AppleCare+ for 15” MBP

[btownguy]

$379. Wow. I just bought two top-specced 15” TouchBar MBP’s (but with 1TB, not 2TB). I honestly like the feel of the keyboard but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I’m thinking AppleCare may be a good idea this time around even though my previous MBP (mid-2009) never once had a problem.

So I see AppleCare+ for Mac is a fairly new thing. Is the standard (cheaper) AppleCare still available? I’m not really concerned with accidental damage. I’m just concerned with manufacturing or design defects.

Since I didn’t purchase AppleCare at the same time I bought the laptops I see something about having to run a remote diagnostic? What’s that all about? I usually don’t like having any software on my computer that isn’t 100% necessary.

Purchase was within the last week.

Thoughts on this?

 

[ZapNZs]

Here is the original AC - it's a little bit less https://www.adorama.com/acmd012lla.html

IIRC, the diagnostic is just Apple Diagnostics where you hold 'D' at startup - when I purchased AppleCare+ for my rMB a week after buying, I read I would have to do this but I ultimately did not have to do this in order to activate it, strangely enough.

 

[MikeThicke]

Don't buy AppleCare+, AppleCare, or other extended warranties. Apple makes a profit on them. Where do you think the profit comes from?

If there is a manufacturer's defect with the keyboard or whatever, you don't need AppleCare; Apple will replace it for free regardless.

 

[adamh10]

Wow, I'd say consider yourself lucky, as I live in Canada and there is no AppleCare+ yet for MacBook Pro's. I just purchased a brand new, 15-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar and Touch ID (fully loaded with top specs including 3.1 GHz i7 and 2TB SSD), and I could only get the standard AppleCare... which here costs us $379 CAD as well, but that isn't AppleCare+ - no accidental damage is included.

Here's a link to the Canadian AppleCare website for MacBook Pro discussing the benefits and features:

https://www.apple.com/ca/support/products/mac.html

Personally, I wish we had AppleCare+ for MacBook Pro available here, simply because it's such a beautiful and fragile machine, and I would be willing to pay extra for it but it's simply not yet available here. Now that I've just received my top of the line, fully loaded 15" MBP with regular AppleCare, however, I'm sure it'll come out within the next couple of weeks as that almost always happens in Canada once they make a change to US AppleCare. Figures.

Anyway, I would assume that only the one option is available to you if that's all that is listed on the website for purchase. You can always go to the online store and search "AppleCare" and filter the results for MacBook Pro and see what options you have. If it isn't there, it's highly likely that your only option is what's listed - in your case, AppleCare+, I assume.

Cheers,
Adam
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Don't buy AppleCare+, AppleCare, or other extended warranties. Apple makes a profit on them. Where do you think the profit comes from?

If there is a manufacturer's defect with the keyboard or whatever, you don't need AppleCare; Apple will replace it for free regardless.

Outside of the one year warranty, they are starting to do "goodwill" free repairs less and less these days. They used to do them all the time for defects even if you didn't have AppleCare, but more often these days if you are out of your warranty period they are charging for any repairs and service, which is usually so costly that it's more worth it to buy a new computer.

I don't typically buy any extended warranties anywhere, but I will always buy AppleCare+ (for my iOS and Watch devices) and AppleCare for my other Apple devices, because the coverage is just so good that it makes it worth it - and the service speed, care, and support is world class. Personally, they are worth it to me, especially when I just spent $7,000 CAD on a new computer!

 

[btownguy]

I normally don’t get extended warranties because I under the statistics of them. However, I bought these two very expensive MBP’s knowing there was some controversy around the design of the keyboards and that the design may be at fault. That may not emminate until after the first year. That’s why I’m considering it this time around.

 

[Naimfan]

After the problems I had with the 2016 models, there is NO WAY I would buy a 2016/2017 model without AC.

 

[ZapNZs]

Don't buy AppleCare+, AppleCare, or other extended warranties. Apple makes a profit on them. Where do you think the profit comes from?

If there is a manufacturer's defect with the keyboard or whatever, you don't need AppleCare; Apple will replace it for free regardless.

I'm guessing that I just missed this in the Apple News section, but when did Apple officially state this?

 

[adamh10]

I'm guessing that I just missed this in the Apple News section, but when did Apple officially state this?

I believe he was talking about how Apple used to often do "free" repairs outside of the warranty period, particularly if you hadn't had any issues during warranty, or if you had AppleCare and never had a claim. However, they do this far less now, if ever at all, and most repairs are now very costly.

One example is that I had my GPU crap out on my 2011 MBP. After my AppleCare expired. They did the repair for free when it should have cost me $1700. But I have been told that this is MUCH less of a regular occurrence now.

Cheers

 

[newellj]

I think Apple has only done that when they recognized and admitted a manufacturing or design defect - which doesn't happen very often.

OP, historically the 15" MBPs have probably been the most likely to need repair over time. One year ain't much time, and the cost of repairs can be very high. I don't think the latest 15" rMBP models are any less likely to need repair - probably the opposite. At this price point, I wouldn't own one of the 15" models without AC, but that makes an already very high price point even higher.

 

[adamh10]

I think Apple has only done that when they recognized and admitted a manufacturing or design defect - which doesn't happen very often.

OP, historically the 15" MBPs have probably been the most likely to need repair over time. One year ain't much time, and the cost of repairs can be very high. I don't think the latest 15" rMBP models are any less likely to need repair - probably the opposite. At this price point, I wouldn't own one of the 15" models without AC, but that makes an already very high price point even higher.

Yeah this is pretty much how I feel. With it being a new generation and complete redesign of the product, and first release at that, I wasn't going to spend $6,500 on my maxed-out 2TB MBP TouchBar without AppleCare to warrant it from failures for at least three years. This was my first new Mac since my pre-unibody MacBook Pro 15-inch. I keep my computers for a long time... and I need this one to last, given the money I've spent on it.

Cheers

 

[Melbourne Park]

In Australia we don't have AppleCare +. We do have Australian law though, which covers expected life. Since a keyboard should go for years and years, Apple will have to cover them for 5 years I reckon.

But for me, I am going to clean the keyboard every week. Wipe and vacuum. I'll take pics and keep a log. Apple will loose if they refuse to replace a failed keyboard, considering my care and attention. Its now easy to record such care with your phone.