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How necessary is AppleCare?
- Thread starter smithy16
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Yes. Most people do not have major issues, hence the reason why they don't need to go online and report it to others. However, all laptops have an inherently higher risk of having problems, so Applecare is a good idea.
No, according to Visa, if I had a problem, I would take it anywhere I wanted to get fixed and then send them the receipt and they would then reimburse me. It also covers batteries. I was also told that if the repair was something major, like a logic board replacement, then they might just pay for a brand new computer instead of the expensive repair.
And if you don't have the money for the repair, then what? You still have to pay out of pocket, which sucks.
Anyways, laptop repairs aren't cheap. Typically, AppleCare will pay for itself after 1 repair. I know mine did when my LCD backlight crapped out about a month after the 1 year warranty was up. Fortunately, I had AppleCare which was way cheaper than the repair would've been.
aw, that's a flashback..fixed...
"aw MC, you've always got my back."
and yes, i'm a girl. that would be the "goddess" part of my title...
aw, that's a flashback..
"aw MC, you've always got my back."
and yes, i'm a girl. that would be the "goddess" part of my title...
No problem sweetheart...
Remember that Apple Care does not cover accidental damage.
If I were you I'd hold it out for a year and if no problems occur than you probably won't need Apple Care. If any problems occur, you can always pay the onetime instance fee. If there are problems within the first year, Apple Care might be a good idea in case that problem surfaces again.
If I were you I'd hold it out for a year and if no problems occur than you probably won't need Apple Care. If any problems occur, you can always pay the onetime instance fee. If there are problems within the first year, Apple Care might be a good idea in case that problem surfaces again.
one time instance fee..?
I'm guessing he means the repair fee, which can range anywhere from couple hundred bucks to a thousand depending on what's wrong....
From my experience, murphys law applies here. If you get apple care, you'll never have a problem with your machine. If you don't get it, something will break in the 13th month of ownership.
I bought it for my first mac, a G4 Cube, 6,5 years ago. It's still running and never had a problem. I bought it for my second mac, a 12" powerbook, more than 4 years ago. The 12" is now owned by my father, and never had a problem. So, I didn't buy it for my third mac, the 15" pb in my sig, and since a couple of months the backlit keyboard is not working. Ok, this is not a major problem, I used the backlit about once every 3 months, but it's still a little annoying. So, we didn't buy it for my girlfriends ibook, and now the airport card isn't working. Ok, I had a d-link wireless usb thing lying around, but it's still a little annoying.
Will I get apple care for my next mac, of course!
I bought it for my first mac, a G4 Cube, 6,5 years ago. It's still running and never had a problem. I bought it for my second mac, a 12" powerbook, more than 4 years ago. The 12" is now owned by my father, and never had a problem. So, I didn't buy it for my third mac, the 15" pb in my sig, and since a couple of months the backlit keyboard is not working. Ok, this is not a major problem, I used the backlit about once every 3 months, but it's still a little annoying. So, we didn't buy it for my girlfriends ibook, and now the airport card isn't working. Ok, I had a d-link wireless usb thing lying around, but it's still a little annoying.
Will I get apple care for my next mac, of course!
A lot of times, if there is a problem with a computer model Apple Care is a lot quicker and easier than waiting for customers to shame Apple into implementing an extended repair program for those models.
But as people said, Apple Care is an option and so is checking with your credit cards to see what type of warranty extensions they offer -- since quite a few cards do offer this.
But as people said, Apple Care is an option and so is checking with your credit cards to see what type of warranty extensions they offer -- since quite a few cards do offer this.
highly recommend it - I have bought applecare for all my macs except 1 (it's still fine anyway). Things can a do go wrong even with a Ferrari, BMW, Apple computer even at the best of times, drives fail, and certainly with a laptop, it's a great insurance policy, you will really relax, because otherwise you have the possibility of a dead screen, or worse, and having no backup. Having said that I have an apple ibook 800mhz G4 that has been on almost non-stop for I think nearly 4 years, - never bought applecare on that particular one, it's been around the world at least 2 - 3 times, dropped, kicked, sat on, and it works perfectly.
even at the best of times, drives fail, and certainly with a laptop, it's a great insurance policy, you will really relax, because otherwise you have the possibility of a dead screen, or worse, and having no backup. Having said that I have an apple ibook 800mhz G4 that has been on almost non-stop for I think nearly 4 years, - never bought applecare on that particular one, it's been around the world at least 2 - 3 times, dropped, kicked, sat on, and it works perfectly.
Fully transferable are couple of my favorite words. Dropped my iBook off for latch repair, and the Genius tells me I have applecare on my used-to-me iBook - then transfers applecare to my name.
I notice stuff being sold brings more too - if there is applecare left on it.
I notice stuff being sold brings more too - if there is applecare left on it.
A QUESTION:
If i wait 11 months after buying a MBP then buy AppleCare does the 3 years cover start from then or when I originally bought the Mac? If so, I would get 3 years 11 months cover rather than the regular 3 years.
If i wait 11 months after buying a MBP then buy AppleCare does the 3 years cover start from then or when I originally bought the Mac? If so, I would get 3 years 11 months cover rather than the regular 3 years.
No, your warranty would end 3 years from the date of purchase. For example, if you bought it today: 8/13/2007, your 1 year limited warranty would end on 8/13/2008. If you buy Applecare before the 13th of August 2008, it will extend your limited warranty to 8/13/2010. It doesn't matter if you buy it the day you buy your Mac, two months after, or eleven months after. As long as you buy within the first year. Note that you will lose the free phone support after 90 days, but that this is extended to a full 3 years (again, from the date of purchase) if you buy Applecare.
Apple Care Is Worth It.
First off let me say this - Applecare is totally and completely worth it.
Now here is my story....
Christmas 2002 my parents bought me a 12" Dual USB iBook G3 - 700MHz, CD-ROM, 20GB HD, 128MB RAM, Edu only model (mom's a teacher). I loved the machine and was totally amazed buy the fact that I owned my own laptop. This was the second Apple we had owned in the past year (parents bought an iMac for us kids the year before) but we were still pretty uneducated about things like Applecare.
A year passed, my machine fell out of warranty and low and behold about the 14th month my logic board failed. The Logic Board Failure was a very common problem with the G3 Dual USB's and eventually (as a lot of you know, I'm sure) their was a "Repair and Extension Program". Apple fixed my computer for free but it took a little over two months to get my computer back. We asked the "genius", the store manager, and called Apple support why my computer was taking this long to repair. They all told us the same thing - it was normal for a non-warranty repair to take this long. They also said IF I HAD APPLECARE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ONLY A FEW DAYS.
I got my iBook back, it was supposedly repaired. About a month later, it broke again. Logic Board, again. 6-8 weeks again. Told me if I had had Applecare it would have taken a few days again.
This same situation happened two more times before my Dad brought up the "Lemon Law".
Yeah, it didn't cost us a dime to get the machine repaired, but I had the machine a little under two years and it had spent over 8 months in repairs. Time is pretty valuable, you know.
After a long conversation with the Manager they agreed to give me a Brand-new iBook G4 (this was in Nov. '04) - not in the store of course, but it got the ball rolling. My Mom and Dad signed docs saying they wouldn't sue, ect. I had to return my broken G3 then they sent out more Docs with a contract saying we agreed to "such and such" and then they put my order in for a new iBook.
We recieved a letter from Apple saying that they were sorry for the inconvinience of the whole thing. It was a very nice letter. In it they advised us to buy Applecare in the future because, "while we make high quality products with the best materials avaliable, sometimes, things just happen."
In Feb 2005 I took delivery of a 12" 1.2GHz iBook G4. They had upped the HD (I had upgraded my G3 to 40GB) and the RAM (I'd maxed the G3). The first thing I did was buy Applecare.
I've bought Applecare with every machine I (or my parents) have bought since. $250 isn't a bad deal when you think of it like this - the Logic Board repair would have cost $800 w/out labor.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
First off let me say this - Applecare is totally and completely worth it.
Now here is my story....
Christmas 2002 my parents bought me a 12" Dual USB iBook G3 - 700MHz, CD-ROM, 20GB HD, 128MB RAM, Edu only model (mom's a teacher). I loved the machine and was totally amazed buy the fact that I owned my own laptop. This was the second Apple we had owned in the past year (parents bought an iMac for us kids the year before) but we were still pretty uneducated about things like Applecare.
A year passed, my machine fell out of warranty and low and behold about the 14th month my logic board failed. The Logic Board Failure was a very common problem with the G3 Dual USB's and eventually (as a lot of you know, I'm sure) their was a "Repair and Extension Program". Apple fixed my computer for free but it took a little over two months to get my computer back. We asked the "genius", the store manager, and called Apple support why my computer was taking this long to repair. They all told us the same thing - it was normal for a non-warranty repair to take this long. They also said IF I HAD APPLECARE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ONLY A FEW DAYS.
I got my iBook back, it was supposedly repaired. About a month later, it broke again. Logic Board, again. 6-8 weeks again. Told me if I had had Applecare it would have taken a few days again.
This same situation happened two more times before my Dad brought up the "Lemon Law".
Yeah, it didn't cost us a dime to get the machine repaired, but I had the machine a little under two years and it had spent over 8 months in repairs. Time is pretty valuable, you know.
After a long conversation with the Manager they agreed to give me a Brand-new iBook G4 (this was in Nov. '04) - not in the store of course, but it got the ball rolling. My Mom and Dad signed docs saying they wouldn't sue, ect. I had to return my broken G3 then they sent out more Docs with a contract saying we agreed to "such and such" and then they put my order in for a new iBook.
We recieved a letter from Apple saying that they were sorry for the inconvinience of the whole thing. It was a very nice letter. In it they advised us to buy Applecare in the future because, "while we make high quality products with the best materials avaliable, sometimes, things just happen."
In Feb 2005 I took delivery of a 12" 1.2GHz iBook G4. They had upped the HD (I had upgraded my G3 to 40GB) and the RAM (I'd maxed the G3). The first thing I did was buy Applecare.
I've bought Applecare with every machine I (or my parents) have bought since. $250 isn't a bad deal when you think of it like this - the Logic Board repair would have cost $800 w/out labor.
They all told us the same thing - it was normal for a non-warranty repair to take this long. They also said IF I HAD APPLECARE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ONLY A FEW DAYS.
I got my iBook back, it was supposedly repaired. About a month later, it broke again. Logic Board, again. 6-8 weeks again. Told me if I had had Applecare it would have taken a few days again.
You realize that they probably told you this in the hopes that you would spend money on Applecare in the future right? It's illegal for any business to take longer for a repair simply because you didn't purchase an extended warranty. Tell them that the next time they try to pull something like that again.
I note you didn't tell us if your G4 iBook needed repairs. I feel free to assume that it needed no repairs.
Yeah that's true, but I do know a few people who had their G3s replaced instead of repaired because they had Applecare.
Nope, no repairs. Used the machine this morning as a matter of fact. Still runs like a champ. Although it is a dog compared to my MBP.
Oh, it did get the battery recalled, but so did everyone else's. The way I looked at the recall was "Hey, thanks for the free battery Apple."
Nope, no repairs. Used the machine this morning as a matter of fact. Still runs like a champ. Although it is a dog compared to my MBP.
Hmmm...seems to me like you spent $250 for peace of mind, not for real repairs. Either way, I'm glad my Master Card gives me a free year of extended warranty on top of Apple's one year limited warranty. That makes buying Applecare so much harder to justify, which is why I decided not to get it
You know what...
Now that I think about it - I have had something go wrong with it. I can't believe I forgot (I was really tired when I posted last night) - I've had two chargers go bad on me with that machine. Apple covered both, free of charge, right there in the store.
I think the reason I've been so lucky is because of all the problems I had with that G3. Besides the Logic Board I had a bad charger, bad hard drive cable, bad hard drive, and one of the USB's didn't work after a while. (Those G3's were wonderful machines) It's like i've been spared from having to face any issues for a while.
And yeah if your Credit Card covers the machine for an extra year (for free) that sounds like a killer deal.
You're right though, $250 is really for peace of mind... I always think of Murphy's Law and all that.
Hmmm...seems to me like you spent $250 for peace of mind, not for real repairs. Either way, I'm glad my Master Card gives me a free year of extended warranty on top of Apple's one year limited warranty. That makes buying Applecare so much harder to justify, which is why I decided not to get it
Now that I think about it - I have had something go wrong with it. I can't believe I forgot (I was really tired when I posted last night) - I've had two chargers go bad on me with that machine. Apple covered both, free of charge, right there in the store.
I think the reason I've been so lucky is because of all the problems I had with that G3. Besides the Logic Board I had a bad charger, bad hard drive cable, bad hard drive, and one of the USB's didn't work after a while. (Those G3's were wonderful machines) It's like i've been spared from having to face any issues for a while.
And yeah if your Credit Card covers the machine for an extra year (for free) that sounds like a killer deal.
You're right though, $250 is really for peace of mind... I always think of Murphy's Law and all that.
Just outside warranty - are Apples built by the factory that makes the Xbox 360?
What are consumer rights like in the USA? Any court cases, law?
It is reasonable to expect a computer to last 3 years, ie a reasonable level of quality -> 3 year cover should be gratis.
What are consumer rights like in the USA? Any court cases, law?
It is reasonable to expect a computer to last 3 years, ie a reasonable level of quality -> 3 year cover should be gratis.