Why did you, or why you didn't get apple care ??

[edk99]

Hardly. Do you not buy health insurance because it's a waste of money? They same principle applies here. It's a good thing to buy because if you need any hardware replacement on the machine, chances are it'll cost more than AppleCare would have. Sure, many of those who buy AppleCare will never use it's benefits, but they have the benefit of the peace of mind that if there's a problem, it'll be covered. I don't think the odds of avoiding a major problem are quite good enough to justify not getting AppleCare.
jW

I never buy extended warranties, apple care, extended auto warranties, warranties on home appliances and so on and have saved thousands over the years. If my MacBook blows up I pay to get it fixed or buy a new one and I'm still way ahead of the game in terms of money spent if I bought every extended warranty over the years.

To compare a warranty to healthcare insurance is not a fair comparison. Products are replaceable you are NOT.

 

[Mal]

I never buy extended warranties, apple care, extended auto warranties, warranties on home appliances and so on and have saved thousands over the years. If my MacBook blows up I pay to get it fixed or buy a new one and I'm still way ahead of the game in terms of money spent if I bought every extended warranty over the years.

To compare a warranty to healthcare insurance is not a fair comparison. Products are replaceable you are NOT.

To be fair, I rarely buy extended warranties on most other products, but I can't afford to just replace a computer or spend $800-1000 dollars to fix it if someone goes seriously wrong. I'm buying AppleCare, and I'll probably replace the computer about the time it expires or soon after, but that means 3 years I know I won't have to buy a new computer unless I make a serious mistake.

jW

 

[hafr]

I never buy extended warranties, apple care, extended auto warranties, warranties on home appliances and so on and have saved thousands over the years. If my MacBook blows up I pay to get it fixed or buy a new one and I'm still way ahead of the game in terms of money spent if I bought every extended warranty over the years.

To compare a warranty to healthcare insurance is not a fair comparison. Products are replaceable you are NOT.

It really shouldn't have anything to do with replaceability to do, but risk vs. reward. If you'd get hit by a car, you could end up in intensive care costing thousands of dollars per day. A debt most people would never be able to get out of. But if your car would break down, you can still get by even though you might not have the money to replace it.

The cost of the insurance vs. what you deem is a likely probability that you'd be able to save up the amount of money a replacement/repair would cost before it's necessary. On average, you always lose. Otherwise the insurances wouldn't be available at all.

 

[Omgitsdesmond]

Well, this thread has convinced me to save up a little more money for the AppleCare before I get my MacBook pro 13 inch in a few months. (a few MORE months now.)

 

[hafr]

Well, this thread has convinced me to save up a little more money for the AppleCare before I get my MacBook pro 13 inch in a few months. (a few MORE months now.)

If you need to save money for months to be able to afford Apple Care, it's probably a good idea to get it

 

[bozz2006]

Hardly. Do you not buy health insurance because it's a waste of money? They same principle applies here. It's a good thing to buy because if you need any hardware replacement on the machine, chances are it'll cost more than AppleCare would have. Sure, many of those who buy AppleCare will never use it's benefits, but they have the benefit of the peace of mind that if there's a problem, it'll be covered. I don't think the odds of avoiding a major problem are quite good enough to justify not getting AppleCare.

jW

I do. So there you go. It isn't health insurance. I plan on getting around 4 years out of my computer, and about 80 years out of my body. I probably won't have to spend any major amount of money to fix my computer in the next three years (it's already a year old), but I guarantee you I will need health care. In fact, I'm seeing a doctor next week, and my son is tomorrow. And health insurance covers prescriptions that I and my family take every single day.

What you propose is not even close to an apples to apples comparison. There are mountains of evidence that show extended warranties being bad buys for the consumer.

By your argument, I'd bet you make sure to have an extended warranty on every vehicle you own too, right? They cost more to repair than computers.

I've found it to be much cheaper in the long run to sock away a hundred bucks a month or so in case my pickup or computer poops the bed.

 

[thundersteele]

Not.

The ~10 PCs and laptops that I have either owned or worked with for an extended time have all died from being obsolete, not from defects. Some I gave to friends and they are still in use, closing in on 10 years age.

The notable exception is my first MBP, a 17'' pre-unibody that suffered from the NVidida problem. It failed with 38 month, so right outside of the AppleCare protection that I didn't buy anyways.

I think it is best to think of AppleCare as insurance against technical defects. If you'd rather have peace of mind, it makes sense to get it. Whether it's worth it is hard to say, since statistics doesn't help if one only owns a single machine. But I am sure that Apple is making money on AppleCare!

 

[Xikum]

As a (UK) student, you would've got a 3 year complimentary warranty (1yr phone support). By paying out ~£50, you are in essence extending phone support by a further 2 years. Just clarifying.

Really? I thought I was buying an extra 2 years warranty AND 2 years phone support, I didn't realise the standard warranty for students was 3 years.

Still, extra phone support if I ever need it for £25/year isnt too bad, so I'm not complaining either way

 

[old-wiz]

I did not buy it on my last 2 MBPs. I'm very careful of my electronics. In the house we have an iBook, a retired PPC mac mini, a current mini, 2 MBPs, and an iMac 24". I have never called Apple for troubleshooting. I feel that I would rather save the money from the AppleCare price to use towards my next Mac. In the 27 years that I have owned personal computers, including 7 years with macs, I've never had a situation where something broke that I couldn't deal with without help. My iMac is from 2008, and when it breaks I'll probably just replace it with a new one. when I take my laptops out of the house they are always in a padded bag.

However, for some people, AppleCare is definitely a good idea.

 

[LYFK]

I've had I think almost 5k worth of work done to just one laptop and AppleCare made it so effortless. What was replaced:

- upper clamshell
- logic board (twice)
- right fan

For products that are mobile, extended warranty is probably always a good idea. For a stationary computer, maybe less worth it, but depends on the total value I guess.

 

[DrNick8404]

I bought my Macbook Pro at the Marine Corps Exchange (MCX). They offer a warranty service for $129 that covers the mac 100% to include accidental damage to software issues for 2 years. They will fix it for free if you spill coffee all over it. If the computer gets all buggy or the battery is messed up, they replace them for free. So I did not buy the apple care

 

[Mr.Outside]

I dont get it just because I'm really careful with my stuff. I know anything could happen and my MBP actually had a big problem, but it was after AppleCare coverage anyway.

 

[alphaod]

I buy it out of convenience. On some things I find I never used the AppleCare (ie: my iMac), and on other things I find it's already paid for itself (ie: my MacBook Pro).

Some people say it helps with resale, but I don't care much for resale.

 

[hafr]

Why are people saying they're not getting Apple Care because they're careful with their stuff? Apple Care won't cover issues caused by rough handling either way, so I don't really get that argument...

 

[heisenberg123]

Why are people saying they're not getting Apple Care because they're careful with their stuff? Apple Care won't cover issues caused by rough handling either way, so I don't really get that argument...

haha so true,

i usually always scuff at extended warranties but applecare is a no brainer to me, but thats just my opinion

----------

I dont get it just because I'm really careful with my stuff. I know anything could happen and my MBP actually had a big problem, but it was after AppleCare coverage anyway.

how does being careful prevent a manufacturing defect to occur

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

I didn't because I judge that if my mac doesn't fail during its first year it will be Ok then. This is exactly what happened with my MBP.

That is one thing that has me thinking. I have mostly used my 13" MBP only for the basic stuff: writing , surfing the internet, itunes, iphoto, etc. I have not used any application that is more intensive on the computer. I wonder, if it wouldn't be good to have it, now that applications like photoshop, aperture, final cut pro, and autocad will be used.

Some people say it helps with resale, but I don't care much for resale.

I thought on that too. If my computer with the extra RAM doesn't feel that powerful, perhaps is better to sell it with the extra warranty.


What does apple care cover and what doesn't ?? You have mentioned some
things. Does it cover everything except dropping it and/or theft ??

Thank you again, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[Nermal]

I didn't get it because my computer is covered by the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act anyway.

 

[bozz2006]

I think Apple counts on most of us having an emotional connection to this stuff to sell more extended warranties. Honestly, I bet Apple sells a higher ratio of extended warranties than any other electronics company. It's a racket, man.

 

[hypermog]

When you resell the computer you can link people to this page and confirm that your computer has AppleCare:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

That ups the resale value of the computer (if it's still covered by AppleCare), since the person knows that if anything goes wrong with it, they can take it in to any Apple store and get it fixed for free. It's just an attractive selling point if you want to refresh your computer every ~2-3 years.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Up to now I haven't kept my Apple devices more than a year. My MBA and iPhone4s will both be replaced when new stuff is out, and those replacements may stay a while. I expect my Mac Mini and iPad3 are good for a couple of years at least though.

 

[iLog.Genius]

If I were a complete noob with computers, I'd probably would purchase AppleCare for a $2000+ computer. I didn't because the things that usually fail (RAM, Fans, HDD's) are usually cheap enough for me to replace myself. Of course the logic board could fail but I'm willing to bet against that.

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you for your posts : ) !!!

If I were a complete noob with computers, I'd probably would purchase AppleCare for a $2000+ computer. I didn't because the things that usually fail (RAM, Fans, HDD's) are usually cheap enough for me to replace myself. Of course the logic board could fail but I'm willing to bet against that.

How much can the logic board be plus the cost of repairing/changing it ??
I imagine the logic board is intensively used with such applications as
photoshop, aperture, final cut pro, autocad, and archicad, but I don't know
for sure. Is it intensively used ??

Thank you again, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[heisenberg123]

Hi,

Thank you for your posts : ) !!!


How much can the logic board be plus the cost of repairing/changing it ??
I imagine the logic board is intensively used with such applications as
photoshop, aperture, final cut pro, autocad, and archicad, but I don't know
for sure. Is it intensively used ??

Thank you again, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

the logic board is the mother board its what everything from the CPU to the fans to the RAM is plugged into, without it your mac wouldnt even turn on

to replace it you looking at atleast $400

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Yes, $400, it is not cheap !!!

Thank you, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[bniu]

another advantage of AppleCare is you are turning 3 years of potentially variable repair costs into a known cost. Plus since I blew almost $3800 on my 17" MBP + ATD, $250 (student discount) for AppleCare to cover both was well worth it!

I also push my MBP to extremes, I run lots of simulations, video encodes that really tax the CPU. Figure I have a pretty good chance of wearing it out.