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Apple Care

Q-Dog said:
I guess you could say we "self-insure" our devices. The money we have saved over the years by not buying Apple Care can pay for several more Apple devices.
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it takes just a couple of unlucky devices in a row to have all your "saved money" burned by out-of-warranty repairs.
Your choice.
 
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Like someone else mentioned I get AppleCare+ for Macs but not iDevices.

First, I don't typically keep an iPhone for more than 1 year anyway.

Secondly, it's a gamble I'm willing to take.

Out of warranty replacement for an iPhone 6S is 299. Minus the cost of AppleCare+ that's 200 dollar loss in the unlikely event I keep my iPhone over and than break it.

Customer service is relevant to me, I've used it twice and both times they were useless doing more harm than good. I wouldn't use it even if it was free at this point.
 
cynics said:
... Customer service is relevant to me, I've used it twice and both times they were useless doing more harm than good. I wouldn't use it even if it was free at this point.
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Interesting. This is exactly the opposite of my experience. I've used customer care (by phone) several times, and they've always been great, solving problems that had me baffled, and I am relatively computer savvy. I wonder if the quality of the phone techs differs by region.
 
i like to look back and laugh at those posts on mac rumors when people said that square trade / applecare was likely to be a waste of money on the new apple tv. i posted that i wish i had something on on my roku because it failed before 24 months ., then like everyone found out that the remote control is easy to shatter
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cynics said:
Like someone else mentioned I get AppleCare+ for Macs but not iDevices.

First, I don't typically keep an iPhone for more than 1 year anyway.

Secondly, it's a gamble I'm willing to take.

Out of warranty replacement for an iPhone 6S is 299. Minus the cost of AppleCare+ that's 200 dollar loss in the unlikely event I keep my iPhone over and than break it.

Customer service is relevant to me, I've used it twice and both times they were useless doing more harm than good. I wouldn't use it even if it was free at this point.
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if you don't keep an iPhone for more then a year then you could still get square trade by making monthly payments of $5

apple only charges $109 - $129 and $149 for a new screen. a lot of people just assume it costs more. now if something happens to the phone thats worse then just a screen, then your talking $329 and up. its only $109 or a new 6s screen. man thats barely worth getting applecare. if you had applecare then you would still have to pay the $79 deductible.

broken 6s screen no apple care
$109
broken 6s screen with apple care
$99 for apple care
$79 for first incident
broken 6s screen for square trade
$99 for square trade
$0 for screen after $109 reimbursement
 
actually the AppleCare+ presence is a strong reselling factor for me, since I upgrade the iPhone every year.
 
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Max(IT) said:
actually the AppleCare+ presence is a strong reselling factor for me, since I upgrade the iPhone every year.
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yeah , i sell mine and give them whats left of my square trade warranty, but it doesnt have that brand recognition that applecare has
 
daniel1948 said:
Thanks to everyone who posted for your experiences and thoughts. Still not sure which way I'll go, but I now have plenty of food for thought. Thanks again.
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I'm one of those that believes in self insurance and it has worked well for me. I also purchase my electronic devices with a credit card. Many credit card companies add a year to the manufacture's warranty and provide 90 days of theft and damage protection.
 
I wasn't a big proponent of Applecare on mobile devices, but always got it for the extra year of warranty. Two weeks ago my 6 took a swim, and it's already into the second year of Applecare. The incident replacement saved me from a big repair fee. If you can swing it, go ahead and get it.

Also, keep in mind if you do the installment plans with Apple, they include Applecare.
 
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Max(IT) said:
it takes just a couple of unlucky devices in a row to have all your "saved money" burned by out-of-warranty repairs.
Your choice.
Click to expand...
We don't buy extended warrantees on anything, ever, and on a lot more than a couple of things. Never been "burned" by this. It works for us.

If it makes you feel better go ahead and buy the warranty. I instead invest the money I have saved ... much better returns.
 
EDH667 said:
I'm one of those that believes in self insurance and it has worked well for me. I also purchase my electronic devices with a credit card. Many credit card companies add a year to the manufacture's warranty and provide 90 days of theft and damage protection.
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I did pay for the phone with my credit card. I'll check and see what coverage they give me for having done that. Thanks for the tip. (I buy most things on the card for the cash back. The merchants already include the credit card fee in the price of their items, so I might as well get my tiny share of that back.)
 
daniel1948 said:
Interesting. This is exactly the opposite of my experience. I've used customer care (by phone) several times, and they've always been great, solving problems that had me baffled, and I am relatively computer savvy. I wonder if the quality of the phone techs differs by region.
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This is the second time I tried using them and the better of 2 experiences I had.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/icloud-backup-iphone-6s.1951131/#post-22479954

Being in the tech field and dealing with customers I'm pretty difficult to impress when the roles are reversed.

The other issue I had I ended up returning a product for a refund after being given an endless run around.
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Q-Dog said:
We don't buy extended warrantees on anything, ever, and on a lot more than a couple of things. Never been "burned" by this. It works for us.

If it makes you feel better go ahead and buy the warranty. I instead invest the money I have saved ... much better returns.
Click to expand...

Depends on the products cost, warranties cost, intended use, and what the warranty covers etc.

I'll go through more magic mouse then the entire cost of the AppleCare+ on an iMac. And since I encode video nearly 24 hours a day its unlikely the system will last 3 years (they haven't yet).

While generally I agree with your outlook I feel there is a time it almost doesn't make since NOT to get an extended warranty especially if you use it to your benefit. I don't get AC on iPhones but bet your ass I would be replacing my lightning cables and earbuds.
 
Does anyone here can have any experience with applecare+ and is it worth it?

This would be for the Iphone se which means i only have 30 days to decide.
 
I see it this way: the beauty of the SE screen is that it is very cheap to replace, so AppleCare is not worth it. Even for a 6s with integrated panels the cost is more than our home contents excess unless we made two AppleCare claims.
 
go for square trade. they waive deductibles for all iPhone screens as long as you have the genius bar swap it out
i dropped my 6s+, i opened up a claim, they told me there was no deductible , and sure enough i got $162 sent to my paypal

the only bad news to report is the last time i called square trade they say they aren't doing paypal anymore so you have to take a check or a amazon gift card

iPhones screens cost 109 - 129 - 149 to replace , apple care charging you $99 plus a deducible for 2 claims is a total rip off for screen repairs. and you are only allowed 2 claims. the only real benefit with applecare + ( besides GREAT PHONE SUPPORT :) :) :) ) is if there is something ELSE wrong. like you need a total device swap, its good to have

for screens, screw them


argument for applecare
--
when all else fails and your 2 years are almost up, and you still don't have any claims, have them check the battery! after 720 charge cycles , I'm sure you might qualify for a new battery, that way you got your money back

applecare wtf section
--

you know , if you broke your screen TWICE , without applecare, you are paying $1 more for the repairs then if you had applecare. isn't that messed up???
 
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if all u do is crack the screen its not worth it but if it just happens to fall into the bathtub twice it is worth it ;)
 
Never bought AC+ for any Apple device except the watch and wish I had not. Never needed it. I have save a lot of money. If you are the type that drops his phone a lot , maybe you should but like any other insurance, it is a gamble as to if it will be worth it. Apple is betting it will not be worth it.
 
Considering that screen replacement at an Apple Store is $109-149, it's up to how much of a damage risk you are and how long you plan on having the phone. One screen replacement without AppleCare in one or more years will cost you much less than paying $100 for AppleCare and then paying $79-99 for an AppleCare screen replacement. More than one replacement, and this isn't true.

If it didn't come with the iPhone Upgrade Program, I wouldn't have AppleCare as I have only 2 times I've gotten a screen replaced in 7 years.

EDIT: rigormortis said it best
rigormortis said:
you know , if you broke your screen TWICE , without applecare, you are paying $1 more for the repairs then if you had applecare. isn't that messed up???
Click to expand...
 
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the one thing i miss about not having applecare is the phone support.

the genius bar is like Triage. they just answer the same questions over and over and reset your pram and smc. first in first out. if they are stumped , they won't take the time to find you an answer. because they are on a schedule.

the phone support will stay on the phone with you forever, and actually look up information with you on the phone. and refer you to your own apple engineer and you will get his personal apple email address.

the problem i have is ever since iOS 8 or 9 , it seems that the iOS device logs stay on the phone for like several weeks and no longer get erased. and when i went to the genius bar , they were stumped.
it seems this is a new feature, but no one else has mentioned it
 
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Here's the thing though, any drop that breaks the screen usually does damage to the aluminum body as well. If you like your things looking new, AppleCare+ becomes a better deal.
 
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To buy Apple Care or to not buy Apple Care, that is the question. For me the answer is always yes, and a really big part of the reason is the phone support. I have not yet had to use the screen replacement nor any other repairs (Knock on wood) but I have had to use the phone support quite a few times, and as has been mentioned above it is phenomenal. They do stay with you until the problem is solved, or upgrade you to a more senior level of help if needed.

Square Trade cannot do that.
 
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Tom G. said:
To buy Apple Care or to not buy Apple Care, that is the question. For me the answer is always yes, and a really big part of the reason is the phone support. I have not yet had to use the screen replacement nor any other repairs (Knock on wood) but I have had to use the phone support quite a few times, and as has been mentioned above it is phenomenal. They do stay with you until the problem is solved, or upgrade you to a more senior level of help if needed.

Square Trade cannot do that.
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sorry to rub salt. but there is a loop hole. in apple care calls!

you call apple care!
ring ring
you give them the serial #
they say the cost of the support call is xxxxx
you say the secret password
" i have recently installed iOS x.xx"

access granted

you get free phone support on an exemption
the other exemption is you can get free support for iTunes stuff
 
Tom G. said:
To buy Apple Care or to not buy Apple Care, that is the question. For me the answer is always yes, and a really big part of the reason is the phone support. I have not yet had to use the screen replacement nor any other repairs (Knock on wood) but I have had to use the phone support quite a few times, and as has been mentioned above it is phenomenal. They do stay with you until the problem is solved, or upgrade you to a more senior level of help if needed.

Square Trade cannot do that.
Click to expand...

they dont fix cosmetic issues so if your iPhone ends up all scratched up from a fall but only the display breaks they will only fix the screen. a genius actually told me once to drop it into water before bringing it in so i could get the whole thing replaced
 
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