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Applecare- should I buy it?

H

hushmartin

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 4, 2009
283
4
Kansas
I bought applecare for my iPhone and never used it. I feel like I wasted some money.

Fast forward to my next laptop purchase. I'm thinking I'm going to switch to a MBP. Do I really need applecare? I've never had a problem with a laptop before (knock on wood) and I've never bought an extended warranty before for a laptop. I generally think they are waste of money... but every time I turn around I hear people saying that it should be bought with a Mac. If Macs are so reliable, why do I need applecare?

If I do buy it, is there any way to get it cheaper somehow? Like through a reseller or something?
 
I would buy it since a laptop has lots of moving parts that could fail. You can try B&H photo for a better price.


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MacBooks are not more reliable then other Laptops , actually asus and toshiba have lower failing rates , but most laptops are not really worse with reliability ranging from just above 15% to 30% failing rates , the only exeption with apple care is, you will get all parts replaced without fuss , so if your display fails or your harddrive or the logicboard , just a phonecall and everything is taken care of by apple , sure you can be one of the ~80% + who never get a problem in the 3 years they had apple care , but apple care has a little side effect , the resell value goes up by a huge margin if you sell after 2 years and you got one year apple care left , because the buyer gets a Mac with full warranty , so the difference you have to pay once your MacBook with apple care got sold and a new one is maybe %15, if yours is really battered with dents and more perhaps 20%
 
Three Macs in my house, all have AppleCare. I've never needed it, but the peace of mind was worth it, for me.

Consider that an all-in-one computer like an iMac or a MacBook generally isn't as easy (or affordable) to repair as something like a Mac Pro or a typical Windows box, and that makes it an easy decision for me.
 
Yes
I have purchased 4 macbooks in the last 5 years for the kids, and everyone of them was purchased with applecare. These were for high school and college use, hard traveling, DJing raves, not particularly taken care of, and whatever else they did to them. It has paid for itself many times over. One blew a main board in germany during a semester abroad, fixed, no questions asked, thank you very much. ( go price that out) A drive failed, had my cute daughter take it back, flirt with the applenerd, they threw in a new battery, and case cover. One had a bad screen, boom, fixed, with a new power supply too (go price that out too) . ( Always take them to the store right before the warrantee ends, and that usually is worth the trip. - I put it in ical to alarm me)
The reason you get it is because it is insurance that nobody hassles you about. You show them a problem, they look up your serial # and if it is covered, sorry for your problem, can you come back tomorrow?

Wouldn't be so quick to get it for an Imac. it just sits there, and you keep the dust out of it. Your main problem is infant mortality. No on the ipods, we used to fix them ourselves. Ipads? Don't know yet No moving parts, and adult owned, I don't think so.

But Laptops? Do it. And you can owe me a beer if you have to take it back with a real problem, and you see how that goes.

Just don't get it wet.
 
I buy AppleCare for each computer that I buy. You can get AppleCare cheaper through Apple's Education Store.
 
I had a 27" iMac and bought Apple Care from B&H Photo for only $120 so it was a no-brainer. I sold the iMac for a 15" MBP and haven't decided to by AC or pass yet. I have already replaced the RAM to 8GB and plan to upgrade the hard drive soon with bigger and faster. Neither would be covered since they are not the original equipment.

If I do go for it then B&H is the best place at $244 for the 15 and 17" MBP's which is about $100 less than Apples price, and no tax and free shipping. If I sell it early for a newer model then having AC does help with the resale value since the buyer can purchase with no worries.
 
 
Re: AppleCare

I work for an Apple Dealer in Texas. I know that there is a good chance that you will never need the contract to cover anything. But . . . when something does break, the cost of one repair will usually cost you twice what the 3 year AppleCare will. The other factor is that if you have a problem that Apple/your dealer can't repair in a timely manner (out of parts, string of bad parts, can't pinpoint the diagnosis), Apple seems much more likely to step in an give you a new machine if your old one was covered under contract. We have had 3-4 machines replaced in the last year because of not being able to get them repaired completely or promptly. All were under AppleCare. 2 of them were actually just expired by a month or so. Apple still gave them a new PowerBook for the trouble. Pretty good investment. Things to remember - they do not cover damage or abuse! No water damage. Can't drop the unit or sit on it. Happens a bunch. You set the unit in your chair and forget it and sit down. Usually breaks the screen or logic board. Best of luck one way or the other!

:apple:
 
I have worked for an apple reseller for 2 years now, based on what I have seen in the form of customers giving us feedback and my own personal experience, I would say if your at least a averagely competent and careful computer user then for a laptop get it, for a desktop don't get it. As desktops don't really move at all if something does go wrong them it tends to happen within the normal warrantee anyways. Laptops no matter how well made and designed are constantly moved about, and as such the odds of it getting bang or bumped in just the wrong way to cause a problem are astronomically higher. There is a reason apple charges more for applecare for the laptops then desktop machines even though they are in the same price ranges. Also, even though they shouldn't, its been pretty clear to me that apple's customer service people tend to give better support when you have it. What above people said is true too. Applecare is cheaper if you buy it with the educational discount. EDU prices are 15"/17" MBP - $239, 13"MBP/MB/MBA - $183, iMac/Mac Mini - $99, Mac Pro - $199.
 
You don't have to buy it when you first buy the laptop, but I would definitely buy it before the 12 months are up. With all of these Apple products, if parts fail (and unfortunately, that is quite possible) they can be quite pricey to replace. Especially on a MacBook where the CPU and graphics chip are integrated onto the logic board, so if either of those go, or the logic board fails.. they all have to be replaced. Personally I think it's nice to have the piece of mind that if a fault does occur, it will be fixed.
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
Okay, I think I've got it figured out. Since I already started the thread, I will just ask: Does applecare cover the laptop battery if it starts going bad/not holding a charge?

I know it does on the iPhone, but it might be different for laptops.
If it does cover batteries, then I will buy it. Mainly because that is part of the reason I want to buy a new computer-- laptop battery is bad. The thing is so expensive it isn't worth it to replace it when I could just buy a new laptop for an extra 3-4 hundred. (this battery is *really* expensive)
 
Thanks. I just found that a minute ago while I was asking an apple rep on chat. I asked them and they said that it DID cover batteries, when I asked them about the terms and conditions they said it was covered... I dunno. I think the rep was a dummy and doesn't know what she's talking about.

I really have no idea if I will buy applecare now. I was sort of planning on it, but this leans me toward not getting it. :confused: I've never had a problem with any computer that would have necessitated having an extended warranty... KNOCK ON WOOD!! My LCD tv, on the other hand had a power supply issue that would have rendered it worthless had we not gotten the warranty. *sigh* :confused:
 
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