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gregpod9

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 27, 2007
312
95
I recently bought the late 2013 13" MBPr 2.6/8/512 at amazon.com. I would like to know which extended warranty is better, Applecare or Squaretrade and why?
 
AppleCare for my Apple devices. SquareTrade for everything else. Both are good, but for the amount of money Apple computers cost I'd rather deal directly with them.
 
and isn't square trade quite a bit more expensive?
the cheapest plan on a laptop costing $2000-$2500 is $399, whereas apple is I think $300 tops?
 
Some of Squaretrade's warranties cover physical damage, which AppleCare doesn't.

Last time I checked, Squaretrade's warranties are only worth the initial replacement cost of the device. If you buy a $1500 Mac, your Squaretrade warranty is only good for $1500 worth of repairs. So if the screen goes out during year #2, costs $800 to get replaced, your Squaretrade warranty will only cover $700 worth of repairs after that.

AppleCare doesn't have that dollar limit. If your screen goes out 5x in year #2, it doesn't decrease the amount of coverage at all.
 
Applecare it is. Where can I purchase Applecare for a good price?
 
Applecare it is. Where can I purchase Applecare for a good price?
B&H Photo is often mentioned. If you have a friend that's in college that will buy for you, Apple offers a decent in-store discount if they show their college ID.

Just be sure that whomever you buy from sends you a receipt for the purchase, as well as the original authentic box ... not just an email with an activation code.

Awhile ago, some people figured out the formula that Apple used for creating activation codes, generated a bunch, and started selling them for super cheap (mostly on eBay). These non-authentic codes would work to register the device, but if someone happened to buy an authentic AppleCare box that had the same activation code inside, AppleCare would terminate the coverage for the person who had the non-authentic code. Fun. :/
 
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B&H Photo only has 2 years.. I see people talking about 3 years. so does apple care 2 year start after the 1st yr is over? Or does it overlap?
 
B&H Photo only has 2 years.. I see people talking about 3 years. so does apple care 2 year start after the 1st yr is over? Or does it overlap?

Yes. 1 year of original warranty + 2 years of AppleCare for 3 years total.
 
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