Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is Applecare a rip-off?

I am a tightwad and generally avoid insurance plans where I can. I figure that in the longrun, I'll come out ahead by just paying for repairs and replacements as they come up instead of paying for computer insurance.
When I bought my first MacBook, I decided to go with it and get applecare (I think it was at the recommendation of this forum).
All was well with the laptop for the first two years, and just when I was thinking applecare was a waste, my battery went. 1 phone call and 1 day later, I had a new battery in the machine. I live in the middle of Wyoming and nothing is that easy! To me, yes, it is worth it.
 
applecare

Worth it for the peace of mind. When problems come up you have a good resource to run to. I think you can take your computer back to the store for them to look at or call them for assistance.
 
I don't believe in it - I've never had any Mac that has crapped out or needed serious repairs within the 3 year span of AppleCare. My current MacBook Pro is 1.5 years old, and my iMac is several weeks old... So far, so good :D
 
I think it's well worth the money, considering a replacement harddrive for my Imac was £151. I managed to pick it up with employee discount for £124. So think it's money well spend for 3 years cover.

:) Give's a bit of piece of mind !!
 
redryder said:
I bought my 27” imac in July last year. A few days ago it refused to power on, and I sent it back to the service centre yesterday. I don’t know what’s wrong with it yet, but the apple tech on the phone kept trying to sell me Applecare for another 2 more years. Should I buy Applecare?

Generally I don’t buy extended warranties since they tend to be a ripoff. But since my imac has already exhibited a serious problem, I’m wondering if it would be more prone to problems in the future. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Not for an iMac, it is a rip off on the laptops


My older iMac, white 24 with a 7600GT video card, died about eight months before the end of its three year Apple care and the parts alone were over $1300. Not counting the two freaking weeks I had no Mac.

Get it on the iMacs, at least it has a reasonable price
 
Last edited:
I've purchased 5 iMacs, 2 MacBooks, 3 Mac minis, and an iBook in past 6 years. Only one (an iMac) required any repair in years 2 or 3. Most, including the 6 year old G5 iMac, have never required a single repair.

AppleCare is good for peace of mind, but otherwise isn't worth it in the long run. Why do you think Apple (and other stores) push these extended warranties so hard on you when you purchase goods? They are high profit items.
 
I wonder if a warranty like SquareTrade is better. You could also get accidental coverage with one.
 
LoganT said:
I wonder if a warranty like SquareTrade is better. You could also get accidental coverage with one.
Click to expand...

With square trade, you might be more likely to get value from it. However, with AppleCare, you're more likely, in the event of a problem, to get real help, or even an upgrade. It's a balancing act. With an iphone, squaretrade is the way to go, however.
 
i just found out my imac HDD was failing and my 1 year was up last month. good thing i bought apple care right before it ended or i would have been screwed!
 
Apple care is fantastic! Over the past 4 years, I have had 1 desk top replaced after 3 repairs with the latest at the time, 1 iPhone 3GS with a refurb aaand a Macbook Pro which they also replaced!

So yes, imo its critical to get along with your new Mac because Apples customer service is fantastic.
 
It's probably best to get it just to be safe. Even if your friends or whatever is telling you it's a ripoff you might still get unlucky! It's really all about the roll of the dice
 
Quesiton you should ask yourself?

Are you comfortable fixing a machine that is all in one. The parts will cost you arm and leg from apple components.com

I got the applecare for 120 after student discount, it is worth every damn penny if you ask me.

I dont have to worry about it for 3 years. warranties are rip off in some cases.

How long do you plan to keep the machine? How much the machine costs? How user friendly is it to upgrade the parts if something was to go wrong? Those are the questions you should ask yourself. Things like expensive TV's, Expensive laptops, imac. I usually buy warranties on stuff that is over 1500 but they have to be good price.

If I spend 2 grand on something I am more then happy to spend another 100 bucks. Had the applecare been 300-400 bucks, I probably wouldn't get it, because that is just too much.

Just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it might not happen. I think 120 bucks on a 2000 dollar machine is a smart choice to make. Hard drive is not that much of a problem but if you the logic board was to go bad then you might as well throw away the system because those things cost as much as a new computer to replace.

Ipod or Iphone I probably wont get it on, because I end up upgrading my phones every year anyways even if I have an android or iphone. I sell of the old one and usually buy the new one at retail price.
 
Last edited:
In the US I would say yes go for Applecare. (Due to consumer rights being not quite so great in the US. on average; however, some states (like California) have better rights).

Fortunately I got a 3 year warranty at no extra cost, but I won't with my next Mac and I still don't think I would bother with Applecare here.
 
One thing many people don't realize is that if you purchase using a major credit card, the warranty will be automatically extended up to one additional year (doubled up to one year, depending on the original warranty). this does not include accidents or troubleshooting, just parts and labor.
 
Yes and that why Im not getting applecare.If you could buy it after one year ownership it would make more sense .
 
mattg3 said:
Yes and that why Im not getting applecare.If you could buy it after one year ownership it would make more sense .
Click to expand...

If you could buy it after a year of ownership, you would only buy it if your Mac had just failed. It would be a money losing proposition for Apple, so it's not about to happen! The way it is now, it is a lucrative profit center.

You can always wait until the 11th month and if your Mac has had problems, get the extended coverage.
 
There is a simple perfect solution for this. Use a credit card that offers double warranty protection. Then you get 2 years of warranty (one year applecare, one year visa).

Few years ago the motherboard on my macbook died. I owned it for 1 year and 8 months at that point. Took it too an authorized Apple care warranty center and they said it would be 900 bucks. Mentally prepared myself for the phone call battle with Visa. Phone person sound bored "Yeah its covered, pay for it upfront, send us the official repair". Got a check for the amount quite quick.

So IMO thats the best bet. You have to show you bought the electronic device using your Visa however, and I believe you can't pay for some it with cash or gift cards and some with visa and still qualify.
 
uzit said:
Apple care is fantastic! Over the past 4 years, I have had 1 desk top replaced after 3 repairs with the latest at the time, 1 iPhone 3GS with a refurb aaand a Macbook Pro which they also replaced!

So yes, imo its critical to get along with your new Mac because Apples customer service is fantastic.
Click to expand...

depends on your definition of customer service.

aftercare if you pay for it is obviously good.

The fact that they sold you several badly made products is another issue which I would lump together with 'service' but you seemingly don't.
 
As with any extended warranty, you need to look at how much it costs in comparison with what you're buying. Generally when an extended warranty costs more than 15% of the purchase cost of the device, then it is not worth it. However, on portable devices, I'd up that to 25-30%.

I've only had to use AppleCare once, but I generally buy it for any machine I purchase. That one time would have end up costing me $500+ to fix.
 
Ive had pcs my whole life and yes they were a pain but i never had a hardware issue.Am I reading this right,that my new imac is not as hardware reliable as a pc.I know thats a loaded question but some of the repair stuff im reading in this thread is scary.My 21.5 Imac i bought in Dec.so far is flawless.Hope it stays that way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back