Apple Care questions?

[Alvi]

So if you go to any Apple Computer you'll see this graph about the coverage,
these are my questions:
1. If you activate your apple care right after buying your computer will it just cover you the rest of the year for phone support or also the next year of warranty?
2. Is the Apple care package a yearly warranty or it will cover you all those 3 years?

 

[miles01110]

So if you go to any Apple Computer you'll see this graph about the coverage,
these are my questions:
1. If you activate your apple care right after buying your computer will it just cover you the rest of the year for phone support or also the next year of warranty?
2. Is the Apple care package a yearly warranty or it will cover you all those 3 years?

1. Phone support for 3 years if activated right after you buy the machine.

2. 3 years total; NOT 3 years in addition to your complimentary year. You don't have to renew it anually.

 

[Gregg2]

Also, if you wait, you have up to a year to buy it and still get the additional two years of warranty service. I'm not sure if the phone support picks up again or not.

 

[Alvi]

1. Phone support for 3 years if activated right after you buy the machine.

2. 3 years total; NOT 3 years in addition to your complimentary year. You don't have to renew it anually.

Wow, than it's a good deal, i thought it was a year long subscription

 

[Makosuke]

I'm not sure if the phone support picks up again or not.

It does.

That is, if you don't buy AppleCare and call in with a problem after, say, six months, if it's a hardware issue, they will fix it free. If it's not, they'll charge you for phone support UNLESS you sign up for AppleCare at that point. If you do (or if you buy AppleCare and activate it any time during the 1-year hardware warranty period, whether you have a problem or not), then both phone and hardware support lasts for 3 years from the date the computer was originally purchased.

Phrased differently, if you expect to call in for something other than an obvious hardware failure, you might as well get AppleCare right away so it's lined up when you call for help. If not, then there's no hurry, though if you want the 3 years you'll want to get to it before it's too late.

Which reminds me that I have a mini in need of AppleCare that is very near the 1-year mark...

 

[Alvi]

It's pretty sad Apple doesn't really let you to have more than 3 years of warranty, i mean, if you have a computer which failed twice in less than 3 years you basically expect it to last less than a year after your warranty expires, not sure if the Apple Computer quality is getting worse and that's why they're limiting like that, i think dell or other companies allow you to have a 5 year warranty

 

[Makosuke]

Depends on the system, but Dell's warranties generally top out at 3 years at purchase time (though they do offer on-site). They may allow extensions past 3 years, not sure. Either way, 3 years is pretty standard for consumer electronics. 5 isn't unheard of on high-end stuff, and I'd certainly appreciate that much of a warranty, but it's not common in any area outside 3rd party warranties (which you can, of course, buy for a Mac if you were so inclined).

That said, my experience has generally been the opposite--if something is going to fail, it's usually in the first year or two. After that, while failures are eventually inevitable as with any physical object, things seem to get more reliable rather than less. (Hard drives are the exception.)

You also have to give Apple some credit for covering things that are out of warranty and over three years old for free if there's an unusually high failure rate--they replaced two G5 iMac power supplies on computers where I work after 4 years, which is well past the useful lifespan of ANY Dell machine in my experience, for free. They also fixed my brother's 20" iMac graphics board (which is to say the whole motherboard) despite it being more than three years old (and I don't know if he even bought the 3 year warranty).

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I was just looking at Dell's MX11 (alienware laptop) and it comes with a 1 year warranty standard (that's phone and repair), with options of 2,3 and 4 years of standard or on-site care, including accidental damage.

That's a lot more than Apple offers, and it was cheaper too (for the 3 years mail in support).

 

[miles01110]

It's pretty sad Apple doesn't really let you to have more than 3 years of warranty, i mean, if you have a computer which failed twice in less than 3 years you basically expect it to last less than a year after your warranty expires, not sure if the Apple Computer quality is getting worse and that's why they're limiting like that, i think dell or other companies allow you to have a 5 year warranty

So buy a Dell if you are buying something for the warranty alone. Applecare on Macs has been extendable to 3 years for at least a decade now.

 

[Primejimbo]

It's pretty sad Apple doesn't really let you to have more than 3 years of warranty, i mean, if you have a computer which failed twice in less than 3 years you basically expect it to last less than a year after your warranty expires, not sure if the Apple Computer quality is getting worse and that's why they're limiting like that, i think dell or other companies allow you to have a 5 year warranty

One of my favorite lines form the movie "Tommy Boy" and it's true:

"Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh*t. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me."