The State of Maine protects consumers from having to purchase these extended warranties by enforcing an implied warranty of merchantability of 4 years to just about anything sold to a resident of the state of Maine. Sure, you will lose the other "perks" of AppleCare, but you don't have to worry about defects. The Maine warranty is also one year longer than the AppleCare warranty. I'm sure there are other states with similar laws.
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Isn't Applecare a huge rip-off for consumers?
- Thread starter yoyoma1992
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A battery is $99 on those machines. You'd still be in the hole if you had to pay for your AppleCare.
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookair/service/battery/
$129, but yes, you would still be in the hole
This is the ideal way to go. No sense in getting Apple Care within the first year because they have one year free service. So if you got an Apple Care along with your purchase you let the ripping off happen by yourself.
Come to think of it, I realized it's one month past the first year for my MBP
Hey, even worse is this scenario. Two years ago I lost my mind for a moment and bought a girlfriend an MacBook Pro. Since she is, well, who she is, I bought AppleCare at the same time. She agreed to register the machine in her name and enroll the AppleCare. When I asked her about it she assured me that she'd done it. Then, at about month fourteen, she managed to get a DVD stuck in the DVD drive. She's in another city so I told her to take it to her local Apple store. And it's out of warranty. She had, of course, forgotten to enroll the AppleCare.
So even worse is paying for Applecare and then still having to pay $300 for an "in-warranty" repair.
If Apple didn't make money off the warranty, they wouldn't have it. Simple enough.
That being said, I use my credit card to cover the second year of my warranty. Lots of people aren't aware of the benefits that their credit cards carry and purchase AppleCare anyways. Personally, my plan is to have Apple cover the first year, my credit card cover the second, and see if I can get decent resale for it at that point. Get a new one. Rinse, repeat.
That being said, I use my credit card to cover the second year of my warranty. Lots of people aren't aware of the benefits that their credit cards carry and purchase AppleCare anyways. Personally, my plan is to have Apple cover the first year, my credit card cover the second, and see if I can get decent resale for it at that point. Get a new one. Rinse, repeat.
It pays to actually read the warranty before you make sweeping statements like that. As has been pointed it covers defects but not usage, even if it does not meet criteria as in my case.
WHAT IS NOT COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY?
This warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship;
tut
Another cool Consumer Protection Point in the EU is that they Need to Cover also batteries.... As they need to prove that the defect is not due to defects in materials and workmanship....
unless the battery fails, there is no reason to replace it....so why would they just replace it under warranty if not defective?
I must be really lucky. Never purchased Apple care. Have owned a bunch of Apple laptops over the years all have lasted +5 years and succumbed only to multiple spills and/or being unusably slow. I'm on my second iPhone, the first of which I dunked multiple times including once going overboard while white-water rafting (I don't baby my stuff ). Each time I dried it out fully and it was good as new. Have owned all sorts of iPods none of which ever broke; in particular I have an original white USB Shuffle and a first gen Touch that just refuse to die no matter how many hundreds/thousands of charge cycles they go though, or how many times they're dropped/soaked.
//knocks on wood.
). Each time I dried it out fully and it was good as new. Have owned all sorts of iPods none of which ever broke; in particular I have an original white USB Shuffle and a first gen Touch that just refuse to die no matter how many hundreds/thousands of charge cycles they go though, or how many times they're dropped/soaked.//knocks on wood.
I must be really lucky. Never purchased Apple care. Have owned a bunch of Apple laptops over the years all have lasted +5 years and succumbed only to multiple spills and/or being unusably slow. I'm on my second iPhone, the first of which I dunked multiple times including once going overboard while white-water rafting (I don't baby my stuff
//knocks on wood.
my phone is something i always get the plan for. I hate putting a case on it (i buy it b.c the way it looks), so if it falls it is very possible it will break. for only $100 exta...it is worth coverage for everything.
IMO an iPhone4/S in a plastic case that crucially provides a 'lip' around the screen to keep it off the ground if dropped makes it pretty indestructible. Have dropped perhaps hundreds of times not a scratch.
-----
Another funny one: I had a white Macbook which I'd wrecked the keyboard on spilling beer all over it. To "fix" it I opened the case, took the battery and hard drive out, and ran water through the case to flush everything out. After letting it dry fully for a week it was again good as new: still going strong.
I don't know what people do to have their ram or logic boards or whatever randomly go bad: in my experience modern electronics are pretty much indestructible.
That's exactly what I meant, if the battery is faulty due to defect materials or workmanship it's covered under warranty. Lost charge due to heavy use etc. is obviously not something that's under warranty as that is to be expected with consumable parts like batteries. Sorry for being bit unclear what I meant.
I know many of you here are extremely knowledgeable and are able to work thru all of your hardware andy software issues. Although we have several MacBook Pro's and Airs plus a Time Machine, Airport Extreme and Ipads etc, I only have AppleCare on one laptop. That way any issues that I have been unable to resolve regarding networking, software issues, or interface problems with any of the devices is handled via Applecare.
Jim
Jim
I found Apple products are least reliable among all the electronic/computers I own. I have bought a ipod mini, two macbook airs, six iphones, some of them are used, some are new. All of them had defect at one point apart from the lastest MBA and iphone not long time ago, one iphone has home button not working, and mic not working, one (iphone 4) has earpiece speaker not working, two iphone (iphone 3gs and 3g) have cracks around speakers, the ipod mini completely not working, for which I get it repaired at futureshop which I stupidly bought their extended warranty, the first generation macbook air has first severe overheating problem, then later on does not respond and they replaced the whole motherboard. The list go on, ... And I know a friend bought only Apple product (a black macbook) and it also overheating bad and nosiy as hell. And I know most of my iphone problems are manufacture/design problems as I find it common when I start to ask solutions here or other forums.
I never had such problem with the electronics I own in my other brands. So it seems that the warranty is worth it, especially with Apple product, which is so expensive to repair, but i am not really happy with Apple quality control, their customer service is definitely good though.
I never had such problem with the electronics I own in my other brands. So it seems that the warranty is worth it, especially with Apple product, which is so expensive to repair, but i am not really happy with Apple quality control, their customer service is definitely good though.
Interesting idea. Might have to consider this for my next iPhone purchase. Thanks!
I think a lot depends on who you speak to. When I called Apple tech, I was put through to a lassie in India, perfect English, could not have been more helpful, talked me through the figures that she wanted as regards cycles, current capacity etc, passed me through to an equally delightful colleague who agreed that it was below expected specification and arranged for it to be replaced FOC at my Aberdeen shop. She either did not realise that it was not covered under warranty, or was applying common sense, so I was surprised when I took it in to be told the battery was not covered.
This constitutes what is a defective battery, and this is the path that I took. A physical or mechanical defect in a product may be obvious, but an internal fault would not be. As Apple states that the expected battery life should be 1000/80%, then my 470/70% falls well short, so the battery cells could well be defect to explain this.
I would have thought that anybody could pursue this course to get a favourable result.
tut
ps:- Apple can be flexible with warranty and damage, again I think it depends on luck of the draw, or maybe the rapport you establish with them. I never expected to get my screen replaced FOC after I cracked it, and initially it was going to cost me over £200, but after chatting for a while at the Genius bar, he said that he would do it as a one off customer support gesture.
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And this annoys me ... the cost of doing business is higher in the EU , hence they charge more ... there is no such thing as a free lunch...
I actually work on both sides of the big pond on a regular basis.. so i can compare working conditions costs and benefits..
no idea what you mean with lower wages in EU, as far as I can tell they are higher here and more benefits..
Guess this all boils down to the way we look at things..
Still cant after nearly 50 years figure out why in the states they always try to suggest that the cost is lower
NO Tax on the ticket
NO real warranty only 90 days or so...
That said they are just asking via Apple care for something we EUs take as standard..
The point with ITALY is that Apple went out of its way to cloud the issue ...
have a look here .. just took UK as in english
http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
What it does not state that there a few other laws that kick in so everywhere its states "The seller" you have additional protection meaning that its at the same level as with apple care.. for instance that you can demand your money back, you don't have to ask, or that they need to repair if you want it done ... (went with a dead ipad to a US store they refused .... they had to repair it when i got back home .. for the Standard Replacement fee
Also in the footnotes they kind of try not to tell you that THEY need to prove that it was NOT a defect or that even on the last day of the period 2+ years you can still make a claim and they need to prove its not valid !! ... slightly different to Apple care me thinks..
anyways not looking to get things for free just think that the "perks" afforded by the Law here and the cost of doing busniess hence those bad taxes, pension funds etc.... means that I get a lot more protection for free from apple than I would do even if I paid in the states..
No all true. It only covers things purchased at the same time. If you buy the Time Capsule a week later, you need a separate AppleCare agreement.
For me it has been worth it. But then only because will not acknowledge they knowingly used a faulty GPU's.
The fact that they only offer 1 year shows they have no confidence in their own hardware. Which is more telling than anything else.
The original poster is specifically miffed about the "cover factory defect" part. REALLY, that's what the contract's fine prints say? If so I completely agree this is dumb.
A product like Apple CARE, if honest, should, say "For your peace of mind, for your convenience, for somebody to handhold you."
For the rest of us who have multiple machines at home, can do some troubleshooting on our own, have the financial means to weather a $1,000 loss every 10 years, to us the risk is minimal. Yup, living is about managing risks, like a business.
A product like Apple CARE, if honest, should, say "For your peace of mind, for your convenience, for somebody to handhold you."
For the rest of us who have multiple machines at home, can do some troubleshooting on our own, have the financial means to weather a $1,000 loss every 10 years, to us the risk is minimal. Yup, living is about managing risks, like a business.
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I didn't chose Applecare because I'm usually very easy on my computers It's too expensive anyway...
It's too expensive anyway...
Absolutely NOT Accessories are covered.
FOR Example Retina
The AppleCare Protection Plan provides global repair coverage, both parts and labor, from Apple-authorized technicians around the world perfect whether you work at a desk or travel with your Mac. Apple hardware coverage includes:
Your Mac computer
Included accessories such as the power adapter
Apple memory (RAM)
AirPort Express Base Station, AirPort Extreme Base Station,
or Time Capsule(2)
Apple USB SuperDrive (for MacBook Pro with Retina display, MacBook Air, and Mac mini only)
Apple display purchased with your Mac
And your example of Time Capsule. You can buy it before during and after.
2.The AirPort device or Time Capsule must be purchased up to two years before your Mac purchase or during the term of your AppleCare Protection Plan coverage.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/APPLECAREMBP-102583
On top of that Apple has always brought up my account to see how the repair or replacement COULD be covered.
Repairs haven't come often but when the do I have never spent a dime more then the original Applecare and in many cases have received brand new products replacing the well worn failures.
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