Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Applecare - buy now or later?

C

Chic0

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
370
36
UK
I have ordered a new Unibody mbp and should be receiving it tomorrow. I would like to buy Applecare but wanted to know whether I should buy it now or can I wait?

I mean if anything goes wrong within the first 90days, would I get same treatment as someone who had Applecare?

Also, I have seen Applecare for sale on ebay for a lot cheaper than apples price. Are these fully legit? Will I have any problems registering applecare number if I buy one of these?

Any info would be helpful:cool:
 
Buy it now but don't apply it now. If you drop a glass of water on the 11th month of your ownership, you loose your Applecare. If you wouldn't have applied it, you could resell it to someone else. Apply it on the 11th month but don't forget! Make an alarm in your iCal and iPod if you have one.
 
Or buy it in the 11th month. Why bother buying it now if you won't apply it? The theory works both ways.

And don't drop a glass of water on it. Simple as that. ;)

I always buy it 9-11 months after I've owned the product.
 
Only buy it at the time of purchase if you get a student discount. When I bought my Penryn MBP at the Apple Store in Bullring, Birmingham they offered AppleCare for only £50 (US$110).
 
The student discount for applecare is huge. People buy it with a discount and sell it on eBay for a profit. That's the mystery of the cheap Applecare :)
 
People I know have bought Applecare policies from eBay, and in the end have been fine. One guy was sent a code that did not work, but messaged the seller who apologised and sent another that did.

When I buy Applecare, I too will buy from eBay because the price is simply RIDICULOUS direct from Apple.
 
TodVader said:
Buy it now but don't apply it now. If you drop a glass of water on the 11th month of your ownership, you loose your Applecare. If you wouldn't have applied it, you could resell it to someone else. Apply it on the 11th month but don't forget! Make an alarm in your iCal and iPod if you have one.
Click to expand...

Actually, applecare starts form your purchase date of the machine, not from when you apply it. It is 3 years no matter when its purchased.
 
TodVader said:
The student discount for applecare is huge. People buy it with a discount and sell it on eBay for a profit. That's the mystery of the cheap Applecare :)
Click to expand...

I think they can't sell it coz AppleCare is electronically registered to the Mac you buy if you buy it in store.
 
bryan1884 said:
Actually, applecare starts form your purchase date of the machine, not from when you apply it. It is 3 years no matter when its purchased.
Click to expand...

I'm sure TodVader knows that. He's just suggesting to leave application of AppleCare to the last minute in case something happens to the computer that would nullify AppleCare.
 
jessica. said:
Or buy it in the 11th month. Why bother buying it now if you won't apply it? The theory works both ways.

And don't drop a glass of water on it. Simple as that. ;)

I always buy it 9-11 months after I've owned the product.
Click to expand...

+2

i dont get why people waste a ton of money all at once lol
 
I got my Applecare off of Ebay for $205 + 30% cash back for a total of $145. Not as good as the student discount price but not too shabby. I bought from an established seller, the first number I received was already activated by someone else so I had to request another, the second I received worked fine. So I'd say go with Ebay if you don't have a student discount, but be on top of activating that thing right away to make sure it works.
 
LedCop said:
I'm sure TodVader knows that. He's just suggesting to leave application of AppleCare to the last minute in case something happens to the computer that would nullify AppleCare.
Click to expand...

so let me get this straight. The free one year warranty care is different then applecare when it come to liquid damage and other things?
 
Neither AppleCare nor the 1 year limited warranty cover accidental damage. It covers any hardware failure on what came with the system, like the original hard drive, the RAM it came with, the mouse/keyboard, or in this case the trackpad/keyboard, the logic board and any of the internal pieces like the airport card, etc. The only thing that could possibly cover accidental damage would maybe be the credit card company or like a homeowner's insurance policy.
 
so if the first year is limited warranty, what exactly does this cover?

I suppose what I'm getting at is would the applecare cover me for more, especially during the first year?
 
CD3660 said:
No-one has answered the question about whether the Applecare packages to be found on eBay at discounted prices are a good idea.

Anybody?
Click to expand...

I bought AppleCare on eBay for my MBP for $212, cheaper than what it would have been for the educational discount. The sellers let you choose between sending the box in the mail or having them email you the code. I opted for the latter.

The seller emailed me the code after receiving payment via Paypal and I was able to activate my AppleCare at apple.com/support. Agreement worked perfectly and is completely legit. My guess is that these sellers buy them in mass from Apple and resell it.
 
Chic0 said:
so if the first year is limited warranty, what exactly does this cover?

I suppose what I'm getting at is would the applecare cover me for more, especially during the first year?
Click to expand...

Warranty is just warranty. Cover parts and labor for the first year.

AppleCare is premium support. Not only do you have parts and labor covered, certain repairs, they might be more lenient in repairing rather than writing it off as operator error.
 
bryan1884 said:
so let me get this straight. The free one year warranty care is different then applecare when it come to liquid damage and other things?
Click to expand...

Chic0 said:
so if the first year is limited warranty, what exactly does this cover?

I suppose what I'm getting at is would the applecare cover me for more, especially during the first year?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the AppleCare you purchase is just extended warranty. From 1 year of free complimentary warranty to 3 years and I think extended free phone support too. But as alphaod mentioned, Apple service centers might be more generous with AppleCare covered products.

So if you have liquid damage you lose whatever is left of your free AppleCare or your paid AppleCare. That's why it's suggested you leave using paid AppleCare until your one year is nearly up.
 
jessica. said:
Or buy it in the 11th month. Why bother buying it now if you won't apply it? The theory works both ways.

And don't drop a glass of water on it. Simple as that. ;)

I always buy it 9-11 months after I've owned the product.
Click to expand...

Yes, the delayed purchase makes sense from a budgeting standpoint of course- the only thing you lose is free AppleCare phone support from day 91 to whatever day you purchase and register your AppleCare. If you need phone support after the 90th day of ownership and do not have AppleCare you are charged $49 per incident, so maybe a better way to budget it is to wait until the 90 day warranty is up to buy it.

Or just walk it into an Apple Store if there is one available in a person's area since there would be no charge like that during that interim period! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back