MacBook Warranty

[sionharris]

The UK HE MacBook Warranty has recently been extended from 1 year to 3 years.

Previously it was an obvious choice to buy AppleCare for £57 but now I am struggling to understand the key differences between the 3-year Warranty and 3 years worth of AppleCare.

Can anybody help?

 

[~Shard~]

Hmm, that's interesting. I just checked the HE Warranty for here in Canada and it appears to still be the standard 1 year with 90 days of phone support. If it did indeed get bumped up to 3 years though that's pretty impressive - and as you say, makes buying APP not quite as appealing.

 

[drlunanerd]

Hmm, that's interesting. I just checked the HE Warranty for here in Canada and it appears to still be the standard 1 year with 90 days of phone support. If it did indeed get bumped up to 3 years though that's pretty impressive - and as you say, makes buying APP not quite as appealing.

It's only 3 years in the UK

The UK HE MacBook Warranty has recently been extended from 1 year to 3 years.

Previously it was an obvious choice to buy AppleCare for £57 but now I am struggling to understand the key differences between the 3-year Warranty and 3 years worth of AppleCare.

Can anybody help?

The free 3 years is essentially AppleCare "basic". You get 90 days phone support, and I've heard that you don't get on-site support (although haven't had that confirmed, and in any case with full AppleCare it's only for desktops and even then at Apple's discretion, so not proper on-site support like you'd get with a corporate level warranty).

The biggest problem is that you don't get anything in writing with the free warranty, and your serial number shows your Mac only having 1 year warranty.

I've asked before if anyone has ever had to challenge Apple on this, but no-one has responded.

Personally, given that full AppleCare is a poor extended warranty anyway when compared with other computer manufacturers offerings, I wouldn't pay extra for it.

 

[sionharris]

Personally, given that full AppleCare is a poor extended warranty anyway when compared with other computer manufacturers offerings, I wouldn't pay extra for it.

Could you elaborate on this? Other manufacturers may offer more but that doesn't necessarily mean that AppleCare isn't worth buying.

 

[drlunanerd]

Could you elaborate on this? Other manufacturers may offer more but that doesn't necessarily mean that AppleCare isn't worth buying.

Other warranties I've purchased/used (e.g. Compaq, HP, Toshiba) have had contractual response and fix times e.g. next day on-site. AppleCare has none of this - Apple can, and often do, take bloody ages to fix any hardware problems. That's why I recommend not bothering paying an extra £57. Just stick with the free 3 years.

 

[zhd05]

Ive just bought a Macbook pro from the HE store at Uni, and I didnt pay any extra for the warranty. As far as I understand Im covered for 3 years, but if anything happens Il have to take it in to a Apple store rather than send it through the post. Again, theres nothing in writing, so im curious how you would prove to them you are covered for 3 years??

 

[drlunanerd]

Ive just bought a Macbook pro from the HE store at Uni, and I didnt pay any extra for the warranty. As far as I understand Im covered for 3 years, but if anything happens Il have to take it in to a Apple store rather than send it through the post. Again, theres nothing in writing, so im curious how you would prove to them you are covered for 3 years??

Good question, and one which I've not found an answer to.