broke down and purchased AppleCare Plus for my 16 because of ARM

[arche3]

I never get AppleCare. today I ordered Apple Care Plus for my new 16 because or ARM. I figure with Apple Care plus when I sell this laptop in 2 years it will be worth more. also can get parts replaced if scratched, etc...

My 16 came to $5863 including tax. only option I did not get was the 8TB ssd. applecare plus was 400 with tax. I think this is the best way to future proof used sale value of this laptop for a switch in 2 years to a ARM macbook Pro.

I hate warranties and such. money grab. but in this case I think it was the smart move.

I would suggest it if you guys have a high spec'd intel macbook if the cost is a smaller percentage of the overall price.

 

[0128672]

If you sell or trade-in your new MBP in two years, one option is you’ll be able to request a pro-rated refund on the AC+ from Apple. If you’re selling it outright in two years, you could add maybe 1/3 of the AC+ cost. Having a mostly-used AC+ plan on a device doesn’t greatly increase its sale value, but it’s a nice thing to offer and may help to someone to choose yours over a similarly-priced one without.

By the way, cosmetic damage like scratches is not covered under AC+.

Legal - AppleCare+ for Mac - Apple

www.apple.com

 

[ilikewhey]

having ac+ is what will separate you from other sellers.

 

[arche3]

I was thinking about screen scratches. and any accidents i might have. I know people have had their scratched screens replaced under apple care.

ebay sale price of used laptops with apple care always seems higher. especially one with a new screen.

 

[Apple_Robert]

You shouldn’t buy AC+ with the intent of being able to get more money for your used device later on. You are essentially throwing good money out the window doing that. You should buy it for its intended usage, so that you don’t have as much out of pocket expense should something happen.

Macs are not an investment. They are disposal electronic tools.

 

[arche3]

You shouldn’t buy AC+ with the intent of being able to get more money for your used device later on. You are essentially throwing good money out the window doing that. You should buy it for its intended usage, so that you don’t have as much out of pocket expense should something happen.

Macs are not an investment. They are disposal electronic tools.

Well that's the point. If I break it I can get it fixed. So I can sell it in 2 years. It was also 6k. So not really disposable.

Also it seems MacBooks with Apple care sell for more. Which is also my reason.

I think the right term is the MacBook pro is a capital investment in equipment. So doesn't hurt to get highest resale value. You get the tax break on schedules 179 and also later you get some of the money back when you upgrade.

 

[bill-p]

Well, you are paying quite a bit more for AppleCare+, so yeah... of course your MacBook will sell for more than the equivalent.

My experience with AppleCare and AppleCare+ is that... in the end, the difference levels out anyways. I'd maybe get $200 - $300 extra for a machine in pristine condition with AppleCare+ remaining... or I can just sell the current machine, no AppleCare, for $300 less.

Also from my experience, the most expensive computers (not limited to just Macs) depreciate at a much faster rate than the base models. In fact, the base models are the ones that keep the highest rate of return. If you're buying with the intention of selling in 1-2 years, base models are what you should go for.

Here's some quick math:

16" 2019 w/ i9 + 1TB SSD goes for about $2400 now on average (due to sales). In 2 years, I'd expect to be able to sell the machine for $1200 easily. I lost $1200.

16" 2020 w/ i9 + 2TB SSD goes for... judging by your price, let's say $5800. In 2 years, do you think you can get more than $3000 for the machine? And even if you are able to get, say, $4000, you're losing $1800. So you end up losing more money than me.

Look at 2018 maxed out MacBook prices on the market and that should tell you how much your machine will depreciate.

 

[profcutter]

Generally, I agree with you, but there’s too many unknowns here. This is probably the last intel 16 inch, don’t know what that will do to resale value, could be the ARM transition is smooth, and it just looks like a dinosaur, or it could be a rough transition, with delays on a replacement 16”, or software problems with the new ones, then resale should improve.

The problem with the base models is that they seem to exhibit major problems with external displays, often required by folks wanting pro machines. That’s said, holy moly 5600 is a lot of dough, I can’t imagine paying anywhere near that for a 2-year old machine. Maybe 2500. 2018 isn’t a good indicator of resale performance: lousy keyboard, lack of cooling make the 16 inch a much better proposition.

 

[arche3]

If the AC+ cost balances out at resale or even sort of balances out I would be happy.

 

[bill-p]

Generally, I agree with you, but there’s too many unknowns here. This is probably the last intel 16 inch, don’t know what that will do to resale value, could be the ARM transition is smooth, and it just looks like a dinosaur, or it could be a rough transition, with delays on a replacement 16”, or software problems with the new ones, then resale should improve.

The problem with the base models is that they seem to exhibit major problems with external displays, often required by folks wanting pro machines. That’s said, holy moly 5600 is a lot of dough, I can’t imagine paying anywhere near that for a 2-year old machine. Maybe 2500. 2018 isn’t a good indicator of resale performance: lousy keyboard, lack of cooling make the 16 inch a much better proposition.

I have a 16" myself, and I have no problem with mine. I have posted extensively in the monitor thread with my own findings. Generally, if you can stick to clamshell mode, or just use the MacBook by itself, it's generally fine. The subset of people who need to run multiple monitors will "suffer", but their suffering is not any worse than someone who constantly runs the GPU (like animators, photo editors, graphics artists).

The 16" is a fine machine in my experience.

That said, the 2018 is still indicative of resale value. Despite what problems it may have, it's still a Mac. Mac computers have their own fair share of problems at every generation, and the problems of the 2018 model may have been alleviated by the 16" MacBook but the 16" has issues of its own (you just stated one of them). It's a level playing field.

If the AC+ cost balances out at resale or even sort of balances out I would be happy.

I get what you mean, but it's the rest of the other components that won't age well. Technology progresses pretty fast, and 2 years is a surprisingly long time.

I'm guessing you are getting a maxed out 16" just to stay ahead of the curve, but the way I see it, Apple is basically declaring that they are discarding their legacy and starting a new path. To me, it means two things: I know my 16" machine's days are numbered, and I know it's inevitable that I will soon have to make a decision on whether I want to continue believing in Apple's vision, or if I should just do as everyone else is doing and jump ship to other platforms. The Mac used to be a good multiplatform development base, but now it's looking increasingly like Apple wants to be exclusive.

 

[lambertjohn]

"My 16 came to $5863 including tax"


Wow! I can't even imagine spending that much on a computer.

 

[arche3]

"My 16 came to $5863 including tax"


Wow! I can't even imagine spending that much on a computer.

I need it for work but it still hurts.

 

[arche3]

I have a 16" myself, and I have no problem with mine. I have posted extensively in the monitor thread with my own findings. Generally, if you can stick to clamshell mode, or just use the MacBook by itself, it's generally fine. The subset of people who need to run multiple monitors will "suffer", but their suffering is not any worse than someone who constantly runs the GPU (like animators, photo editors, graphics artists).

The 16" is a fine machine in my experience.

That said, the 2018 is still indicative of resale value. Despite what problems it may have, it's still a Mac. Mac computers have their own fair share of problems at every generation, and the problems of the 2018 model may have been alleviated by the 16" MacBook but the 16" has issues of its own (you just stated one of them). It's a level playing field.



I get what you mean, but it's the rest of the other components that won't age well. Technology progresses pretty fast, and 2 years is a surprisingly long time.

I'm guessing you are getting a maxed out 16" just to stay ahead of the curve, but the way I see it, Apple is basically declaring that they are discarding their legacy and starting a new path. To me, it means two things: I know my 16" machine's days are numbered, and I know it's inevitable that I will soon have to make a decision on whether I want to continue believing in Apple's vision, or if I should just do as everyone else is doing and jump ship to other platforms. The Mac used to be a good multiplatform development base, but now it's looking increasingly like Apple wants to be exclusive.

I am also slightly obsessive about scratched screens. So this at least calms me a bit.

 

[mj_]

I somehow fail to see the correlation between Apple switching to ARM and you purchasing AC+ to protect your MacBook Pro against scratched screens

 

[arche3]

I somehow fail to see the correlation between Apple switching to ARM and you purchasing AC+ to protect your MacBook Pro against scratched screens

Don't question my sanity.

 

[leman]

My 16 came to $5863 including tax. only option I did not get was the 8TB ssd. applecare plus was 400 with tax. I think this is the best way to future proof used sale value of this laptop for a switch in 2 years to a ARM macbook Pro.

Interesting logic. You could have gotten the mid tier model for 2800 and then sold it for around 1000-1500. Instead you chose to spend 6000 on a computer you will sell for 2000-2500...

And, no, warranty is not a money grab. It’s an insurance. In a industry where 20-30% of machines will fail in the first three years having an insurance is not a bad thing.

 

[involuntarheely]

I think purchasing AC+ for resale value is theoretically a strong move but people don't seem to value it.

as others have mentioned you can ask a prorated refund of AC+ if you sell the laptop, but I think you can only do it if you have the account number associated to AC+ (it appears in the original receipt). The problem with this is

- as a seller of the macbook, it makes sense to buy AC+ and then advertise it when selling the macbook because it gives the buyer a warranty over it. if you're selling on year 2 and the laptop is still in mint condition basically it's as good as buying a new laptop with 1 year warranty.

however
- as a buyer of the macbook, I value AC+ but I also know that it can be rescinded by the original buyer, and literally every time I have tried asking for transfer of AC+ ownership (which you can do by calling Apple) I have always been stared at blankly by the seller. this greatly diminishes the value of AC+ because potentially the seller can ask the prorated refund after selling the device so what you thought had AC+ will lose it soon after buying it.

now I now that most sellers would not do this but it's difficult to anticipate and the AC+ transaction must be dealt with separately (personally I have never tried).
plus the possible refund is only prorated so you'll definitely "throw away" about $200 for AC+ for 2 years.
ultimately I'd advise against buying AC+ for the sole reason of trying to increase the resale value later on.

I think the best course of action when buying laptops is to get them via credit cards that offer extended warranties. which you pay nothing for but should theoretically cover major issues.

 

[arche3]

Interesting logic. You could have gotten the mid tier model for 2800 and then sold it for around 1000-1500. Instead you chose to spend 6000 on a computer you will sell for 2000-2500...

And, no, warranty is not a money grab. It’s an insurance. In a industry where 20-30% of machines will fail in the first three years having an insurance is not a bad thing.

This specific build was the cheapest I can spec to finish a specific job. Due to covis 19 work at home.

 

[0128672]

This specific build was the cheapest I can spec to finish a specific job. Due to covis 19 work at home.

You bought an amazing machine, so enjoy it to its fullest. Don’t let the future resale value get in the way of that.

 

[zorinlynx]

AppleCare is insurance.

Over the long haul, if you buy AppleCare for every device you buy you will very likely spend more money on AppleCare than you would have on repairs for those devices.

This has certainly been the case for me; I did the math and found that it's simply not worth buying AppleCare at all. Back in the day I bought AppleCare for several devices and only had to use it once and was still not worth it.

That said, if you're very accident-prone with your devices it might be worth it, but do the math. You might be surprised.

 

[||\||]

Not a great idea with the expensive Apple Care. Intel Macs are likely going to be worth less and less with each passing year. It's soon-to-be obsolete technology on a timeline everyone knows. You have no idea what ARM macs will cost or what compared performance will be. IMO, ARM is reason to not buy Apple Care over the next few years.

 

[datpricetho]

$5800 ??? Yikes!!
The percentage of buyers who will be interested in paying a high price for a used computer is LOW. They are more likeley to buy the exact model they need NEW in a few years. I suggest you return it and get a reasonable model. Stick that extra money in an actual investment and your money will do much better. Best of luck.

 

[leman]

This specific build was the cheapest I can spec to finish a specific job. Due to covis 19 work at home.

Ah, then I misunderstood. I though you were saying that you got the expensive confit just to drive the resale value up. People do that sometimes 😁

Enjoy your Mac and yes, I agree with yiu, extra warranty is a good idea in your case!

 

[j_in_tx]

if you are willing to pay $5800, then what's another $400?

also, the 2018 comparison mentioned above is a poor one. 2018 is a poor macbook. it's hobbled by thermals even on the 2.2 i7. this explains why there's such a large loss in depreciation for specifically the 2018. i have a 2018 with applecare and tried to sell on ebay (btw, already made use of applecare due to swollen battery). it wasn't worth it the loss on ebay. i just kept it (passed along to the kids) and bought a 16" which is definitely a winner. i paid for applecare even though it was only against a base 16". it was a toss-up. i feel like this design will be just as good as 2013 and not have issues within 3 years, but since there's a chance I'll sell it in favor of a new Apple SoC version, I decided to go ahead and get applecare.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I'm not sure where AppleCare+ factors into ARM. You'll have three years of coverage, which is going to expire before 2020 Intel-based Macs begin to have problems with parts/service availability, software/OS upgrades, etc.

Since the only Apple Silicon Macs in the wild are running on "ancient" A12z processors and are Apple property so they can't be sold, we don't really know what the resale market for Intel Macs will look like in two or three years. Will Apple Silicon be so superior that it kills the resale market for Intel Macs, or will resale value go up because there are still those who must have a powerful Intel-based Mac, despite the change to Apple Silicon? So far, nobody makes a computer with a TTU (time travel unit). Any impact AppleCare+ might have on resale could be minimal compared to the Apple Silicon Factor, especially if you keep this Mac for two years or more prior to selling it (the sooner you sell the Mac, the more AppleCare+ will be worth).

Anything you do is a bet on how the Apple Silicon transition works out. I wouldn't make a wager either for or against, it's just too soon to know.

You bought that Mac because you need its capabilities now, for earning money now. The cost of AppleCare+ is fairly incidental to the cost of the machine. As with any insurance purchase, maybe it pays off, maybe it doesn't. That's always a gamble, regardless of the Intel/Apple Silicon thing.