applecare or 'special' 3 year HE hardware warranty?

[ashjamben]

i currently have a white macbook, that i bought with student discount with applecare. i was happy to pay £50 for applecare, but at the time didn't realise with HE discount you automatically get 3 years hardware warranty anyway.

i'm now upgrading to a mbp and am wondering whether applecare is worth it or not. i've only ever rung applecare a handful of times, and apart from resetting the PRAM and repairing disk permissions for a faulty battery (even the genius at the apple store laughed at that) ive never really used the phone support, they always just tell me to take it to an apple store. i live quite close to an apple store and work part time at an apple premium reseller, so don't imagine i'll even need phone support ever.

but what do you guys think? is it worth just the extra £50 for applecare? is there something i'm missing from the HE 3 year hardware warranty?

thanks

 

[pr33tz]

I paid the extra for the Applecare purely for resale value. When it comes to selling it on, I think it will be worth slightly more if it has full Applecare cover.

Other than that, I see no reason to pay extra for it if you live near an Apple store as the only extra benefit is phone support and uplift.

 

[miles01110]

Pretty much any major repair and AppleCare is worth it. I always get it. When my lab bought a dozen Macs we bought AC for all of them and one logic board replacement paid for all 12 enrollments.

 

[DELTAsnake]

I'd go with Applecare. You have no idea what quality of service you will get from a third party warranty.

 

[pr33tz]

You guys are missing the point, he is getting an Apple warranty for 3 years (HE agreement), it's just minus the phone support and uplift which doesn't matter seeing as he's close to an Apple store.

 

[miles01110]

You guys are missing the point, he is getting an Apple warranty for 3 years (HE agreement), it's just minus the phone support and uplift which doesn't matter seeing as he's close to an Apple store.

Does the HE warranty transfer to the new macbook pro he's upgrading to? It was my impression that Applecare is tied to the machine.

 

[pr33tz]

Does the HE warranty transfer to the new macbook pro he's upgrading to? It was my impression that Applecare is tied to the machine.

He will get a new HE warranty when he buys a new one, as long as it's over the phone or online.

 

[miles01110]

He will get a new HE warranty when he buys a new one, as long as it's over the phone or online.

Ok. So the next question would be when he bought his white Macbook, since you can only use your education discount on one notebook per year, and therefore I presume you can only get one HE warranty per year.

 

[xUKHCx]

I'd go with Applecare. You have no idea what quality of service you will get from a third party warranty.

It is an apple warranty.

Does the HE warranty transfer to the new macbook pro he's upgrading to? It was my impression that Applecare is tied to the machine.

It doesn't transfer just like applecare however you get the 3 year HE warranty for free on the new machine.

I just went and asked apple via the Chat feature on the applestore

You are chatting with Yolanda, an Apple Expert

Hi, my name is Yolanda. Welcome to Apple!

Good morning

How may I help you today?

Hi Yolanda, I was wondering if you could tell me the difference between the 3 year HE warranty and full applecare warranty?

They two are the same item.
On the configuration page, it shows up as AppleCare, once you go to the cart, the name changes to EMEA-HE.
Its a discounted price of the Education Store for only Higher Education Students.

OK, so it contains exactly the same terms and conditions, i.e. worldwide warranty on laptops etc.

Yes, its the same product, just better pricing for students.

Thanks Yolanda, been a big help.

edit:

Ok. So the next question would be when he bought his white Macbook, since you can only use your education discount on one notebook per year, and therefore I presume you can only get one HE warranty per year.

Looking at the OPs profile he has the same MB as me which is from November 2007 ish

 

[student_trap]

it's amazing how little people actually know about the higher education AppleCare. Even in the Apple store there have no idea about it.

Even without the £50 the parts and labour are still covered. It is only the telephone support that you lack. It is true that the extra 50 quid will allow you a greater resale value, and in the past I've always bought it was because when you're paying so much for the computer anyway, another £50 really shouldn't be too much of a concern.

If I were you I would get it, and I suggest everyone else should try and read the Ops post carefully before getting their knickers in a twist.

 

[ashjamben]

just to clarify a few things.

the macbook i bought was bought a few years ago, and not under my name as i was only at college and not at university. i wasn't planning on transferring the applecare or anything, i don't know how anyone got that idea. i'll only be transferring the applecare to the new owner was i get round to selling it.

so seen as theres no difference between the two in terms of the warranty i'm tempted not to bother, but for £50 it may add value to the machine when i come to sell it. i suppose it could be handy to have the phone support too.

i'm gonna have a good think about it, and probably decide as i'm buyin the machine. thanks for the replies though, theyve been helpful.