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Why does Apple only offer one year of warranty?

Abyssgh0st said:
Because they have the best included manufacturer's one year warranty in the computer industry. And it's worth your money to extend it. They're a business trying to top themselves quarter after quarter, not a charity.
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How is it better then any other computer manufacturer's warranty. I'm not saying its worse, or better but the same. They cover manufacturer's defects, no more no less. Dell does this, HP does this Lenovo does this.

In general, I think the quality of support is superior, but not the warranty itself. Getting applecare for a laptop is also a no brainer, given the costs of repairing a laptop.
 
maflynn said:
How is it better then any other computer manufacturer's warranty. I'm not saying its worse, or better but the same. They cover manufacturer's defects, no more no less. Dell does this, HP does this Lenovo does this.

In general, I think the quality of support is superior, but not the warranty itself. Getting applecare for a laptop is also a no brainer, given the costs of repairing a laptop.
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In one sense Dell is better because they come to your house. Apple does not, and that can make a difference with some like a 30" monitor.
 
Matthew Yohe said:
Yup.

This is common across the entire PC marketplace.
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Wrong. I got a Dell for $450. I could upgrade the warranty to on-site for $19. I could upgrade to 3 years of on-site for something like $200. Buying a next-day on site warranty for a macbook pro? Priceless. There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's Dell.

This is Apple wanting to have huge profit margins, plain and simple. Thank greed for this, nothing else.

I too have had Dell come to my house the next day. I gotta admit, it's worth going with Windows, just to ensure that your downtime if the computer breaks isn't more than 24 hours.
 
I've personally heard (heard, not first hand) more people complain about Apple having a guilty til proven innocent type approach to warranty claims in that they immediately assume you must have submerged it in water or damaged it in some other way in order for it to fail. I think this is lame and probably stems from all the washed ipods that people over the years have tried to return.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
...
I too have had Dell come to my house the next day. I gotta admit, it's worth going with Windows, just to ensure that your downtime if the computer breaks isn't more than 24 hours.
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Dell does come to your house, but they don't always actually honor the next or second business day service. I've had everything from 3 days to 4 weeks waiting for Dell to show up. One time, the tech called a wrong number to verify I'd be there (and I gave two numbers to try). When he didn't reach me after calling the wrong number, he went on vacation, with my parts in his truck. I didn't get sorted out until the following week.
 
Funny, there is a topic about this. I was thinking the other day since my warranty expired :)

If Apple had a standard 2-year warranty and optional Apple Care Plan for additional one/two more year, I think they would have more customers switching to Apple. Think about it, you offer one more year warranty than your competitors. I think to most people it would be a good buying point.

I highly doubt they would lose money. Except the well known palm rest crack problem (older Macbook and they still cover problem under warranty), I have been using my Macbook for 4 years with zero problems.
 
I've had a Mac that has lasted for TEN years without failing AT ALL. And its STILL going well. And another has lasted for FIVE years without fail. I trust their products even though they only have 1 yr warrenty. If something goes wrong, it usually happens in the first year:D
 
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A.W.E.S.O.M.-0 said:
In the EU there is a mandatory 3 year warranty on computers by law.
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If this is the case - and I have no reason to doubt it - then I never ever EVER want to read another post bitching about how Macs cost more in the UK or anywhere in the EU. Guess why?

Yes, the 3 years is included, but to think that Apple does not build that into the cost of their computers is naive.

As mentioned, I would rather have the CHOICE to buy 3 years than have it forced upon me by some heavy handed government in the name of "consumer protection."
 
silexh said:
Here are some abstracts from this document.

So basically you have 2 year warranty as long as you can reasonably state the defect wasn't caused by a third party (and warranty needs to be free of charge and without inconvenience)....
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From previous macrumors threads on the EU "2 year warranty", it turns out that it's a lot less usable than people think.

first of all, the EU warranty only covers the condition of the goods at the time are delivered to the buyer;

Article 3
Rights of the consumer
1. The seller shall be liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists at the time the goods were delivered.
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for the first 6 months, if something goes wrong with the equipment, it's presumed that the goods were defective when they were delivered (unless it can be shown that the buyer caused the damage);

Article 5
Time limits

3. Unless proved otherwise, any lack of conformity which becomes apparent within six months of delivery of the goods shall be presumed to have existed at the time of delivery unless this presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the nature of the lack of conformity.
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Unfortunately, AFTER 6 months, that presumption ends and the burden is shifted to the consumer.

While you may have 2 years to discover that your purchase had a defect at the time you received it, after 6 months the seller can insist that you prove the defect was there when it was delivered to you. And proving it was can be extremely difficult or even impossible for the average consumer.

Your own national consumer laws may give you better protection than the EU
 
Nothing is free...

When will people admit or realize that nothing is free. Somehow or someway there has to be a way to cover the cost of everything or the company is history.

This whole entitlement mentality needs to end ASAP!
 
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Macky-Mac said:
From previous macrumors threads on the EU "2 year warranty", it turns out that it's a lot less usable than people think.

first of all, the EU warranty only covers the condition of the goods at the time are delivered to the buyer;



for the first 6 months, if something goes wrong with the equipment, it's presumed that the goods were defective when they were delivered (unless it can be shown that the buyer caused the damage);



Unfortunately, AFTER 6 months, that presumption ends and the burden is shifted to the consumer.

While you may have 2 years to discover that your purchase had a defect at the time you received it, after 6 months the seller can insist that you prove the defect was there when it was delivered to you. And proving it was can be extremely difficult or even impossible for the average consumer.

Your own national consumer laws may give you better protection than the EU
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You are entirely right, but proving the damage wasn't done by you shouldn't legally be a problem. Apple is a bitch about it, but any legal expert will say a computer specialist should be able to determine whether the damage was done by you at first glance (this is why there are elements that check for water damage. Also severe scratches and dents are quite obvious signs of 'rough handling') if he can not do this the problem isn't yours.

The best protection is indeed in national laws. In most EU countries products have to be delivered in such quality that it will last for a 'reasonable' time. In the Netherlands this is 5 years. If it fails after 3 (and it is not your fault) Apple *should* service it. But most Apple stores (in most European countries the place that sells you the item is responsible for any warranty) and consumers don't know about this - so they won't honour it.
That is where the problem lies: Apple won't do it - and most people won't bring it to court.
The worth of Apple care is that it's 1) problem free 2) International, and 3)More functional (you get a tool and telephonic support with it)
It's expensive though...
 
silexh said:
You are entirely right, but proving the damage wasn't done by you shouldn't legally be a problem. Apple is a bitch about it, but any legal expert will say a computer specialist should be able to determine whether the damage was done by you at first glance (this is why there are elements that check for water damage. Also severe scratches and dents are quite obvious signs of 'rough handling') if he can not do this the problem isn't yours.
......
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Unfortunately what you have to prove isn't only about damage that may or may not have been caused by the consumer. If some part of the computer (hard drive, power unit, logic board, etc) stops working after that initial 6 month period, the consumer has to prove the part was defective at the time the product was delivered to the consumer and that can be a difficult and expensive thing to prove.
 
vant said:
Uh, Apple has the best warranty available. You can actually talk to a person, IN PERSON!

How many times have you called and complained about a product? It's very frustrating over the phone.
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This means nothing... those geniuses are clueless, and in fact deny a lot of AppleCare claims (as evidenced by this site, and I also know by personal experience.) Apple's warranty is crap, and so is their service... got to love the Fanboys that stick up for them though.
 
green86 said:
This means nothing... those geniuses are clueless, and in fact deny a lot of AppleCare claims (as evidenced by this site, and I also know by personal experience.) Apple's warranty is crap, and so is their service... got to love the Fanboys that stick up for them though.
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Sounds like you may be over-generalizing based on personal bad experience. I'm no fanboy, but I've had plenty of warranty claims (on 3 MBP, 2 iPhones, a TimeCapsule, accessories, etc) and the Geniuses have alway taken care of my problems. I'm sure there are legitimate complaints, but I don't think it's the general consensus.
 
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baryon said:
Okay so I've been asking myself this question for years, and I simply can't understand it. I just got a leaflet, and as usual, Apple advertises its computers as robust and more durable than other computers, designed to last longer. If that's true, and it probably is, then how come they only offer ONE year of warranty for free? It's something that doesn't make sense to me: to show that users can trust your product, you should offer more warranty!

If you compare that to cars for example, the more durable cars are advertised with 5 to 7 years of free warranty, showing that buyer that they probably won't need to repair the car for 7 years after they buy it, otherwise the company would go bankrupt by repairing all those cars for free.

Now most things I buy related to electronics, like external hard drives, mice, graphics tablets, phones, headphones, watches, cameras, memory cards, calculators, SLR lenses, etc, easily offer 2 or 3 years of warranty. Nikon for example, offers 2 years, and if you register on their website, for free, you get an extra year. I thought that was normal, and not "extra nice" of them.

Now Apple offers an extended warranty, Apple Care, but for extra money! Not only did you spend all your money on a brand new computer, but you should also spend more just to get a useable amount of warranty? Even the lamest computer can function without any flaws for a year! I think that if Apple really trusted the quality of their computers, they would have no problem offering 3 years of free warranty with every purchased product. If you bough a super expensive computer, you should expect it to work for more than 3 years, and not break down after 1 year, and to guaranty this, I think Apple should offer a warranty for those 3 years.

Now you can say "but then the computers would be even more expensive to compensate for the price of extra repairs", but if Apple computers are really durable, that shouldn't make much of a difference. Warranty duration is the one thing that shows how much a company trusts its products.

Am I the only one who feels this is unfair?
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