Do I need Apple Care?

[nevergettoride]

Just purchased mac book pro 13. I am clumsy and i have 3 riotous children. I sometimes eat and drink whilst using my MBP

So do I need applecare? If one of my kids sat on it or if I spilled coffee on it, would it be covered? Or is it better to put it on my home insurance?
Could someone tell me what apple care actually covers?

Also, I can't find the original receipt. I bought it off amazon. It'll turn up, because there's no way I would've thrown it away, but do i need it for apple care?

Your thoughts techies please!..

 

[miles01110]

If one of my kids sat on it or if I spilled coffee on it, would it be covered?

No.

Or is it better to put it on my home insurance?

You could, but making a claim against it could raise your premium.

Could someone tell me what apple care actually covers?

Basically if an originally supplied part fails or malfunctions it is covered. Accidental damage (drops, spills, bumps) is not.

 

[3dflyboy1]

No, you don't really need applecare...it won't cover accidental damage, only defects. My #1 rule when buying electronics is to never add an extended warranty, but I could see how it would be worthwhile with a $3000+ computer.

 

[Ccrew]

Do you *need* Applecare? No. But if you get the warm and fuzzy for technical support over the phone, or you can't afford a $1k replacement of something like a logic board that fails out of warranty you might want to consider it.

And the end of the day it's a prepaid insurance policy. They're taking your money on the bet that the product lasts to the defined date without needing service, (pure profit) and you're paying $ betting that it doesn't, and guaranteeing it costs you nothing more if you're right. (you win). At the end of the day they've played the odds and out of a larger group they're still making $

 

[maflynn]

Applecare protects your computer for an extra 2 years from manufacturing defects, not from accidental damage. While I think its a good idea to have for laptops, since any repair of a laptop will far exceed the cost of the AC, it won't help you if you spill liquid or drop the laptop.

 

[blesscheese]

I sometimes eat and drink whilst using my MBP

To protect from spills, just buy one of those silicon keyboard covers. I found it was nowhere near as annoying as I thought it would be.

I find I usually wind up buying AppleCare for "peace of mind," but I have never had a problem with a defect (yet, knock on the proverbial wood). I'm old-fashioned, every piece of electronic equipment I buy, I "burn-in" for 24 hours a day, for the first month. I figure if it doesn't die the first 4 weeks of that, then it will be good to go for 3 years or more.

My belief (call me paranoid): with all the manufacturing know-how, and the near ubiquity of Apple Stores for repairs, databases, and ability to track stuff, companies like Apple and its suppliers have each part engineered to last precisely about 3 or 4 years...no more, no less.

 

[nevergettoride]

To protect from spills, just buy one of those silicon keyboard covers. I found it was nowhere near as annoying as I thought it would be.

I find I usually wind up buying AppleCare for "peace of mind," but I have never had a problem with a defect (yet, knock on the proverbial wood). I'm old-fashioned, every piece of electronic equipment I buy, I "burn-in" for 24 hours a day, for the first month. I figure if it doesn't die the first 4 weeks of that, then it will be good to go for 3 years or more.

My belief (call me paranoid): with all the manufacturing know-how, and the near ubiquity of Apple Stores for repairs, databases, and ability to track stuff, companies like Apple and its suppliers have each part engineered to last precisely about 3 or 4 years...no more, no less.

Now that's an interesting slant.

 

[12dylan34]

I realize that you already bought it, but for future purchases, some places offer extended warranties that cover accidental damage. I know that OfficeMax (which doesn't sell Macs, so kind of useless) does, but I'm sure that Best Buy as well as other places like that offer similar things.

 

[AppleDApp]

My belief (call me paranoid): with all the manufacturing know-how, and the near ubiquity of Apple Stores for repairs, databases, and ability to track stuff, companies like Apple and its suppliers have each part engineered to last precisely about 3 or 4 years...no more, no less.

This is true to an extent. Each component has an expected life. I don't think however that Apple will avoid using a product because it lasts more then 3-4. Aluminium is super durable however the moving components especially in the macbooks take a beating.

 

[wickedpapercut]

I bought AppleCare for my son's new MacBook Pro three years ago as he was heading off for college. So far he's had a battery replaced, trackpad replaced, and hinges tightened for no charge. The battery normally isn't considered a warranty replacement but this one was deemed to be a faulty part (I didn't argue with the "genius").

For laptops, I'm a fan of AppleCare. I don't know if I'd buy it for a desktop. As for any other extended warranty -- never!

 

[ftaok]

You didn't say how you purchased the MBP. If you bought it with a credit card, you might be covered on the card's extended warranty program. Some cards have accidental damage as well ... although I'm not sure if those programs are still around.

 

[LaunchpadBS]

I bought Applecare when I got my 1st gen unibody MBP in 2008, I used it 5 times, 3 mainboard failures, one screen failure and one battery failure, it was definitely worth the small extra cost.

Just saying