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

Applecare / depot question

Y

yargk

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 27, 2009
69
0
So I took a macbook pro in to get a screen fixed. The said that for a pro the depot rate for whatever is wrong is $326 assuming no physical damage. This seems like a deal.

1. Is this correct? Is $326 really the maximum? If not, what was he talking about?

2. Why would anyone get Applecare?
 
yargk said:
So I took a macbook pro in to get a screen fixed. The said that for a pro the depot rate for whatever is wrong is $326 assuming no physical damage. This seems like a deal.

1. Is this correct? Is $326 really the maximum? If not, what was he talking about?

2. Why would anyone get Applecare?
Click to expand...


Apple care is $249 for airs and cmbp and $349 for rmbp, covers your mac for 3 year. Paying $326 for a one time fix, seems stupid compared to the cost of apple care which will cover multiple instances Also if you can get the student discount the prices come down a lot. The real question is why would you not buy apple care?
 
PrestonWard said:
why would you not buy apple care?
Click to expand...

Because you understand math.

I have a mbp that has had zero problems in 3 years so I lost what I paid on applecare.

Say applecare costs X

The expected cost of repair between year 1 and year 3 (2 years) is:
expected rate of failure * average cost of failure

If that is less than X, then applecare isn't a good deal.

So I'm saying if the average cost of failure is less than $326, your expected rate of failure for those 2 years would have to be greater than two thirds for apple care to be a good deal if apple care costs $200 something. I hope Macs are made better than that. :D :apple:
 
yargk said:
So that's the real issue! Why is the "genius" bar guy telling me that this is the flat depot rate?
Click to expand...

I cant personally say its more - but several (probably dozen of threads) have quoted prices way above $500 + to fix problems. Some over $700 for logic board stuff.

Still not sure AppleCare is worth it - pros and cons to both arguments.
 
yargk said:
Because you understand math.

I have a mbp that has had zero problems in 3 years so I lost what I paid on applecare.

Say applecare costs X

The expected cost of repair between year 1 and year 3 (2 years) is:
expected rate of failure * average cost of failure

If that is less than X, then applecare isn't a good deal.

So I'm saying if the average cost of failure is less than $326, your expected rate of failure for those 2 years would have to be greater than two thirds for apple care to be a good deal if apple care costs $200 something. I hope Macs are made better than that. :D :apple:
Click to expand...

There is another variable which I think you may have over-looked - namely, the worth of peace of mind to those who have Applecare, and whether peace of mind is worth the price of Applecare. To me, it is, which is one of the reasons I always buy it for computers (though not for iPods).

PrestonWard said:
............... Also if you can get the student discount the prices come down a lot. The real question is why would you not buy apple care?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is my view as well.

Spink10 said:
I cant personally say its more - but several (probably dozen of threads) have quoted prices way above $500 + to fix problems. Some over $700 for logic board stuff.

Still not sure AppleCare is worth it - pros and cons to both arguments.
Click to expand...

There are pros and cons on both sides: Personally, I prefer the peace of mind which comes with having Applecare. Besides, I have had cause to use it on both my MBP (HDD failed, believe it of not and was replaced), and, a year or so later, on my MBA, (the Magsafe adaptor failed, and was replaced, and the keyboard also died and needed replacing).

Thus far, my experience is that Applecare has been worth it in terms of cost outlay (and, naturally, for my peace of mind).
 
yargk said:
Because you understand math.
Click to expand...

I understand math fine. I got the student discount on apple care when i bought my rmbp.

So lets see how good you understand math.

A flat rate repair costs $329 my applecare was $244, without apple care i would be out the additional $115, but with applecare i keep that $115 in my pocket.

Somethings they dont fix at the flat rate, such as a bad screen so lets see how well you understand math again

The cost of screen replacement for the rmbp is $600 apple care is $244, so this time i get to keep $356 in my pocket.
 
Buying extended warranties is a gamble. I've purchased AppleCare on some of my Macs and i-devices, and I've opted out on others. I'm glad I had it on my 2006 model MBP, that thing had a ton of problems. On the other hand, my mid 2009 MBP has had zero issues whatsoever, so I'm glad I chose not to buy it on this one..

Typically, the cost of AppleCare is less than the cost of a single repair. If you expect to have a single repair in the first 3 years of ownership, then I guess it's a good idea to buy AppleCare.
 
I didn't buy AppleCare because I was calculating costs. I bought it for the piece of mind. I've seen many friends who never buy AppleCare and their computers run fine with many years.

My iMac had AppleCare, but never skipped a beat.

My Mac Pro was fine for 2 years, 11 months and some. It suffered catastrophic failure some 2-3 weeks before AppleCare expired. The power supply, GPU, motherboard, and both CPUs were replaced.

It's sometimes just the luck of the draw.
 
You fixed only the screen, try to fix the logic board and let's see how much that would cost.
 
PrestonWard said:
I understand math fine. I got the student discount on apple care when i bought my rmbp.

So lets see how good you understand math.

A flat rate repair costs $329 my applecare was $244, without apple care i would be out the additional $115, but with applecare i keep that $115 in my pocket.

Somethings they dont fix at the flat rate, such as a bad screen so lets see how well you understand math again

The cost of screen replacement for the rmbp is $600 apple care is $244, so this time i get to keep $356 in my pocket.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the earlier quip, but to be honest you still don't seem to get it since you are talking about isolated events. You have to use probability to determine whether it's a good deal. Many people will go for the 3 years without using applecare, so you have to consider the likelihood of having each individual cost. By the way, I just got my mbp back today with a new logic board, new screen, and new battery for a $328 flat rate. To be honest I don't understand how apple determines repair costs besides that if there was physical damage, it would not have been that cheap for me...

"Typically, the cost of AppleCare is less than the cost of a single repair. If you expect to have a single repair in the first 3 years of ownership, then I guess it's a good idea to buy AppleCare."

Exactly. Although, we must remember, you get a year for free, so really it would have to need a repair from the beginning of year 2 to the end of year 3. (but if you expect to need a repair once for every 3 computers you own, during those two years, you should NOT get applecare.)

----------
Moshe1010 said:
You fixed only the screen, try to fix the logic board and let's see how much that would cost.
Click to expand...

See above.
 
yargk said:
Sorry for the earlier quip, but to be honest you still don't seem to get it since you are talking about isolated events. You have to use probability to determine whether it's a good deal. Many people will go for the 3 years without using applecare, so you have to consider the likelihood of having each individual cost. By the way, I just got my mbp back today with a new logic board, new screen, and new battery for a $328 flat rate. To be honest I don't understand how apple determines repair costs besides that if there was physical damage, it would not have been that cheap for me...

"Typically, the cost of AppleCare is less than the cost of a single repair. If you expect to have a single repair in the first 3 years of ownership, then I guess it's a good idea to buy AppleCare."

Exactly. Although, we must remember, you get a year for free, so really it would have to need a repair from the beginning of year 2 to the end of year 3. (but if you expect to need a repair once for every 3 computers you own, during those two years, you should NOT get applecare.)

----------



See above.
Click to expand...
What MacBook Pro do you have? I guess the cost to repair Retina display + its logic board would not cost $328, even in 3 years.
 
Moshe1010 said:
What MacBook Pro do you have? I guess the cost to repair Retina display + its logic board would not cost $328, even in 3 years.
Click to expand...

This is a late 2008 mbp 15 2.53 GHz. A friend gave it to me since it didn't work and he was leaving the country. Yeah, I'm really not sure how the repair rates are calculated. I was told the flat rate for physical damage is over thousand dollars, but as I said, it was much cheaper since the computer wasn't damaged. I'm also not sure if they do a per part charge on newer computers, but if it's old enough they do a flat rate, it's a mystery... but worth finding out I think.

I have also have a mid 2010 mbp 17 that I've had zero issues with.

----------

Interesting link, basically my experience:

http://nwsinglespeed.hubpages.com/hub/Do-You-Know-About-Apples-Flat-Rate-Repair-Pricing
 
yargk said:
Sorry for the earlier quip, but to be honest you still don't seem to get it since you are talking about isolated events.
Click to expand...


I don't think you get it. You paid $328 for a one time repair, where the price to get apple care for your mac would have been $349. So let me get this strait, it a bad deal to pay an extra $21 to have multiple repairs covered if needed. Granted this is if they are needed, but what if you logic board goes out again or anything else stops working that they didn't replace, you will be out another $328, by purchasing apple care you would save $307.
 
PrestonWard said:
I don't think you get it. You paid $328 for a one time repair, where the price to get apple care for your mac would have been $349. So let me get this strait, it a bad deal to pay an extra $21 to have multiple repairs covered if needed. Granted this is if they are needed, but what if you logic board goes out again or anything else stops working that they didn't replace, you will be out another $328, by purchasing apple care you would save $307.
Click to expand...

No. I paid $328 to repair mbp given to me. I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't broken. This one doesn't "count" for my statistics.

I have a different mbp that has needed no repairs and is nearing 3 years old. This one I purchased and got applecare for. That was a bad buy since I didn't use applecare, at all.

So after reading your post a few times, I'd really like for you to get where I'm coming from. I'm speaking in general, like what is the best deal for the next 15 years. So let's say I did buy the mbp that I needed repairs for and I could have chosen to get applecare or repair it for cost, knowing that it would cost $328 (ignoring that it's even out of the applecare 3 years), then you'd be right! $328 is not as good as $349 plus more protection. But that's for this one computer. If this depot rate is really an option you can always get, then that puts a cap on repair costs. And over the next 3 computers I don't think I will need to get more than one repaired! So that's $328 for one repair, or $1050 over the next 3 computers for applecare! That's an easy decision!
 
yargk said:
So after reading your post a few times, I'd really like for you to get where I'm coming from. I'm speaking in general, like what is the best deal for the next 15 years. So let's say I did buy the mbp that I needed repairs for and I could have chosen to get applecare or repair it for cost, knowing that it would cost $328 (ignoring that it's even out of the applecare 3 years), then you'd be right! $328 is not as good as $349 plus more protection. But that's for this one computer. If this depot rate is really an option you can always get, then that puts a cap on repair costs. And over the next 3 computers I don't think I will need to get more than one repaired! So that's $328 for one repair, or $1050 over the next 3 computers for applecare! That's an easy decision!
Click to expand...


I completely understand where you are coming from, but you are making some big assumptions that I don't think make your augments logical. First off you are making an assumption that every computer you purchase wont have problems in the apple care extending period (2 years after initial year).

Additionally, you are assuming all macs can be sent to the depot at the flat rate repair cost and you are assuming they will replace everything at once like they did with your current mac. If any one mac has more than one problem during the apple care warranty you made a bad decision.

Also you are assuming one can not purchase apple care at the student price. Depending on the mac the apple care is a lot less than the depot repair cost.


Anytime you buy an extending warranty and don't use it, it can been seen as a bad decision. However if you get it and use it often then it will be seen as a good decision. Would I take a risk on assuming that any issue i have with my $2200 laptop be covered at a flat rate of $328? No.
 
Last edited:
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