Is no AppleCare a bad idea?

[kathyricks]

AppleCare for a rMBP is much more expensive ( $250) than for an iMac. So that's a sign rMBP is potentially much more fragile and trouble prone.

 

[dalupus]

It is simply insurance for your computer. Will you need it? Maybe, maybe not. But if you do need it, you'll sure wish you had it.

I myself have had a macbook air and a rMBP. My air has been sent back twice for repair. My rMBP will be sent in at some point to get this stupid ghosting screen replaced when I can afford to not have it for 3 or 4 days.

 

[zipa]

Considering the fact that I'm talking about a 12 year span, neither. I should've been clear that those repairs were covered by AppleCare.

I've had computers for nearly 30 years and I have spent probably $400 on repairs during that time...

 

[thekev]

Considering the fact that I'm talking about a 12 year span, neither. I should've been clear that those repairs were covered by AppleCare.

It's still not very good if the majority of your machines required warranty service within 3 years. I've had better luck than that, although I plan to have a couple things checked on my notebook right before applecare runs out. In this case it was just due to the cost of the machine and inexpensive third party purchase of applecare.

 

[Fzang]

Insure all electronics for 100 or insure none of them, and end up paying 50 in repairs for one of them, but still save 50 in the long run.

One could think of it like that.

 

[Bear]

It's still not very good if the majority of your machines required warranty service within 3 years. I've had better luck than that, although I plan to have a couple things checked on my notebook right before applecare runs out. In this case it was just due to the cost of the machine and inexpensive third party purchase of applecare.

It wasn't the majority of my machines. There were a few keyboard issues and a power supply issue on a PowerBook that didn't take those Macs out of commission. It's really only 2 Macs out of 8 that had major issues.

 

[troy14]

What is the bigger issue here is the fact that'd it's a retina MBP. It has been mentioned that there are less mechanical parts and while that may be true, if stuff does break it is far more costly and difficult to replace the broken parts. Nearly impossible for an average user (although some may argue if you're on this forum you aren't an average user).

If something brakes on your rMBP (no matter what), it will be EXPENSIVE to fix. I would not get a rMBP without the ability to extend the one year warranty. Other devices the decision may be a bit harder but this one is not.

 

[thekev]

It wasn't the majority of my machines. There were a few keyboard issues and a power supply issue on a PowerBook that didn't take those Macs out of commission. It's really only 2 Macs out of 8 that had major issues.

I guess that's a bit better. My powerbook G4 way back when had a lot of stuff fail. It had no Applecare and was out of warranty. Batteries wouldn't have been covered anyway as they had a number of cycles. The charger died. It had another issue of randomly losing power. On that they offered a $350 flat rate repair and said it could be the logic board. I've noted others have mentioned similar things. It seems that out of warranty they do frequently offer depot repair if the machine is undamaged. I actually don't have a 100% rule on whether or not to buy Applecare. $4000 worth of repairs just sounded kind of insane to me.

 

[jav6454]

Hey all,

I'm wanting to buy a 15" rMBP I found on eBay. However, it's the Mid-2012 model and is out of warranty and they never bought AppleCare for it.

Is using a portable machine without AppleCare a bad idea? I thought AppleCare was never going to be used on my iMac until the hard drive needed replacing three times and I've called them dozens of times for phone support. But does the rMBP even have that high of a rate of "failure?"

High rate, doubtful, or you'd be hearing it in the news and all over the internet. However, is it wise not to get it? Personally, I'd say no.

This day and age with the Retina laptops, everything is Apple replaceable and hardly anything user accessible. In other words, if something does fail, only Apple will be able to fix it (yes there will be some level of user repairability, but only for those who have the skill and knowledge [and guts]).

Taking that into account, I'd go with the AppleCare plan.

 

[doitdada]

In Norway we have a laws protecting consumers with rights to get their computer fixed for a full period of five years. As long as you don't open it up and replace parts bought from third party vendors. Now that the product is final, AppleCare in other countries got a much better deal for both consumer and company.

 

[maflynn]

Its a roll of the dice - do you want to pay for 2 extra years of warranty or do you want to save a few hundred dollars now.

I've purchased AC for my laptops about 50% of the time. I opted not to get AC for my rMBP this go around and we'll have to wait and see if that was a wise move or not.