AppleCare for New iMac w/SSD HD?

[dandrewk]

I've never been one to get extended warranties. Never had one for any computer I've owned. But I am seriously considering getting the AppleCare for the new iMac, mainly due to the new manufacturing process involved with the display.

However, it seems any display issues would be manifest well within the first year, so it's covered. Then when Apple reduced the price of the SSD, I decided to go that way.

The question is - would opting for the SSD over a normal HD make AppleCare less necessary? It seems that HD failures are the number one service issue, and SSDs are supposedly much more reliable.

I know it's always a gamble, one way or another. I'd like to save that $169 if I can.

 

[marc11]

You will get two replies here, people telling you yes to buy it, because that is what they did and people telling you no, do not buy it because they didn't...

Anything can fail, so I do not think one is more likely than the other. I have two Macs a Macbook and a MBP. I put AppleCare on the Macbook when I got it, but opted not to get it for my MBP. Well, neither had an issue since 2010, so what does this mean?

Nothing! It is a gamble, the odds are in Apple's favor that nothing will go wrong with most machines, otherwise they wouldn't sell the warranty; the question, one only you can answer is if you are prepared and okay with something going back that will cost a couple of hundred or more to fix two years down the road?

Honestly, with a little time and patience, the iMac does not seem that hard to work on....but me, I opted to put it on my new iMac, if something goes wrong, I want Apple to crack it open and not me.

Keep in mind, you have a year to decide, so just use the iMac, watch for failure trends and in 11 months time you think you want the peace of mind buy the AppleCare from a discount place like B&H Photo a few weeks before your OEM warranty expires.

 

[phoenixsan]

You are right....

mechanical HDDs are more prone to failures because the moving parts and mechanisms involved in the HDDs operations. Good thinking also about possible screen issues. But the full/only SSD option as marketed by Apple sounds excessive/expensive to me. For me, the AppleCare coverage is for peace of mind. And had passed for my fair share of computer failures to justify the extra $$. Saved big bucks to me in at least 5 times (maybe I had bad luck...)

 

[Brian Y]

IMO, AppleCare is the one extended warranty that's worth buying - especially on the iMac - any major component failure will be more expensive than the cost of the warranty buy some margin.

 

[Andrew*Debbie]

You will get two replies here, people telling you yes to buy it, because that is what they did and people telling you no, do not buy it because they didn't...

Agree.

The computer will be far more likely to break if you don't get the warranty.

We didn't get Apple Care on our 2006 white iMac. Still going strong. No problems ever.

Did get it on our daughter's MacBook. Good thing too. We got a motherboard under warranty.


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We now qualify for UK Higher Education pricing. Computers bought through the Apple HE on-line store come with 3 year warranty.

 

[GXPvince]

FYI- At one point on BHPHOTOVIDEO, they have Apple Care for 69.99. Its now 122.00 it looks like. Still a better deal.

 

[firedept]

I have always purchased Applecare. Have paid for it on dozens of Apple products over the years. Needed it for the first time in November 2012, and I am glad I had it. This time my iMac had to be replaced due to many issues. Applecare paid for itself many times over. Always wondered why I was paying for something that I was never using. Well now I know why. My iMac that was bad would have cost me a few thousand dollars to have all the repairs done. Possibly to the point of it being cheaper to buy a new iMac. Remember that it is electronics you are talking about here and they are expensive to repair if you have to pay out of pocket.

 

[mikeorchard]

The question is - would opting for the SSD over a normal HD make AppleCare less necessary? It seems that HD failures are the number one service issue, and SSDs are supposedly much more reliable.

Are you opting for the 768GB SSD? Considering the cost of it, I would still get AppleCare to protect that investment.