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Applecare cheaper now?
- Thread starter Abazigal
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onthecouchagain
macrumors 604
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Is applecare a neccessity for the MBA i still have time to take it?
Is applecare a neccessity for the MBA i still have time to take it?
Brandon0448
macrumors 6502
Personally I always buy applecare for £40 with edu discount when I purchase an apple laptop in store
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40 bux?? Its like 300 sureley edu discount aint that great
DryEyez said:
40 bux?? Its like 300 sureley edu discount aint that great
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40 bux?? Its like 300 sureley edu discount aint that great
DryEyez said:
40 bux?? Its like 300 sureley edu discount aint that great
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
That depends on when you bought your computer. You are able to buy Applecare any time within the first year's warranty period - but not a minute after that.
For what it is worth, I have bought Applecare for each of the two Apple computers I have owned, a MBP and more recently, a MBA. To my way of thinking it gives peace of mind for three years, and so the initial outlay is well worth it. Moreover, I can say that I had cause to use it when the HDD failed in the MBP and was replaced without a problem; this was when the machine was two and a half years old.
More recently, the keyboard on my MBA gave trouble, and was replaced under warranty.
agentphish
macrumors 65816
You're out of your mind. AppleCare is a cheap investment in the grand scheme of things. Pays for itself in one repair most of the time for most computers, esp. something like an Air or iMac that you really can't service yourself at all.
@Abazigal: if i'm not mistaken, battery is not included in applecare as it is considered wear and tear..
onthecouchagain
macrumors 604
Thanks for this Bluedog.
In general, are there statistics or percentages of how often MBAs have hardware failures (screen, HDs, etc)?
I'm personally leaning toward not extending my AppleCare because I'm assuming we only hear of people who have had failed hardware on the forums, and not from the vast majority who have perfectly fine MBAs running for years and years. This is an assumption, though, so any hard numbers out there that prove this?
Apple is the only entity with knowledge of failure rates and I doubt they're going to share it with us. 🙂
I look it at as risk-reward. My iPad recently came up on one year and I had to decide on getting Applecare for it. It's not expensive ($69) but I didn't get it. About the only thing that can go wrong on an iPad is the battery and that's not covered by Applecare. Even in a worst case scenario (dropping it and breaking it) I could replace my 16gb first gen with a refurb for $299. The risk reward is $69 for $299 and that's not a good ratio.
I am going to get Applecare for my 13" 2011 MBA when the deadline approaches. There are many more things that can go wrong (compared to an iPad) and the repair costs are insane. I can get it for $180 from LA Computer Company. Replacing the MBA with a refurb (if any were available, which they rarely are) would be around $1200. The risk reward is $180 for $1200 and that's a ratio I can live with.
I will say that in general I think extended warranties are the biggest ripoff there is in electronics and appliances. I'm not thrilled to have to spend $180 for this one but I think it's the exception that proves the rule.
onthecouchagain
macrumors 604
Interesting perspective, and makes sense. Thanks.
Still grouchy about parting with the money. =T Especially since I also have an iMac to consider whether it needs AC or not too. Based on your analysis, getting AC for an iMac would be a good ratio too. That's about 300 dollars total to cover Air and Mac. Hm.
Also, it's the laptop part. I have a Dell desktop that's about 2 1/2 years old. No extended warranty. The hard drive and power supply both failed recently. I easily replaced them myself and the cost was relatively minor. You can replace the hard drive yourself on the MBA but most anything else (battery, screen, logic board) is difficult to impossible to do yourself. That's just the price we pay for the convenience of such a small device and why Applecare makes more sense to me for the MBA.
Rizvi1
macrumors 6502a
In most cases yes but not with Applecare. Especially on the laptop because there's a lot that is likely to happen. On top of that, they always check and fix random things when you send it in (always send it in, they do more than the Genius Bar does). Also, when you have Applecare on, they're more likely to fix things that aren't covered. For example I had a broken screen once and sent it in and it took some fighting but they fixed it for me.
I wouldn't do it on a Mac Mini (the only secondary home computer I keep since my MBP and my wife's MBA are our primary computers). You can't mail those in they can only go in store. In store they're not as flexible about what they fix. AppleCare's true value for me is in what they let go.
I've had my battery replaced multiple times on various macbook pro computers.
Good logic. I'm not sure about on an iPad but definitely on an iPhone I think it's worthwhile. The reason is that when you have Applecare on a portable they're likely to replace it over anything. I took a year and a half old 3gs last week complaining about its battery life and they replaced it right there with a new one. It was my old one and we now have the 4s so it was going to be sold anyways. Selling a new one vs a used one will bring more money from the sale. So basically, you're paying $69 to be guaranteed a new version of your product at some point. Maybe not on a bottom of the line item (an 8gb or 16gb) but on a top of the line I Think it might be worth it. But again, esp w/ the iPhone since that's a different animal with the contract system and all.
Heh, I had bought my mid-2010 MacBook Pro in September 2010 and forgot to put Applecare on before the one year was up. I called a few days outside my window, worked my way up to manager to try to get it put on but was told it was a no go. Tried my luck called back and spoke with someone and told them I was outside my window but was really hoping to get it put on. He tells me, "umm.. according to our records you bought this computer last week." I said, "no I didn't I bought it last year." He said, "no it was last week." I said, "ok.. well can you put it on?" And he did, at the education rate too.
I bought a 11" 2011 MBA from B&H Photo last week and they offered 3-year AppleCare for $95.26 if purchased with the computer. I decided to do it for that price. They were $30 cheaper than the Apple store, no sales tax, free shipping, and they threw in Parallels 7 for free as well.