AppleCare Worth It?

[madrich]

Agree with the consensus. Credit card warranties are great, but they do make you jump through hoops. They are not trying to foster goodwill with the defective product's brand, so it's in their best interest to make it challenging to make a claim. That being said, it's pretty much free. And insurance is supposed to cover disastrous failures which should be rare.

Applecare gives the benefit of nicer tech support if you purchased if that's what you want. If you just want to cover failures financially, the credit card benefit is good enough (and free). I got AC for the tech support and assumed nicer care (assumed decreased downtime), not necessarily for financial insurance even though that's always nice. Don't get it if you're just interested in CYA on an expensive repair if you have a credit card extended warranty.

The general prudent advice is that warranties are never a good financial decision. There's a reason that companies are very aggressive in selling them, they are profitable. But don't subscribe to this as a blanket statement for everything. It depends on what your tolerances are, your financial situation, benefits of specific warranties from item to item, and dumb luck.

Thank you for your comments and insight. I double-checked with DiscoverCard that their extended warranty does apply to my eBay purchase of a used MacBook Air 13" early 2015 which is still under AppleCare warranty until mid July. When I bought my first (used) Apple MacBook Pro 15" early 2008 in 2009 it was covered under a three year extended warranty from prior owner's warranty from Best Buy. Later, I had to replace the MotherBoard in Dec., 2013. Unfortunately, the warranty already had expired, but Apple replaced it for about $300. This was before they stopped supporting and fixing my computer model.

So, I have a little time left to decide about AppleCare for two more years of coverage. At this point I am leaning to just having the one extra year of warranty coverage from my credit card.

 

[Patcell]

It ma

Thank you for your comments and insight. I double-checked with DiscoverCard that their extended warranty does apply to my eBay purchase of a used MacBook Air 13" early 2015 which is still under AppleCare warranty until mid July. When I bought my first (used) Apple MacBook Pro 15" early 2008 in 2009 it was covered under a three year extended warranty from prior owner's warranty from Best Buy. Later, I had to replace the MotherBoard in Dec., 2013. Unfortunately, the warranty already had expired, but Apple replaced it for about $300. This was before they stopped supporting and fixing my computer model.

So, I have a little time left to decide about AppleCare for two more years of coverage. At this point I am leaning to just having the one extra year of warranty coverage from my credit card.

It may be worth checking B&H photo for AppleCare. I have purchased AppleCare through them for all of my MacBooks, and they are usually at a significant discount.

 

[carestudio]

but Apple replaced it for about $300. This was before they stopped supporting and fixing my computer model.

300 to replace mobo is pretty cheap, last time they quoted me 500 dollars.

 

[xxray]

I've never bought AppleCare for any of my products, and never have needed it. I've never had a single repair or problem I've needed to fix on any of my Apple devices.

 

[nahkampfwombi]

wow. so many replies stating to buy the AppleCare.
I pay a premium price and then need to justify another hundreds of bucks because my product is basically crap?
Tough call.

I have my MBA 11" since 6 years. No problems so far. But I am not in the market for 2000$+ Macbooks.
Base machines are well enough. No AppleCare needed here.

 

[ipponrg]

Peace of mind is a nice luxury to have. If you don't need it (i.e. have faith in your laptop), then don't buy it. If you just want to have a peace of mind (and the cost does not bother you), then buy it.

 

[Patcell]

Peace of mind is a nice luxury to have. If you don't need it (i.e. have faith in your laptop), then don't buy it. If you just want to have a peace of mind (and the cost does not bother you), then buy it.

Pretty much a perfect answer!

It is a crap shoot... I have had Mac's on which the AppleCare was a total waste, other times (like my current machine) on which AppleCare has paid for itself in spades.

 

[petsk]

Since 2009 I've had 5 Macbooks, 3 iMacs, a Mini, 6 iPhones, 6 iPads, a Cinema Display, Apple Tv, 3 Time Capsules, 2 Apple Watches + stuff I've forgotten.

I've never bought Apple Care and would probably never had any use for it. But the standard 12 month warranty has been useful many, many times. Recently I had a iPad mini 4 replaced within the 12 months warranty and now my 12" Macbook is in need of a repair too.

 

[Another Day]

now my 12" Macbook is in need of a repair too.

What's wrong with the 12"?

 

[petsk]

What's wrong with the 12"?

The keyboard and USB-C port needs to be replaced.

 

[meteoreos]

Definitely worth it if you can get a good deal on eBay.

Purchased mine for £195 when it is originally £329 from Apple, which is outrageous.

Anything can go wrong with your laptop, regardless of how careful you are with it. My MBP had some dust trapped under the screen and thankfully it was covered by the warranty otherwise I'd have needed to shell out £400+ for a new display.

 

[mguzzi]

On the new MacBook Pro I would purchase Apple Care. We had one with a battery failure around 9 months old. Apple sent us a box, fixed the issue and returned the laptop in about 24 hours. However I was surprised to see a MacBook Pro with a total battery failure in under a year.

 

[Tenashus1]

Should I add AppleCare to my new 13" MacBook Pro with touch bar? What is the chance of failure for MacBook Pros? Would I get away with 3 years not having any faults/failure in the machine?

Just made a battery repair/replacement on my 2015 MBP. Would have cost me $500 without AppleCare. Yes, it's worth it.

 

[thadoggfather]

AppleCare is a no brainer for MBP

 

[MikeThicke]

I can’t believe how many people on this thread advise buying AppleCare. As a post on the first page stated, Apple makes a profit on AppleCare. Therefore it is not worth it: on average it will cost more than you will save. If you really want to pay Apple for “peace of mind”, fine, but you should understand that over the course of your lifetime, paying for this and other extended warranties will probably cost you tens of thousands of dollars more than simply paying for repairs or replacements out-of-pocket.

 

[Meltdownblitz]

Definitely worth buying. It’s $279 to replace screen without Apple care for iPhone X. With Apple care it’s $199 for Apple care and $29 to replace screen = $228.

To replace the whole device it’s somewhere over $500. With Apple care I believe it’s around $298. $199 for Apple care + $99 device replacement. For me it’s a no brainer! Your pretty screwed paying more either way if you break your screen or better yet, the device while not having Apple care.

Also if you break the glass back I read somewhere it’s part of the whole device replacement which is somewhere upwards of $500. Not sure how true that is though.

 

[Abs_p]

Citi bank offers extra 24 month of warranty for products bought using their credit cards for no extra cost. Makes no sense me to get AppleCare+ and spend $270 on it.

Amex/Discover and almost every other issuer gives 12 months of extra warranty anyway.

 

[Elwots]

Citi bank offers extra 24 month of warranty for products bought using their credit cards for no extra cost. Makes no sense me to get AppleCare+ and spend $270 on it.

Amex/Discover and almost every other issuer gives 12 months of extra warranty anyway.

Does that cover physical damage/excessive wear?

 

[Abs_p]

Does that cover physical damage/excessive wear?

It doubles your original warranty so no physical damage but in my years of using computers I have never accidentally damaged my MacBooks physically . My space bar stopped working few months back and amex covered it.

 

[Tenashus1]

Citi bank offers extra 24 month of warranty for products bought using their credit cards for no extra cost. Makes no sense me to get AppleCare+ and spend $270 on it.

Amex/Discover and almost every other issuer gives 12 months of extra warranty anyway.[/QUOT

My repair came after the Amex coverage lapsed. But good to know about Citi.

 

[newellj]

I can’t believe how many people on this thread advise buying AppleCare. As a post on the first page stated, Apple makes a profit on AppleCare. Therefore it is not worth it: on average it will cost more than you will save. If you really want to pay Apple for “peace of mind”, fine, but you should understand that over the course of your lifetime, paying for this and other extended warranties will probably cost you tens of thousands of dollars more than simply paying for repairs or replacements out-of-pocket.

Both of my current Macs had failures during the first three years of ownership. Both repairs would have cost more than the cost of Apple Care to fix out of warranty. So both of those "purchases" were worth the cost. The big issue isn't the cost, it's that both $h!t the bed within the first three years of ownership.

 

[Queen6]

Fact: both of my current Macs had failures during the first three years of ownership. Fact: both repairs would have cost more than the cost of Apple Care to fix out of warranty. So both of those "purchases" were worth the cost. The big issue isn't the cost, it's that both $h!t the bed within the first three years of ownership.

Unfortunately Apple Care is near mandatory with the new MBP. Most want lighter and thinner, equally Apple is capitalising on this by excluding 3rd party upgrades and repairs. With all being a factor of Apple's revenue stream, same as Apple is slowly but surely building dependence on dongles all with generous margin.

Q-6

 

[MikeThicke]

Both of my current Macs had failures during the first three years of ownership. Both repairs would have cost more than the cost of Apple Care to fix out of warranty. So both of those "purchases" were worth the cost. The big issue isn't the cost, it's that both $h!t the bed within the first three years of ownership.

No, that’s no how it works. If you buy a lottery ticket and win, that does not make the lottery ticket worth it. The expected payoff of a lottery ticket is below the cost of a lottery ticket. You might get lucky and win, but you can’t look back at your decision yesterday and claim it was smart because you won today. Playing the lottery is a bad proposition, because on average you will lose.

Buying AppleCare is like buying a really expensive lottery ticket. Sure, occasionally you will win and get back more than you paid, but on average you will lose. If you took all of the money you pay for extended warranties in a bank account, and used that account to pay for repairs and replacements, the vast majority of people would come out way ahead over the course of their lifetimes. AppleCare and other extended warranties are VERY profitable for manufacturers. Where do you think that profit comes from?

 

[0989383]

I bought it on mine because it's a lot of money to me and for it to break even in it's second year or third would leave me in a crappy situation where I've lost over £1,000 and would have nothing to show for it. I've only been let down by Apple once and in all fairness the machine was over 3 years old! So on my new MBP things like the screen, keyboard, costly electronic parts inside and battery basically are safe from the event of killing themselves. All I have to do, is make sure I don't destroy the computer and I'm fine! I could live with it if it was my own fault that it broke, but if it died and I had nothing to do with it I'd be really p*ssed!

So I hope Apple Care pays off for me in the next 2 years and 11 months!
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Unfortunately Apple Care is near mandatory with the new MBP. Most want lighter and thinner, equally Apple is capitalising on this by excluding 3rd party upgrades and repairs. With all being a factor of Apple's revenue stream, same as Apple is slowly but surely building dependence on dongles all with generous margin.

Q-6

I think the whole lack of third party genuine Apple parts has been their policy for a long long time. Had I been able to get a keyboard for my old MBP, I'd still have it now. The high cost of Apple (or any of their authorised repairers who could source parts) was completely uneconomical for me so I sold it off.

It was literally the fact that, despite having the knowledge and ability to open it and replace parts, lack of available Apple parts means my only choice IS Apple Care... if that was their intention, it worked and they milked £229 out of me.

Certainly would not have bought my new MBP without it, out of fear of being caught out within 3 years. Beyond that and I suppose it's not as painful... but I'd still expect 5 years out of the machine. Only time will tell.

 

[newellj]

No, that’s no how it works. If you buy a lottery ticket and win, that does not make the lottery ticket worth it. The expected payoff of a lottery ticket is below the cost of a lottery ticket. You might get lucky and win, but you can’t look back at your decision yesterday and claim it was smart because you won today. Playing the lottery is a bad proposition, because on average you will lose.

Buying AppleCare is like buying a really expensive lottery ticket. Sure, occasionally you will win and get back more than you paid, but on average you will lose. If you took all of the money you pay for extended warranties in a bank account, and used that account to pay for repairs and replacements, the vast majority of people would come out way ahead over the course of their lifetimes. AppleCare and other extended warranties are VERY profitable for manufacturers. Where do you think that profit comes from?

I don't buy extended warranties as a rule. I'm not sure why I did in these two cases, but the payout is >100% here, and since these are (with one exception) the only extended warranties I've bought, I'm well into the black on these.

The other exception is AC+ on the Watch I just bought. I know that I bang watches into things and $49 plus the co-pay on this is a no-brainer in my case.