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Buying Advise AppleCare Protection Plan MBP

W

winty03

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
237
5
Good Afternoon All,

After 15 years of PC use I am switching over, or in the process of. Had a question on the AppleCare Plan. Do the majority of people purchase the plan or is it a waste of time and $? This is going to be my first Mac, so I am a bit hesitant on the APP. Purchase it or not?
 
Personally I got it, many will say it's a waste but why not have the insurance?

I mean if you can afford a macbook or a macbook pro then you can afford the apple care.

I get it because I am a college student and I would like to have the 3 year total protection!


Please note that if you get the applecare it makes the total amount of protection 3 (THREE) years...it doesn't add on 3!

My thoughts, go for it!
 
you have 11 months or something to decide. i would get it w/o the warranty and then think about it. perhaps at one point you'll find a great deal on applecare somewhere and it will be worth it.

my exp w/ visa has been very positive re: extended warranty and b/c the applecare does not express ship from your house (you always have to drop it off somewhere from my exp), isn't onsite, no special level of care I have noticed, nor provides any other benefits more than more time (and extra phone support :rolleyes:), to me its not worth it.
 
Just to clarify the answer for you. DEFINITELY GET IT. Apple charges a lot to fix/replace if it isn't under warranty. BUT, do not buy it until the 1 year warranty is about to lapse (a year from the date you purchase) so that you add the 3 years of applecare/warranty to the end. If you buy it with the mac, it basically just replaces the 1 year warranty with a 3 year warranty (so you don't get 4 years of total waranty coverage).

That all said, most people buy a new computer every 2 years, every 1 year if you are a geek and every 6 months if you're a macrumors.com regular.

w.
 
Thanks for the input guys! Makes total sense and saved me a year of APP becasue I would have bought it the same time I bought my MBP. Thanks I am planning on purchasing a TC at some point and thought if I had troubles setting it up that I would be able to call for support. So good to know I do have some time to purchase. I can purchase that any place they sell it...doesn't have to be directly through Apple?
 
If you are spending $2000+ on a machine, it would be silly not to spend the extra $350 to make sure that it will work for the next 3 years at least.
 
If you but apple care it extends the warranty from the Hardware Purchase Date...so if you buy it with the computer or on month 11 it is still the same time period.

WindowsOrMac said:
Just to clarify the answer for you. DEFINITELY GET IT. Apple charges a lot to fix/replace if it isn't under warranty. BUT, do not buy it until the 1 year warranty is about to lapse (a year from the date you purchase) so that you add the 3 years of applecare/warranty to the end. If you buy it with the mac, it basically just replaces the 1 year warranty with a 3 year warranty (so you don't get 4 years of total waranty coverage).

That all said, most people buy a new computer every 2 years, every 1 year if you are a geek and every 6 months if you're a macrumors.com regular.

w.
Click to expand...
 
I've used mine multiple times and it's great! Definitely go for it...

Also, get it on Ebay rather than Apple...saves a bunch of $$$!
 
winty03 said:
Good Afternoon All,

After 15 years of PC use I am switching over, or in the process of. Had a question on the AppleCare Plan. Do the majority of people purchase the plan or is it a waste of time and $? This is going to be my first Mac, so I am a bit hesitant on the APP. Purchase it or not?
Click to expand...

Welcome. You'll be happy you made the switch. Just to clarify, Applecare will cover you computer for a TOTAL of 3 years, no matter when you purchase it. It does need to be purchased before the end of the first year.

The biggest and most important reason I see to get this now is, it gives you 3 full years of phone support (not just the first 90 days) and allows you to ask Apple ANY question you have about using your new Mac, ANY QUESTION. In my opinion, this is the single best reason for a new Mac owner to have Applecare.

Having the warranty coverage if something does go wrong will pay for itself the first time it's needed. But hopefully you won't need it.

On the other hand, if you are one of those who does not keep your computers for very long, having Applecare tends to increase the Mac's resale value.

I for one, believe this is money well spent. There are also other ways in which to get Applecare besides through Apple. You can save money by shopping around for it. There are different versions of Applecare, so make sure you are getting the one for your specific Mac.

Good luck and enjoy :D
 
It's an utter waste of money. Apple retail employees are forced to hard sell customers on it because it easily brings Apple the highest profit margin of any other service. All Apple computers have a 1 year warranty--if your computer is going to break, it's gonna happen in that first year anyway.
 
Sounds like its a given and I will defently buy it, I just was on the fence because Dell has the same stuff and I would never waste the time. But switching to mac and not knowing heck the OS 100 percent I was leaning that way anyways. Just needed that reassurance. Thanks guys!
 
jdwingnut said:
Welcome. You'll be happy you made the switch. Just to clarify, Applecare will cover you computer for a TOTAL of 3 years, no matter when you purchase it. It does need to be purchased before the end of the first year.

The biggest and most important reason I see to get this now is, it gives you 3 full years of phone support (not just the first 90 days) and allows you to ask Apple ANY question you have about using your new Mac, ANY QUESTION. In my opinion, this is the single best reason for a new Mac owner to have Applecare.
Click to expand...

The only reason I can see for getting AC is the hardware repair service after the first year is up. In 20 years of using a Mac I've never had to phone Apple for anything until my hardware defective MBP last week.

Using the Mac OS is just not that complex on the surface, and there is very little that you cannot find the answer to at Apple.com, on the internet or in a forum.
 
I have posted this before and hope that this is useful information for a member thinking about getting Applecare.

I am a firm supporter of Applecare. It got my Rev A 2006 MBP that was making noise for a some months and had replaced after two years. I took it in twice for a clicking noise that the machine was making. I had made 3 or 4 calls to Applecare in the last six months. After the second time the machine was taken to a Genius bar and not fixed correctly, I call Applecare and they said they would replace the machine. The replacement machine was delivered within 4 days of starting the replacement process. Once I received my new MBP I went out and bought Applecare again. I strongly think it is worth it.
 
I want to add to what somebody said above: most credit cards offer FREE second second year of warranty coverage that equals that of Apple's warranty. You don't need to do anything, just keep your receipts and credit card statements. VISA also offers soemthing called visa performance guarantee after the second year which basically extends the coverage for another two years (total of 4 years) for under $200. It's great, flexible, has a no-lemon replacement policy after three repairs, AND it covers laptop batteries. To make it even better, you're free to choose whatever repair center you want so you're not totally dependent on Apple, but are free to use them too if you want.

I'd recommend this over applecare, unless you really need the phone support that Applecare entitles you to.
And I don't even work for a credit card company! Just always been incredibly impressed and satisfied with this service.
 
I'd say wait 10 months or so and then see if you need it. In the worst case scenario, you drop you laptop before the year is up and you need repair and repair is more than the price of the new computer, then you can thank yourself for not wasting $350. If however, you have no issues, then buy it in 10 months. Just don't wait the 11 or 12 months 'cause you will forget to buy it and before you realize it, it will be too late.
 
I bought a new MBP a week ago and I'll definitely be getting AC before my year is up. I had a PowerBook that I used for over 3 years. I never needed to use the AC I had on the PB, but it felt good knowing I was covered if I needed.
 
Yeah, my MBP (my first Mac) is FINALLY getting shipped today, but I have a Visa credit card warranty that doubles the manufacturer's warranty. I hope that will work. If I decide to ditch the credit card though I am now paying it off every month (I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and those who know about him know what I'm going through), I might go ahead and buy the AppleCare.
 
To me the AppleCare isn't really worth it because it's too expensive for what it gives you. With AppleCare you're only getting an extra 2 years of hardware coverage regardless of the fact Apple tries to rip customers off by only offering 90 days of phone support on the initial warranty. Since a lot of the credit cards today offer extended warranties I would suggest seeking that over AppleCare. You get 1 year extended free and VISA for example has a program you can then purchase for after the first 2 years if you intend to keep your MBP that long. Most of those guys answering the phones at Apple aren't likely to be any more knowledgeable than the majority of Apple users on a forum like this so if you have a question just ask it here.
 
burningrave101 said:
To me the AppleCare isn't really worth it because it's too expensive for what it gives you. With AppleCare you're only getting an extra 2 years of hardware coverage regardless of the fact Apple tries to rip customers off by only offering 90 days of phone support on the initial warranty. Since a lot of the credit cards today offer extended warranties I would suggest seeking that over AppleCare. You get 1 year extended free and VISA for example has a program you can then purchase for after the first 2 years if you intend to keep your MBP that long. Most of those guys answering the phones at Apple aren't likely to be any more knowledgeable than the majority of Apple users on a forum like this so if you have a question just ask it here.
Click to expand...

Let's be honest here. According to you all the warrany extensions are useless.

Also that 90 day call? Just go the Apple Store.

As with answering questions: Sure some of the people here may be more knowledgeable but none of us can go fix your computer nor give you a replacement.
 
alphaod said:
Let's be honest here. According to you all the warrany extensions are useless.

Also that 90 day call? Just go the Apple Store.

As with answering questions: Sure some of the people here may be more knowledgeable but none of us can go fix your computer nor give you a replacement.
Click to expand...

According to me ALL the warranty extensions are useless? When did I say that? I said paying for AppleCare when all it gives you is an added 2 years of coverage, with no onsite or accidental btw, is somewhat overpriced and pointless when most credit cards offer at least the 1 year extended warranty for FREE on top of the first year through Apple. VISA and probably some of the others also offer additional warranties after those 2 years that you can purchase. All you do is send your laptop to Apple or take it to an authorized repair center, you pay for whatever it needs to have done up front and your credit card company refunds you in full no questions asked. I believe someone stated that VISA also had a "no lemon" rule with theirs as well so that if you have to get it repaired more than 3 times they'll replace it with a new one.
 
I didn't get applecare on my first gen CD MBP, and after about 14 months I started having problems with the screen... :(

I've just bought by second MBP (2.6 Penryn :cool: ) , and I added the applecare without thinking. For peace of mind alone, its worth it.

In the UK, with HE discount, you can get applecare for £50!!!!!! (around $100)

-Mooey
 
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