Mac Pro - always get warranty!

[scottsjack]

Applecare for the Mac Pro is so inexpensive my thought was why even take a chance.

 

[alphaod]

I'd like to contribute too.

My Mac Pro is in the shop. Apple says they have no idea what's going on.

So far they've replaced the GPU.

It's suspected that one or both CPUs have problems or even the backplane motherboard.

I can see this getting very expensive.

 

[orangefunk]

Don't pretend you aren't paying for that. In Norway the base Mac Pro is about $3700, as compared to $2500 in the USA. That's 50% more.

That is kinda what I am hoping... My i5 quad core iMac was something like 16,000 NOK which is something like $2,800.

 

[ActionableMango]

Credit card warranty

My Visa (and probably yours too) doubles the mfr warranty for up to one year additional, without the added cost of the extended warranty.

I've had the opportunity to use this VISA warranty, so I guess I'll add to the discussion.

Two months after my iPhone4 warranty expired, the power button got really mushy and stopped working. I took it to the Apple store and they "repaired" it for $199+tax. (Really they exchanged it for a like-new refurb.) I submitted a claim to VISA. They asked for paperwork: a copy of the repair invoice, a copy of the receipt, and a copy of my credit card statement showing the purchase. I obtained these and mailed them to VISA (FAX was also an option). About two weeks later I had a check in hand that covered 100% of the repair cost.

So for me, and anyone else with a credit card extended warranty, paying for Apple Care really only gets you year #3 of coverage. Year #1 is covered by Apple and #2 covered by the credit card.

I did purchase Apple Care for my MP, but it was heavily discounted and my Mac Pro is a refurbished model. Refurbs are not covered by the credit card warranty.

 

[Ovenall]

I had my logic board go a couple years ago and last week my display died on my late 2007 MBP.

Macs aren't all that reliable. In the past four years I've had three Macs die on me. Two at my office, high end tower machines with an IT staff servicing them, and my laptop twice.

Yeah, get Apple Care.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

I had my logic board go a couple years ago and last week my display died on my late 2007 MBP.

Macs aren't all that reliable. In the past four years I've had three Macs die on me. Two at my office, high end tower machines with an IT staff servicing them, and my laptop twice.

Yeah, get Apple Care.

Indeed and the consumer pays the price.

 

[Hey Jude]

I have had a computer replaced under AC, and another practically rebuilt so for me AC usually pays for itself, and then some.

 

[gmpirate]

Been buying Apple products since the Apple IIe. I currently have eight Apple computers from the G4 ibook to G5 mac pro to my newest mini. Always buy refurbished. Only had one computer go with with a bad logic board in an eMac.

I also buy all my father's computers for personal and business -- never an issue.

About to buy a new mac pro and of course will not be buying Apple Care. If ever I do have a problem, it will not cost more than buying Apple Care for all my computers throughout the years. I'm sure someone can cite an exception here, but extended warranties do not save you money over the long run. A major breakdown can be devastating but it still does not make up for buying extended warranties on all your electronics over the years.

 

[thekev]

Correct, you would still need to get AppleCare to extend your warrant to three years. I think ProCare is only worth it for a small subset of Apple users: people who know very, very little about computers and need help transferring files to their new Mac or people who are self-employed or small business owners who rely on their computers for their livelihoods and need the priority service and rapid repairs. This is what you get with ProCare.

"In my experience" it still isn't always fast service. They do run out of parts at times, but I haven't had to haul any machines into the Apple store in a few years.

Don't pretend you aren't paying for that. In Norway the base Mac Pro is about $3700, as compared to $2500 in the USA. That's 50% more.

That pricing is absolutely insane, but isn't Norway an expensive country overall? Most workstation class computers from other brands come with a three year standard warranty in the US. Displays typically get three years with a few getting four or partial warranty as far as five years. I don't know what Apple is like on taking back displays for warranty service. Some companies aren't very willing to do so unless something is horribly wrong with the display. On computers I find it odd how weak their warranties are at the price points of the machines. It's not like in the 1990s where they couldn't afford to guarantee their hardware further than a year.

I had my logic board go a couple years ago and last week my display died on my late 2007 MBP.

Macs aren't all that reliable. In the past four years I've had three Macs die on me. Two at my office, high end tower machines with an IT staff servicing them, and my laptop twice.

Yeah, get Apple Care.

That really sucks. I've had some weird issues over about a decade with them too, and it's pretty much spanned all hardware generations. PC's can be bad too. I don't think there are any truly reliable computers made anymore.