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No AppleCare rMBP Owners: How Have You Fared?
- Thread starter theturtle
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No, it's just that European warranties last longer (hey, at least we get something in exchange for our 40%+
tax) 
If I were you, I'd get apple care. retina Macbook Pros are nearly unfixable. If you need a logicboard replacement (ram failed, gpu problems ....) it's probably about 1000 bucks. (my 2010 would have been 800). Same goes for the display. If you plan to keep the device for 3 years or longer I'd get AppleCare
right right I misread it as you having more than a year to decide to buy applecare
But any new machine especially retina I would def buy it if it was me just cause of the way they r built now... I usually change machines every 2 years or so, but I have a mbp from 2012.. I dont think I am gonna switch anytime soon..I dont like the idea that you cant even change your own ram....that just irritates me..I usually upgrade my ram and even HDD..
I have a first release 2012 rMBP 15 and did not buy apple care. To date, I haven't had any issues. I actually never buy extended warranties. It's not that I can't afford it, to me it's just a waste of money because the odds of having a major malfunction after the standard warrantee expires is quite low. I buy a fair amount of electronics and I've only had one failure after the warrantee expired and it was an HP laptop. The hard drive went out on it three years after I bought it. To be honest, I didn't consider it a loss because I was shopping for an upgrade/replacement at that time. If for some reason, my rMBP bricks tomorrow, the amount of money I haven't spent on extended warranties will pay for a brand new rMBP. So in a sense, my warrantee is not spending money on extended warranties.
probably a good idea. apple bar will clean it out, replace it for defective pixels, color distortion, etc. things that aren't normally covered under a standard warranty
Expected value calculations and risk aversion parameters? Here on MacRumors? Say it ain't so, Batman!
My brother just had his entire screen replaced for image retention.
Boy was he glad to have had apple care. He got his 15" retina a week after they were introduced.
Boy was he glad to have had apple care. He got his 15" retina a week after they were introduced.
AppleCare always feels like a great failsafe as I'm usually buying the machines worth over $2500+, and with the Student Discount get AppleCare for $250 (~10% of the machine worth before tax), and even at non-student price of $370 it's still a good investment (CDN$ prices). I've honestly never used it for my last two Macbook Pro's, but it's a nice feeling to know if it does have an issue it's covered (especially on Retina models that are expensive to repair).
Of course your mileage will vary, as I said I've never used my AppleCare once, but it's a peace of mind thing.
The good thing about Apple vs a lot of other companies is you can take 12 months to decide if you want to AppleCare a Macbook, so if you can't afford it totally at purchase you don't need to budget it into your initial purchase, set a little money aside each month and buy it at the 11 month mark.
Mind you, I would never buy it for a baseline Macbook Air, as those units are only worth around $1000.00 and the coverage is like $300 for a non-student.
edit: I do have friends and family who have used their AppleCare before, so yes, there are people who actually do use it. I've just been lucky so far I also take great care of my electronics, cleaning regularly, etc.
Of course your mileage will vary, as I said I've never used my AppleCare once, but it's a peace of mind thing.
The good thing about Apple vs a lot of other companies is you can take 12 months to decide if you want to AppleCare a Macbook, so if you can't afford it totally at purchase you don't need to budget it into your initial purchase, set a little money aside each month and buy it at the 11 month mark.
Mind you, I would never buy it for a baseline Macbook Air, as those units are only worth around $1000.00 and the coverage is like $300 for a non-student.
edit: I do have friends and family who have used their AppleCare before, so yes, there are people who actually do use it. I've just been lucky so far
I also take great care of my electronics, cleaning regularly, etc.I have AppleCare on my machine and i have used it many times!
Got the first 2012 edition with 2.3Ghz, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD, Got the screen replaced four times and a bluetooth/wifi card once, then my machine got replaced with one as above just with 512GB SSD, it got a problem with the screen two weeks after...
And then i got it replaced again!
So now i have the 2.7Ghz, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD, and got AppleCare one more time, and this one has been perfect..
Got the first 2012 edition with 2.3Ghz, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD, Got the screen replaced four times and a bluetooth/wifi card once, then my machine got replaced with one as above just with 512GB SSD, it got a problem with the screen two weeks after...
And then i got it replaced again!
So now i have the 2.7Ghz, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD, and got AppleCare one more time, and this one has been perfect..
Disclaimer: My machine(s) are covered by the UK Higher Education warranty, but the experience is the same...
My rMBP is over a year old now, and is running perfectly fine. It did, however, have a top case replacement within the first nine months due to a high pitched whine from the keyboard backlight. Since then it has been flawless, with no additional problems.
Obviously, that one repair would have been within the normal 12 months warranty. When I took it in, the Genius I chatted to was surprised to see a rMBP at all, and nobody in the store had performed a top case replacement either! They even had to order the part in - but had loads of the topcases for the cMBPs. It seems that the rMBPs have a lower repair rate in general.
My rMBP is over a year old now, and is running perfectly fine. It did, however, have a top case replacement within the first nine months due to a high pitched whine from the keyboard backlight. Since then it has been flawless, with no additional problems.
Obviously, that one repair would have been within the normal 12 months warranty. When I took it in, the Genius I chatted to was surprised to see a rMBP at all, and nobody in the store had performed a top case replacement either! They even had to order the part in - but had loads of the topcases for the cMBPs. It seems that the rMBPs have a lower repair rate in general.
I'm normally an advocate of buying AppleCare whenever possible, but I bought my new 13" rMBP on my Chase card, and they extend the mfr warranty by an additional year. I tend to stay on an 18-24 mo upgrade cycle anyway, so to me getting AppleCare just isn't worth it.
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/pdf/card-benefits/EW-DOC-CCSG1_02-07_06.01.11.pdf
Page 2, section 11, Amex doesn't cover computers that come with a warranty. I am pretty sure Amex won't cover MacBooks.
I believe you are mistaken. Apple's warranty is from the original manufacture, so the AMEX exclusion does not apply.
No Apple Care but my aunt did purchase Geek Squad accidental damage warranty for one year, my birthday gift since she didn't want me to break a $2000 computer I bought with my own money 3 months out of the gate. Didn't have apple care on my 13" MBP either. Its probably nice but I've always been able to smooth talk with the genius. Honestly if you go to the genius and you can speak tech it makes their job easier to do (vs the illterate guy who doesn't know what a USB port is) and thus more inclined to help you.
Although it wasn't a retina, I had a 2011 MBP and purchased the AppleCare after the 1 year warranty. I took good care of my laptop and never needed the extra waranty, but the one thing it helped with (i think) was reselling it to upgrade now. It was still good till August 2014 and I think that helped my resale value. If you plan on reselling it before the next 3 years then you might want to consider that. Also, it's good peace of mind in case anything does go wrong.
No, that section refers to an "additional service contract" not provided by the computer's manufacturer. Computers are covered. In fact a laptop is featured prominently on the main benefits page.
http://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/extended-warranty.html
I've been out of mine for a few months already. I've never had any issue with Apple products once outside the warranty (owned an 06 Macbook and it's still kicking). This rMBP was a rare case at the start however with the LG screens having "ghosting/screen retention" but once I got that fixed (Samsung screen) I have not faced any problems.
Check your credit card company they may actually have an additional year of warranty added to the product.
Check your credit card company they may actually have an additional year of warranty added to the product.