Is AppleCare or extra warranty really worth buying?

lilskaterpunk · Nov 27, 2009

Im thinking of buying a MBP 13.3'' 2.53Ghz sometime today as I can hopefully get a deal through a local store here in town as they might match the Apple.ca prices (Due to sales) or I can either order online from Apple.ca and try to also get a student discount. (I don't think its worth waiting for 3 months or so for updates from Apple as your always gonna be a step behind)

My questions are....

1. Is it worth paying that extra couple $$$ for warranty or Applecare?

2. Can I buy Applecare/warranty lets say 7 months down the road if I notice my Mac has been having many problems and I don't want to take the chance or not being covered?

All Mac's come with an 1 year standard warranty and a store here in my town will offer an extra 2 years for $249.99 CAN or 3 years $299.99 CAN. There's also the choice of 4 years for $399.99 which I think is ridiculous unless you plan to keep the Mac for longer then that. This is there coverage and not through Apple, so no sending away, they fix or replace at the store.

Myself I usually will end up selling my laptops within a year as I prefer to always have something different or try to stay up to date with some of the new technology.

So I don't think its worth paying $249 or $299 more for warranty if Im the type of person to sell my laptop usually before a year or just right after.
Am I thinking right? lol

Some advice would helpful!

Thanks

acurafan · Nov 27, 2009

lilskaterpunk said:
...
My questions are....

1. Is it worth paying that extra couple $$$ for warranty or Applecare?
...

yes, if you're holding it for more then a year. my own macbooks have seen at least 4 visits in a span of 8 months. apple's hardware QA stinks.

lilskaterpunk said:
...
2. Can I buy Applecare/warranty lets say 7 months down the road if I notice my Mac has been having many problems and I don't want to take the chance or not being covered?
...

yes, you can add applecare if you're within the original 1 yr warranty period.

lilskaterpunk said:
...
Myself I usually will end up selling my laptops within a year as I prefer to always have something different or try to stay up to date with some of the new technology.
...

then what's the point? dump the laptop and get another 'rental' macbook.

J&JPolangin · Nov 27, 2009

...yes you can get applecare after you purchase up to day 365 but you have to rego it with in the first year or your out of luck...

If you sell just before the year is up, the applecare will help you get a better price and the warranty transfers with the machine to the new owner...

deep diver · Nov 27, 2009

It sounds like you've answered your own question. AppleCare is like any other insurance policy. Apple's standard warranty (at least in the US) is one year parts and 90 labor. If you sell every year then AppleCare only gives you a labor cost advantage. You decide if the cost is worth it to you. If you have an American Express card and use that for your purchase, American Express will double the warranty up to one year. This would give you 2 years parts and 6 months labor. I don't know if anyone else sells a policy for Apple. I know I would not buy a 3rd party policy. And yes, I do buy AppleCare.

opera57 · Nov 27, 2009

Definately worth it in my opinion even if you are only going to keep it for a year as it adds resale value. Repairs on apple products really can be quite expensive after the warranty has expired!

harperjones99 · Nov 27, 2009

deep diver said:
It sounds like you've answered your own question. AppleCare is like any other insurance policy. Apple's standard warranty (at least in the US) is one year parts and 90 labor. If you sell every year then AppleCare only gives you a labor cost advantage. You decide if the cost is worth it to you. If you have an American Express card and use that for your purchase, American Express will double the warranty up to one year. This would give you 2 years parts and 6 months labor. I don't know if anyone else sells a policy for Apple. I know I would not buy a 3rd party policy. And yes, I do buy AppleCare.

Are you sure the standard one year warranty doesn't cover labor for the year as well? I was led to believe if I needed repair for something the warranty covers there would be no cost to me for the entire year. I don't think 90days is correct for labor. Now there is only 90 days free phone support in the standard warranty but parts and labor should be one year.

And on the credit card warranties if you buy something with a US card that only applies if you buy in the US. I bought in Europe and Visa would not offer the extended warranty just FYI.

star-fish · Nov 27, 2009

harperjones99 said:
And on the credit card warranties if you buy something with a US card that only applies if you buy in the US. I bought in Europe and Visa would not offer the extended warranty just FYI.

In all countries in the EU, you have a 2 year warranty on electronic and electrical goods (including Apple products) anyway.

ucfgrad93 · Nov 27, 2009

I think it is worth it. The harddrive in my iMac crashed after the regular warranty had expired, took it in and it was replaced the same day under AppleCare.

gummer · Nov 27, 2009

star-fish said:
In all countries in the EU, you have a 2 year warranty on electronic and electrical goods (including Apple products) anyway.

No you don't. At least not in the UK. Do you have a source?

skye12 · Nov 27, 2009

To me, buying Applecare depends on what I'm buying. For imac's and MBP's its a yes. The Applecare for an IMac is less than 10% of the items price.
The MBP's is much more expensive, but you just can't take the chance on that big of an investment.

But on the MB, its cheap enough to skip it. After the year's coverage you could still pick up a replacement cheap enough to justify taking the risk.
The Applecare is upwards of 25% of the items cost in this case.

Macky-Mac · Nov 27, 2009

harperjones99 said:
Are you sure the standard one year warranty doesn't cover labor for the year as well? I was led to believe if I needed repair for something the warranty covers there would be no cost to me for the entire year. I don't think 90days is correct for labor. Now there is only 90 days free phone support in the standard warranty but parts and labor should be one year.

And on the credit card warranties if you buy something with a US card that only applies if you buy in the US. I bought in Europe and Visa would not offer the extended warranty just FYI.

yes, it's a full year for BOTH parts & labor.....the 90 days is telephone support, NOT labor

lilskaterpunk said:
.....

2. Can I buy Applecare/warranty lets say 7 months down the road....

Myself I usually will end up selling my laptops within a year....

you can buy the warranty extension anytime right up to the end of your 1 year warranty, so in your case, you should definitely wait since you say you're likelyg to sell it within a year

eelpout · Nov 27, 2009

what confuses me is which AppleCare to get, if you don't buy direct from Apple. For instance on Amazon, there seem to be many different items out there for iMac with differing product numbers. They might align with different generations of iMac, but it's never clear.

AppleNewton · Nov 27, 2009

Yes absolutely.

Try calling apple care after 90 days or so theyll tell to head straight to an Apple Store since phone support isnt covered after the 90 days.
When things are busy and youre in a tight bind, phone support is a good convenience alone.

Also doesnt hurt to have the extra couple years on hardware support, especially for the newer models who've only been out for a little over a year now.

I say by all means, go for it

slu · Nov 27, 2009

All extended warranties are a rip off. If they are going to fail, most electronics will fail in the first year.

You would be better off putting the money you would spend on extended warranties into a savings account that you use for repairs if your item breaks.

aristobrat · Nov 27, 2009

lilskaterpunk said:
So I don't think its worth paying $249 or $299 more for warranty if Im the type of person to sell my laptop usually before a year or just right after.

There are some that say selling a laptop that has AppleCare will fetch a higher price than selling a laptop that doesn't have AppleCare, esp. if the laptop is near the end of its one-year warranty.

harperjones99 · Nov 27, 2009

AppleNewton said:
Yes absolutely.

Try calling apple care after 90 days or so theyll tell to head straight to an Apple Store since phone support isnt covered after the 90 days.
When things are busy and youre in a tight bind, phone support is a good convenience alone.

Also doesnt hurt to have the extra couple years on hardware support, especially for the newer models who've only been out for a little over a year now.

I say by all means, go for it

This is not really accurate. They have to send you a box for repair. As long as you are in warranty. They dont have to try and diagnose software probs etc but if you call and say your display stopped working suddenly they will not say you have to go to the apple store and if someone does I'd escalate it as that's not right. I asked them specifically this on the phone two different times and they confirmed they will do basic trouble shooting free and send a box.

sbb155 · Nov 27, 2009

applecare is a waste of money if you use a credit card

duh... most credit cards DOUBLE your warranty
so you have two years up front
Applecare then costs a ton to get warranty for year 3

Apple fanboys will tell you to get it
Are these computers THAT unreliable?

You cannot have it both ways
either apple makes reliable computers... or they dont...

and you are spending a fortune for LATE failures

I have never had a problem with 5 apples i have bought - so i saved 1500 by not buying applecare
thank goodness

gnasher729 · Nov 27, 2009

slu said:
All extended warranties are a rip off. If they are going to fail, most electronics will fail in the first year.

You would be better off putting the money you would spend on extended warranties into a savings account that you use for repairs if your item breaks.

The exception in my opinion: TV hard disk recorder. Contains a hard disk that records 24 hours a day. They fail after about two years. And every time, the extended warranty buys a new model including three years extended warranty. Seems I am set up for life as long as they never last more than three years

Rampant.A.I. · Nov 27, 2009

slu said:
All extended warranties are a rip off. If they are going to fail, most electronics will fail in the first year.

You would be better off putting the money you would spend on extended warranties into a savings account that you use for repairs if your item breaks.

If you do this, you are still rolling the dice on an expensive piece of equipment because you're too cheap to pony up a few more hundred bucks to protect it. All of the failures affecting my Powerbook G4 happened several years after it was purchased.

Or, to put it another way, you can drive without car insurance and be as careful as you can possibly be, but you're eventually going to get popped.

Folks, just because you have been lucky enough to avoid major failures so far doesn't mean you'll always be so lucky. But if you truly can't see the value of spending $300 to protect a $2500.00 machine, I'm not sure any amount of convincing will ever get through to you.

Have fun paying through the nose for repairs when something bad eventually happens to your machine, but don't say we didn't warn you.

sbb155 · Nov 27, 2009

harperjones99 said:
This is not really accurate. They have to send you a box for repair. As long as you are in warranty. They dont have to try and diagnose software probs etc but if you call and say your display stopped working suddenly they will not say you have to go to the apple store and if someone does I'd escalate it as that's not right. I asked them specifically this on the phone two different times and they confirmed they will do basic trouble shooting free and send a box.

Rampant.A.I. said:
If you do this, you are still rolling the dice on an expensive piece of equipment because you're too cheap to pony up a few more hundred bucks to protect it. All of the failures affecting my Powerbook G4 happened several years after it was purchased.

Or, to put it another way, you can drive without car insurance and be as careful as you can possibly be, but you're eventually going to get popped.

Folks, just because you have been lucky enough to avoid major failures so far doesn't mean you'll always be so lucky. But if you truly can't see the value of spending $300 to protect a $2500.00 machine, I'm not sure any amount of convincing will ever get through to you.

Have fun paying through the nose for repairs when something bad eventually happens to your machine, but don't say we didn't warn you.

Unfortunately, the logic is flawed. With a credit card, you get two years coverage. You paid $300 for applecare. But a 2 .5 year old powerbook is worth less than HALF of the original price. So, you paid $300 to protect a $1000 machine, and after it worked perfectly for 2 years already. And something just came up in the 3rd year. It is no longer a 2500 machine. I cannot think of a powerbook g4 worth $2500 right now. Yep, a sucker is born every minute. EXCEPTION: if you believe apple machines are VERY UNRELIABLE. Then it is worth it. Cant have it both ways.

cantthinkofone · Nov 27, 2009

acurafan said:
yes, if you're holding it for more then a year. my own macbooks have seen at least 4 visits in a span of 8 months. apple's hardware QA stinks.

As is the case with any electronic devices. You will have duds. They have some of the best QC actually.

deep diver · Nov 27, 2009

sbb155 said:
duh... most credit cards DOUBLE your warranty
so you have two years up front
Applecare then costs a ton to get warranty for year 3

The extra year gets tacked on at the end. If you get AppleCare then you have those 3 years plus the credit card for a total of 4 years. At least that's how AmEx does it.

lilskaterpunk · Nov 27, 2009

GREAT comments everyone, thanks!

It is a decision that im still thinking of making...

Keep posting if u have an opinion to share.

flopticalcube · Nov 27, 2009

Just FYI, extended warranties are THE biggest profit center for electronics companies. Just syaing so that you have all the info before you make a decision.

Rampant.A.I. · Nov 27, 2009

flopticalcube said:
Just FYI, extended warranties are THE biggest profit center for electronics companies. Just syaing so that you have all the info before you make a decision.

So what? Why would that have any bearing on the decision to buy or not buy a warranty?

Of course it makes them money, they're not a charity.

Here's your choice: Buy an extended warranty for a couple of hundred bucks more now, or risk paying thousands out of pocket later if something goes wrong.

How much buying the warranty profits the company is totally irrelevant.

Is AppleCare or extra warranty really worth buying?

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