you really chomping at the bit to get a new machine anyway.

Before I decided to go for a C2D MBP, I was leaning toward not buying Applecare as my previous/current Macs have not even needed Applecare. But, I changed my mind and went for it when Smalldog has a good discount sales on Applecare. Now, Applecare covers internationally (for both portable and desktop versions). Since I may be moving out of this country in a few years, the international coverage would be a big plus.

my Dual G5 died of liquid cooling system leaks. after 2 years.

how i wished i had Apple Care, so i can hold out to buy an Octo MacPro or Penryn MacBook Pro.

but noooo... so i had to shell out an arm and leg to get a MacPro now. not saying i'm not happy, but would've been nice. for my new MP, i mos def got Apple Care. i'm gonna keep it for the long run.

I heard on several news reports that most experts say that extended warrantys are a waste of money on most products except laptop computers due to the small size and heat they say to buy the extended warranty especially for apple computers


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000148.html

washington post exert:

But even Consumer Reports has made a few exceptions. Last year, for the first time, the magazine found that repairs on some products -- laptop PCs, treadmills and plasma TV sets -- were common enough and expensive enough that a decently priced extended warranty would make sense. Plasma televisions, the magazine said, run hot and are still considered a relatively new consumer technology.

YS2003 said:

Since I may be moving out of this country in a few years, the international coverage would be a big plus.

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Yes, if you are planning to spend a sufficient amount of time abroad, applecare is a great thing to have. Buying a replacement Apple laptop or even getting your broken one fixed is likely to be more expensive abroad.

I'm gonna chime in and say do it.

You're going to hear a lot of noise from the penny-pinchers in the crowd, but the bottom line is, none of them will be there with cash in hand to help you pay to fix your MacBook Pro if it takes a poop on Day 366 of ownership.

I've owned Dells, Compaqs and Powerbooks. I owned a TiBook and the audio jack died after 94 days of ownership. I had to pay for the call and to ship the Mac to Apple to get it serviced.

Nowadays I just get the peace of mind up front, no sense in thinking twice about it. I got applecare for my girl's 12" PB G4 and the C2D MacBook Pro I got yesterday.

Does Apple make money off me? Most likely. But then for three years if something breaks I just bring it in and say "fix it." And that, to me, is worth the cost of admission.

As someone about to spend $700 to replace the screen on a PB...I say get it if you plan on keeping the machine for 3 years or more. If you travel a lot, especially internationally as I do, then I highly recommend it. Definitely get it at a discount price though...

peace

Basic rule: If you buy apple care it's almost 100% certain that you will never need it. If you do not buy apple care it's almost 100% certain that something will seriously go wrong after 1,5 years.

I think this is called Murphys law.

AppleCare is just overpriced for the service you get for it! If you cmpare it to the pickup-and-delivery extension of Acer you only need to pay like 70euro to extend the warranty to three years. Reasonable priced! Maybe Acer is more confident then Apple that their notebooks wont breakdown...

As an Apple stockholder, I urge everyone to buy AppleCare.

yeah I'm on the fence with apple care, I mean it's by no means cheap, I mean hell you can get an iPod for that price. But at the same time as others have said it can bail you out in a jam.

I didn't get it for my g5 and so far haven't needed it *knock wood* but I may get it for my MBP at the end of one year just for piece of mind.

dornoforpyros said:

…but I may get it for my MBP at the end of one year just for piece of mind.

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A decision I'll be thinking about for the next 10 months.

eluk said:

A decision I'll be thinking about for the next 10 months.

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ooh let's start a club! then we can serve drinks! The "Waiting till the very last minute to decide if I need Apple Care for my laptop club"