If Apple products are superior to PC

[mystik610]

That's like not buying car insurance because manufacturers give you a 30/100 thousand mile warranty on the car.

Problems occur AFTER TIME PROGRESSES. That's why the warranty extends the period you are covered, not increases the coverage over that first year.

As things run, they wear. Wear = higher chance of breaking. It's common sense to see "how" or "why" one would opt into Apple Care.

However, you have to think about what it is you're buying, how you use it, and how long you intend to keep it. If I got a laptop and just sold the old one every year (like a lot of people here do) I wouldn't' get it. However, seeing as I'm going to keep this laptop (which is a laptop and subject to the world and its elements) for many years, I'm going to get it before the first year is up.

Wear and tear and mechanical failure is not covered by automobile insurance

Insurance policies and warranties are fundamentally similar, but fundamentally different. Insurance policies provide coverage for perils which a device is externally exposed to. An automobile insurance policy will, for instance, provide coverage for collisions, hail, fire, etc etc. They DO NOT provide coverage for mechanical failures or manufacturer defects.

Warranties provide coverage for mechanical failures and manufacturer defects, however, does not provide coverage for exernal perils…for instance, if your house flooded, and your macbook was submerged in water, it would not be covered.

The primary difference between a warranty and an insurance policy is that mechanical failures are far more predictable and controllable than external perils. Mechanical failures, as covered by most warranties, are the product of defects in the manufacturing process…and although manufacturers cannot always single out defective hardware before it exits a factory, manufacturers can usually predict pretty accurately, the percentage of their products that will have mechanical issues.

As others have mentioned, a defect in the manufacturing process will usually manifest within a year, and, ironically, the likelihood that a product will fail actually diminishes in the 2nd and 3rd year if it doesn’t fail in the first. In other words, if your product doesn’t fail in the 1st year, it is not one of the few defective products in the batch, and it is less likely that it will fail in the 2nd and 3rd year.

If it fails sometime in the first year, there’s a strong likelihood that it will fail again multiple times in the 2nd year, 3rd year, and beyond. Translation...if you have a mechanical failure in the first year, buy the warranty before the end of the year...if not, you likely won't use it. I'd bet that a majority of the people who have failures in the 2nd and 3rd year, had them in the first.

The fact of the matter is, no large purchase product is designed to fail within 3 years of ownership under normal operating conditions….unless you’re Microsoft building xbox 360’s. If a large percentage of Apple products were experiencing catastrophic type hardware failures we’d here a lot more about it in the media, and Apple could potentially be held liable. Granted you hear a lot of reports of hardware failures here, however, I’ve participated in numerous forums for numerous products, and believe me, forums disproportionately represent the frequency of hardware failures. People are more likely to vent on a forum when something goes wrong, than they are to comment when things are going right.

 

[Young Spade]

I completely agree with you; and, to be clear, I have thought about all of those things.

However, when the extra warranty is 250 for 2 years, that's 125 a year.

That comes out to 10 bucks and some change a month. I have no problem paying that if it means instant and free repairs if something should go wrong. There's no telling of the future. Although, chances are, I won't have any problems with the laptop, I don't mind paying that to ensure the repairs go easy and without paying out of my pocket.

 

[grahamnp]

So is it wrong to expect that my MBP should work atleast 3 years without any problems, thus that Applecare is not needed at all?

Part of the "superiority" is in the customer service which Applecare then extends to 3 years.

TBH, I don't believe the quality or reliability is actually superior to similar products you can get at the price, I use it purely for the superior user experience. I also have not bought the extended applecare.

 

[mystik610]

I completely agree with you; and, to be clear, I have thought about all of those things.

However, when the extra warranty is 250 for 2 years, that's 125 a year.

That comes out to 10 bucks and some change a month. I have no problem paying that if it means instant and free repairs if something should go wrong. There's no telling of the future. Although, chances are, I won't have any problems with the laptop, I don't mind paying that to ensure the repairs go easy and without paying out of my pocket.

For my 15 inch, Applecare is $350 dollars. On average Applecare is about 20% the cost of the machine....if you have something like an entry level 11 inch macbook air, it amounts to 25% the cost of the machine. In most cases, that's enough to make a jump to a higher end model of whatever you're buying.

There's definitely a 'risk/reward' scheme associated with warranties. If you're willing to 'risk' having an uncovered catastrophic loss within the 2nd and 3rd year, you can save quite a bit of coin, or buy a better machine. If you absolutely need the piece of mind that a warranty gives you, then you can expect to pay a high premium for it (between 15-25% the cost of your machine).

From a purely cost/benefit perspective, the way warranties are designed, the odds are against you that you'll get more out of a warranty than you put in. Warranties are extremely profitable for a reason...the likelihood of experiencing a catastropic failure (logic board or LCD) in the 2nd and 3rd year is very remote. However, there is an intangible benefit to having that piece of mind of knowing that your equipment will be repaired if damaged. I can understand the value in that and am not going to tell anyone how to spend their money, however, personally, I'd rather have more money for a better machine.

 

[aidan257]

I'm actually considering Applecare for when i get my MBP 13" i5 next week. ONLY because its piece of mind. Normally i'm really good with looking after my gadgets & computers, infact i've never needed to use a warrenty/extended warrenty.
But i see my MBP as an investment & i feel buying into something like applecare would look after my investment for longer... Though i have seen other extended warrenties which do cover for accidental damage & various other things.
I'm still really unsure if its actually worth forking out for it. Under the warrenty my old mans iMac G5 had a new PSU & Hard disk (i now have this machine & its still running fine,if not a little hot.).

 

[awer25]

Just an FYI - if you're concerned about accidental damage to the laptop (drops, spills, etc), you can get a warranty from Squaretrade which covers that too. It's a well known company, and they use Apple for warranty work so with either option, Apple is fixing the computer. There are also coupon codes online that can bring the cost down below that of Applecare.

 

[Adamantoise]

Lol, it's kinda pathetic seeing so many advocates for Applecare on this forum.

Customers should expect good customer service and a reliable product out of the box.

 

[Young Spade]

For my 15 inch, Applecare is $350 dollars. On average Applecare is about 20% the cost of the machine....if you have something like an entry level 11 inch macbook air, it amounts to 25% the cost of the machine. In most cases, that's enough to make a jump to a higher end model of whatever you're buying.

There's definitely a 'risk/reward' scheme associated with warranties. If you're willing to 'risk' having an uncovered catastrophic loss within the 2nd and 3rd year, you can save quite a bit of coin, or buy a better machine. If you absolutely need the piece of mind that a warranty gives you, then you can expect to pay a high premium for it (between 15-25% the cost of your machine).

From a purely cost/benefit perspective, the way warranties are designed, the odds are against you that you'll get more out of a warranty than you put in. Warranties are extremely profitable for a reason...the likelihood of experiencing a catastropic failure (logic board or LCD) in the 2nd and 3rd year is very remote. However, there is an intangible benefit to having that piece of mind of knowing that your equipment will be repaired if damaged. I can understand the value in that and am not going to tell anyone how to spend their money, however, personally, I'd rather have more money for a better machine.

I completely agree, however I'm operating on the premise that I'm purchasing AppleCare down the road, probably into the 11th or 10th month after owning the product. Yes the cost is the same but the cost is also spread out, which I'm sure everybody knows the benefit of if they've taken student loans in college.

And yes, we all know warranties are expensive and make super money and all of that jazz. However, it will obviously vary in levels of comfort for many people. For a college student, I walk around with my laptop. A lot. Know what that means? More bumps and movement for the computer. And I have an HDD.

That means, from simple physics, that (even though it can be astronomically smaller), I have more of a chance for the machine to break than somebody who keeps theirs at the desk. ALSO, being a college student, it's easier for me to simply pay up front and be covered for 3 years rather than take a chance and having to go without a laptop because something broke down the line and not having the money to pay out of pocket.

I get what you're saying, I really do, although, no matter how slim the numbers are, there is ALWAYS a reason to have insurance. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it's stupid or people shouldn't get it.

At the end of the day **** happens. And when it does, sometimes you can't simply just walk into the store and fix it.

Lol, it's kinda pathetic seeing so many advocates for Applecare on this forum.

Customers should expect good customer service and a reliable product out of the box.

It's kind of pathetic when you don't know how wrong/juxtaposed your comment is?

You do receive great customer service and a reliable product out of the box. Aside from that comment being completely subjective, you get a free year of AppleCare from day one.

It's also kind of pathetic that, no matter how trivial it is, you can't seem to grasp that other people have a use for something that you either don't want or don't need.

 

[itsjared]

Just an FYI - if you're concerned about accidental damage to the laptop (drops, spills, etc), you can get a warranty from Squaretrade which covers that too. It's a well known company, and they use Apple for warranty work so with either option, Apple is fixing the computer. There are also coupon codes online that can bring the cost down below that of Applecare.

I use Squaretrade a lot and would recommend them. You get a lot better deal than Apple Care.

 

[sehnsucht77]

because it extends the warranty of the item i bought from apple. my original 15" non-unibody worked well but it had a GPU issue that needed adjustment of the video cable well after the original warranty was done. had i needed it fixed for an innate defect, it would have cost me tons but applecare footed the bill. i bought applecare for the peace of mind. if i buy a 1500+ apple machine, applecare isn't that big of a cost addition to take care of defects down the line. that said, i've had little to no problems with a majority of the apple products i've owned -ditto with my PC products from Toshiba, ASUS and Dell.

whether one is superior over the other is a poor topic of conversation and argument because ALL electronics have a chance of failing. Dell offers the same type of insurance for their computers but people don't seem to give them ***** as much as the Apple fanboys who worship anything apple on the shelves. i have similar insurance for PC AND apple stuff and they serve a specific and good purpose.

 

[sweetbrat]

I use Squaretrade a lot and would recommend them. You get a lot better deal than Apple Care.

Just a word of warning, make sure you read the Squaretrade contract. It will only repair or replace your computer up to the original price you paid for the computer. So if you have several expensive repairs, once the cost of them reaches what you paid for the computer your out of luck. If they replace your computer for any reason, they consider the contract fulfilled. The coverage doesn't transfer to that new computer, even if you had a year and a half left on the original contract. With AppleCare, they'll continue fixing whatever is needed until that 3 years is up.

Plus, their coverage runs concurrent to the original warranty. The coverage starts on the date you purchased the computer, not the date you purchase the Squaretrade coverage.

It does cover accidental damage if you add that on, yes. For me, I'm less worried about accidental damage than I am about mechanical malfunctions. I can control (at least to some extent) how my computer is taken care of, keep liquids away from it, etc. I can't control it if the logic board goes bad.

I'm not saying that Squaretrade is bad; I've personally never used it, and I imagine for some people it's fine. But it doesn't seem like nearly as good of a deal once you read the fine print. Just want to make sure people understand their coverage.

 

[old-wiz]

I bought AppleCare with my first Mac, an iBook G4 back in 2005. Since then I've bought 2 MBPs, an iMac 24, 2 iPod Touches, and 2 minis. I have had zero hardware problems with any of the machines. I've only had maybe 3 system hangs/kernel panics in 6 years with all those machines. I go easy with the iBook/MBP when I travel and have never dropped one.

If I add up the money I saved by not buying AppleCare, I would have enough to buy another Mac.

It's not a question of Apple Products being superior to anything else. They all use the same HDDs, and there are only so many companies making the displays. All hardware can fail, Apple or Dell, or IBM or anyone else.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Why do you all buy Applecare?

I'm still trying to justify buying Applecare atm. My $500 3 year old PC laptop which I gave away to my girlfriend still works 100%. My sister got a very old PC laptop that still works too.

So is it wrong to expect that my MBP should work atleast 3 years without any problems, thus that Applecare is not needed at all?

Apple products like everything else, built by humans, can have issues. Applecare affords two things, support for hardware issues down the line and the ability to call Apple and ask questions or solve problems. The later has more then paid for itself alone for me. I think of Applecare as piece of mind insurance.