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Should I get AppleCare for a 15" MacBook Pro?

Dirtyharry50

Dirtyharry50

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 17, 2012
1,769
183
AppleCare for a 15" MacBook Pro costs $349. which seems steep to me for another two years of coverage. I have no sense of how reliable these machines tend to be since this is the first one we've had. My daughter got it for grad school and it has been trouble free so far, over six months now. She was asking me for my advice about whether the warranty is worth the money versus taking the chance and having to foot the bill for a repair herself if something goes wrong. I'd expect a battery failure or hard disk failure to be the most likely possibilities there but you never know. I don't know what repairs for those issues would cost for a MacBook Pro either.

For my own iMac the decision seemed pretty easy. AppleCare was significantly less expensive for my machine and I bought it for the peace of mind. I don't know if I'd have done it for $349. though. Maybe. Probably I'd have come here with this same question posted in the iMac forum.

So I'd appreciate any and all advice and feedback about reliability in general for a MacBook Pro 15" purchased just before the retina display models came out.

Thanks a lot.
 
AppleCare
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac or Apple Display

  • You can buy AppleCare any time during the first year warranty period, so you don't have to buy it at time of purchase.
  • You can check your remaining warranty and/or AppleCare coverage here
  • AppleCare will extend the 1 year warranty for an additional 2 years, for a total of 3 years coverage from the date of your Mac purchase.
    It also extends telephone support from 90 days, which is included with your original warranty, to a total of 3 years.
  • AppleCare follows the device, not the owner. When a Mac changes hands, the AppleCare coverage still applies to the computer. There is no need to "register" the new owner in order to receive coverage.
  • You cannot buy AppleCare again or renew it once it expires.
  • Neither the Apple Warranty nor AppleCare will cover damage from accidents, spills, etc. They only cover manufacturing defects.
  • AppleCare+ provides some coverage for accidental damage, but is only available for the iPad and iPhone, not for Apple computers.
  • Neither the Apple Warranty nor AppleCare will cover batteries that have worn out. They only cover defective batteries.
  • You can buy AppleCare from Apple or from other sources, such as Amazon, B&H Photo Video, L.A. Computer Company and others. Exercise caution when buying from sites such as eBay, as some AppleCare offers have been scams.
  • For more detailed questions, read the AppleCare Protection Plan (pdf) agreement.

As to whether AppleCare is worth it or not, that's a matter of opinion. You'll find lots of opinions on both sides, with roughly 75% saying it's worth it. You really need to decide if it's worth it to you. If you want more information, you can search the forum, where you'll find dozens, if not hundreds of threads asking "is AppleCare worth it?" The overall consensus seems to be about 75% in favor of it.
 
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Apple Care is more than worth it!

Purchased it for my old 13" MacBook Pro, totally covered the cost of repairs.
Had a problem with the fan, Cost $79 covered.
Had a problem with the battery swelling affecting the trackpad, $179 covered.
All my problems arose after first year of purchase date of my MacBook Pro

The cost is justified.

Also a tip, there is an education discount for Apple Care, since your daughter is in grad school you can use it. The cost of Apple Care for a 15" MacBook is $379 and with the discount comes to $259. Only thing thats needed to be done is bring your daughter to the apple store with your Mac and show Identification that she is in grad school and boom discount

Also, this is what I have done in the past as I am not in Grad School.
Used my friend to come to the apple store with my and got discounted apple care.
Plan to do the same with my 15"
 
Does the MBP get used outside the home on a regular basis? Is the owner "accident prone"? Odds are AppleCare will pay for itself after one claim whether it's a hard drive, display or motherboard replacement. I would recommend purchasing AppleCare on a portable computer.
 
tcphoto said:
Does the MBP get used outside the home on a regular basis? Is the owner "accident prone"? Odds are AppleCare will pay for itself after one claim whether it's a hard drive, display or motherboard replacement. I would recommend purchasing AppleCare on a portable computer.
Click to expand...
As stated in my earlier post, AppleCare doesn't cover accidents, so it doesn't matter whether it's used inside or outside the home.
 
Generally speaking you shouldn't buy this kind of extended warranty unless you can't afford to replace that computer. In other words, if you won't have US $1500 or whatever to buy a new one if it goes bust after one year. See Consumer Reports or numerous other consumer sites.

You'll hear anecdotal stories here of folks who used it and were glad they did. But it's betting against the house: on average, Apple wins (usually wins big, BTW). And as far as anecdotal, I've owned and managed upwards of 10 Macs and mobile devices and never had reason to use it.

You are better off using that money to get a rock-solid backup. Your data is more important than the hardware. And consider using a credit card that does a warranty extension; some will give you a year for free or a nominal cost. And also consider Square Trade if you want insurance on more than just component failure during regular use; it covers screen breakage, etc.

Rob
 
Spink10 said:
In the US?

B&H Video - $244

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/582543-REG/Apple_MC247LL_A_3_Year_AppleCare_for_15.html

I think this may make it sorta worth it. :)
Click to expand...

I got mine from B&H... Excellent service and quick delivery.

Honestly, I would stack up SquareTrade too.. but I think they require you to purchase their warranty within 30 days of equipment purchase and I've had mine since July...

That's for the Retina MBP.... If I had the regular [ non retina ] MBP, I would just get one or the other.

Applecare won't cover 'accidental damage' on computer, so I'm still very careful with my rMBP! If it did, even for a small deductible say $300-$500, AC would've been perfect!
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone.

My daughter got in touch with Apple and was able to get it direct with an educational discount for $239. I'm glad she was able to get a good deal on it. I think it is worth it for the peace of mind.

I've also been glad to have extended telephone support myself for my iMac which is having issues with Time Machine I posted elsewhere about. So far Apple support hasn't been able to figure out and solve the problem so I need to call again with the latest developments but I am hopeful we'll figure it out eventually. It sure beats trying to do so on my own.

If anyone is curious about my fun times with Time Machine by the way, here is the thread where i get into detail about that: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1539630/
 
I got the three year protection plan from squaretrade from amazon.com for my macbook 13' for 177. I think that's a steal of a deal for three years, plus it covers spills drops and accidents. No deductible either
 
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