How well does AppleCare play with other warranties?

[TweakyDragon]

I am waiting to make the switch to the new Macbook Pro when it comes out and plan on getting some form(s) of coverage on it. I have heard nothing but good things from friends who have had to get repairs with AppleCare so I plan on getting it. The only thing that AppleCare doesn't cover is accidental damage. So I planned on possibly getting additional coverage for accidents. I was curious to know if anyone has had an accident with their Macbook, gotten it repaired by their outside coverage then had to have Apple do some work on their machine and how it worked out? Or am I just doing overkill here. I should mention that given my work/lifestyle accidents/drops/spills are a real possibility so I really do want that coverage.

Thanks for the help!

 

[yusukeaoki]

You can get accidental from your insurance company or from places like Best buy.

To be honest, I never spilled anything or dropped my MBP.
People who do that are not careful enough.
Accidents do happen, but it easy to avoid, like dont have a drink next to your Mac.

But I have AppleCare just in case.
Anything that is Apple's fault is covered and thats all Im worried about.
Logic board replacement can come up to 900USDs w/out AC.
If a problem happens too often, they can replace your Mac.

The thing I dont know is lets say if you spill coffee on your MBP.
You take it to your "accidental insurance" company and get it fixed.
And later on, you notice a logic board failure.
Would the fix by 3rd company void the AC?
Im not really sure there but a interesting topic.

 

[TweakyDragon]

The situation you outlined is what I'm most curious about. Has anyone ran into this before?

 

[JohnnyChao]

The situation you outlined is what I'm most curious about. Has anyone ran into this before?

about spilling something? apple doesnt cover user damage even if its acidental

u could beg them but again warranty doesnt cover user dmage

just use common sense and ur macbook will work fine for you

 

[TweakyDragon]

I was talking about if something happens like a drop or a spill and you get it repaired under your accidental coverage and then say your logic board goes bad. Does AppleCare still work?

 

[JohnnyChao]

I was talking about if something happens like a drop or a spill and you get it repaired under your accidental coverage and then say your logic board goes bad. Does AppleCare still work?

there is no accidental coverage. applecare covers manufacturers defects, such as if a logic board goes bad

a spill is your fault and therefore they wont cover that unde warrenty. they can repair whatever damage, but comes out of ur pocket lol

 

[mikeo007]

there is no accidental coverage. applecare covers manufacturers defects, such as if a logic board goes bad

a spill is your fault and therefore they wont cover that unde warrenty. they can repair whatever damage, but comes out of ur pocket lol

Did you even read the OP? He wants to buy accidental coverage in addition to apple care.

To the OP: accident coverage will often just replace the computer with a refurb of their house. Be very careful what company you use. They may not even replace it with another Mac.

 

[davidg4781]

I'm not sure AppleCare would transfer to the new Mac.

And also, let's say you spill something in yours and the company cleans it out and replaces parts. Apple may see that the water sensors are activated and not bother with it.

When I bought my MacBook I bought the CompUSA extended plan because they covered battery and screen issues and other cosmetic stuff. When my top case started cracking almost a year into owning it they said unless they can see inside stuff they weren't going to cover it. And my battery never went out.

I ended up buying AppleCare 364 days after buying my MacBook. Apple has replaced my top case about 5 times already, most recently about 9 months ago. CompUSA is out of business and that extended coverage was a huge waste of money.

 

[TjeuV]

I'd suggest waiting to buy applecare until a week or so before the Apple one year limited warranty ends. Buying applecare then only extends another two years but it gave you some time to consider if you really need the applecare and if the external coverage is enough for your needs or not.

edit: Apple devices are full of triggers to tell Apple if there's been repairs or replacements. That way, when it seems that there's been a third party that replaced something in your mac, additional repairs will not fall under Applecare. The only thing you may do that won't void your applecare, is RAM replacement

 

[JohnnyChao]

Did you even read the OP? He wants to buy accidental coverage in addition to apple care.

To the OP: accident coverage will often just replace the computer with a refurb of their house. Be very careful what company you use. They may not even replace it with another Mac.

its called insurance

 

[mikeo007]

its called insurance

So you're answer would be no then...thanks.

 

[fabian9]

if your insurance pays for a replacement macbook, I believe you can request a refund for the remaining time left on your AppleCare. You could then use that refund to buy AppleCare for your new replacement macbook.

 

[takeshi74]

How well does AppleCare play with other warranties?

As stated above what you're asking about is insurance, not warranty. Not all insurance is identical so there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Read the terms of the insurance you're looking at. Read the AppleCare terms. If insurance voids AppleCare terms and Apple can tell that they did then you'll risk being denied AppleCare coverage. As stated above, there are very few user serviceable parts inside. If your insurance repair goes beyond any of those items you're risking denial.

 

[awer25]

3rd party warranties like Squaretrade have accidental damage coverage, and they have Apple to the repair work. In other words - logic board failure, spilled drink, dropped it, whatever. You bring it to Apple and they fix it, and ST pays the bill. If it can't be fixed, they buy you a new one. Only downside is that the cap on repairs is the cost of the machine.

Personally, accidental coverage is worth it. I'm not worried about spilling something on it myself - it's other people I'm worried about (e.g. someone behind me trips and spills their coffee all over my computer, etc)

 

[Vikz]

As an Apple technician(genius) and former apple reseller employee I saw mac's with both warranties. In those cases we would pass whatever we could through AppleCare first since its faster for the replacement parts to get to the store first. If the extended third party warranty covered accidental damage then we would pass damaged pieces through that.

Since 2008 apple started a program where technicians had to input damaged good serial number and the new replacment part serial number. So if the computer comes back for repair and the serial numbers don't match what was repaired before then AppleCare won't cover you but that is only if the computer has been in repair and the part that is faulty was exchanged through first year warranty or AppleCare, if not then you don't need to worry.