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Applecare: USA Macbook, UK cover

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bigbadnewill

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
353
0
If i buy a macbook in usa (refurbished) and bring it back to uk (sneaky sneaky) can i then buy applecare for it here in the uk, and can i also get any kind of student discount? (i am in higher education, and when we bought the iMac they gave us a good deal on apple care)

Or are these good deals on apple care only for when you buy a full system?

Cheers
 
But getting a refurbished USA macbook is 18% saving on USA retail price, and then on top of that the further savings because of the weak dollar (and the fact that all Apple goods are so much more over here in the UK).

By buying refurbed in USA i could get it for far cheaper then the educational discount over here!

Thanks for advice about Applecare on ebay though. Can you activate apple care at any time, or does it have to be within a certain time period of when the macbook was bought?
 
bigbadnewill said:
Thanks for advice about Applecare on ebay though. Can you activate apple care at any time, or does it have to be within a certain time period of when the macbook was bought?
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You can register AppleCare anytime within one year after you've purchased a Mac. If you do register within 90 days, you'll get immediate extension of telephone support.

I bought my AppleCare from an eBay seller in the states and received the registration code within hours, so it is pretty safe if you're dealing with a respected seller.
 
As someone who bought their MBP from the states when the exchange rate was FAR better than it is now I would recommend you buy the AppleCare from the US cos you'll save on it by buying there.

Of course I got my American friend to buy it for me so she would've given her address. If you know anyone in the states just put it under their name. I've already used the AppleCare in the UK (power supply stopped working after a couple of weeks) and there was no problem at all. In all fairness, it's not the person it's registered with that's important but the machine's serial no. If that's registered with AppleCare then you've got no problem.

If you don't have any American friends, then I'm sure you could simply say that someone bought it from the states as a present for you and you'd now like to buy AppleCare for it. Just phone up Apple UK and see what they say on the situation before you buy.

Oh, and make sure you don't bring the MBP in the original box when bringing it back unless you want to be stopped by Customs. If possible try and get someone to send you the empty box later on.

Wherever you get the AppleCare from, you'll enjoy the MBP (especially the saving!) and with the exception of a few keys in slightly different places the US version is identical to the UK. Remember you don't need to spend a large amount of money on a special Apple power adapter - you can just buy yourself a normal US to UK adapter for a pound or so and it'll work perfectly.

Cheers :)
 
Thanks for the info people! My whole family is in USA right now visiting family, so getting it delivered to a usa address is easy, and they are coming back at different times. My plan is to get my sister to come back with the macbook and psu, perhaps in her hand luggage. And my parents to flat pack the box in the bottom of their suitcase. They fly weeks apart, so no chance of them both getting stopped and people thinking it's the same computer.

As for applecare, thanks again. I will look into the price of it over there, and here. But i asked also, (and i don't think that it's been answered yet) will applecare be cheaper if i'm a student? I know that buying from the student shop made applecare for my iMac approx £50....but was that because it was all bought at the same time?

Thanks again
 
bigbadnewill said:
will applecare be cheaper if i'm a student? I know that buying from the student shop made applecare for my iMac approx £50....but was that because it was all bought at the same time?
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Not really, eBay still turns out to be a lot cheaper. I got mine for US$180.
 
Thanks again Skyrider007!! :D

Looks like i just have to wait a few weeks now until my family gets back from USA :) good times.
 
Remember that when you re-enter the UK you are required to declare all items over £146 (iirc). If you do not and pass through the green channel you are committing a criminal offence.

Not really sure if it's worth it. If you get caught you have to pay duty on the entire purchase price, not just the amount over £146.
 
neiltc13 said:
Remember that when you re-enter the UK you are required to declare all items over £146 (iirc). If you do not and pass through the green channel you are committing a criminal offence.

Not really sure if it's worth it. If you get caught you have to pay duty on the entire purchase price, not just the amount over £146.
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No need to go through the red channel if you're carrying the MacBook as a personal item (without the box/packaging).
 
skyrider007 said:
No need to go through the red channel if you're carrying the MacBook as a personal item (without the box/packaging).
Click to expand...

Exactly!! :) And even if i do get stung, is the tax to be paid 17.5%? If so, it'll STILL work out cheaper (although only just) then if i bought from the uk, so still worth doing in my eyes!

Just shows how much of a rip off this country is! haha
 
From experience, I say just buy it from the U.K. I bought mine in the U.S in December and there was some crashing problems, anyone who experiences such problems would normally be able to exchange their MacBook but I wasn't.

The fact is that they are not exactly the same laptop (LL/B in the U.S, LB/A in the U.K) and the apple stores in the U.K will refuse to give you an exchange laptop if you bought yours in the U.S.

They will service it but you'll never get a new one, even if it is seriously f*cked up. Apple Care won't make a difference to this, trust me on this one, I spent hours arguing with the genius and manager at the Birmingham Apple Store...

On the brighter side if you are truly confident that you are not going to get a laptop that shows serious problems further down the line then go for it. You've been warned though.
 
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