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Would you recommend Applecare with rMBP

Would you buy Applecare with a rMBP

  • Yes but only if it was new

    Votes: 34 26.6%

  • Yes but only if it was second hand

    Votes: 3 2.3%

  • No, because it's a retina MBP

    Votes: 16 12.5%

  • Yes, I wouldn't even consider not having Applecare, retina or not.

    Votes: 75 58.6%
  • Total voters
    128
  • Poll closed .
inscrewtable

inscrewtable

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 9, 2010
1,656
402
At $429 for the extra two years coverage I am wondering about other user's experiences with the rMBP regarding repairs.

Before the retina macbooks I would have thought that Applecare was necessary because everyone I know who needed repair needed it either because the HDD or the Superdrive crapped out.

Now that there is no mechanical optical or hard drives, I guess that just leaves the screen or logic board.

Would you get Applecare with new rMBP and why?

Is it because you think the screen or logic board is likely to need repair or is it just for the resale value.
 
Apple in Australia are honouring a 2 year warranty now, so i wouldn't think it would be worth the $429 for 1 year.
 
I get AppleCare just for piece of mind. The thought of having to pay out of pocket for an $800-1,000 repair should something go wrong after the first year would be tough for me to swallow. I am also pretty sure that AppleCare on the 15" retina is $349 and $249 on the 13". For me it is a necessity that is well worth the money even if you never have to use it.
 
Robster3 said:
Apple in Australia are honouring a 2 year warranty now, so i wouldn't think it would be worth the $429 for 1 year.
Click to expand...

I did not know that. This makes a big difference. Do you happen to know if this includes the 2012 rMBP's?
 
I would figure that repairs on an rMBP would cost more than previous models. It was well worth the purchase on my cMBP, so I would probably get it again.

Have they really dropped it to two years from the original three?
 
inscrewtable said:
I did not know that. This makes a big difference. Do you happen to know if this includes the 2012 rMBP's?
Click to expand...

It includes all Apple products that have a 1 year warranty, they don't advertise it though? I rang Apple care about a AE last week that died and was 18 months old and the guy told me about it which i knew anyway. He replaced it and arranged for my 3.5 year old 09 imac LCD screen to be replaced for free, worth $650. Had it back in 12 hours. It never had Apple care either. Was a good day.


http://www.smh.com.au/technology/te...rranty-switch-under-wraps-20130318-2gahc.html
 
Robster3 said:
... He replaced it and arranged for my 3.5 year old 09 imac LCD screen to be replaced for free, worth $650. Had it back in 12 hours. It never had Apple care either. Was a good day.
Click to expand...

Crikey!, that's like the complete opposite of my horror story which I will elaborate on in a separate thread when I can be bothered. Long story short though is that I put an SSD in my iMac, two months later I have problems, I take it to the store and after telling me to piss off, they eventually said I had broken the logic board and they were certain of this and I had to pay $950 but I'd be better off getting a new mac. After kicking up a bit of a fuss, they decided that it was in fact the gpu which they replaced under warranty at a parts cost (to them) of $56. They replaced the 2GB card with a 1GB card. One month later the new GPU croaks, apparently of it's own volition. But a wonderful Applecare CR person sorted it out. All fine now. Yes that was the short story, trust me you don't want to hear the long version.

Great link. I wonder if it could be argued that the 2 year extended warranty must extend two years past the normal warranty?
 
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inscrewtable said:
Crikey!, that's like the complete opposite of my horror story which I will elaborate on in a separate thread when I can be bothered. Long story short though is that I put an SSD in my iMac, two months later I have problems, I take it to the store and after telling me to piss off, they eventually said I had broken the logic board and they were certain of this and I had to pay $950 but I'd be better off getting a new mac. After kicking up a bit of a fuss, they decided that it was in fact the gpu which they replaced under warranty at a parts cost (to them) of $56. They replaced the 2GB card with a 1GB card. One month later the new GPU croaks, apparently of it's own volition. But a wonderful Applecare CR person sorted it out. All fine now. Yes that was the short story, trust me you don't want to hear the long version.
Click to expand...

I had actually given up on the iMac told the local service centre to forget it when they told me cost was $650 plus $50 to look at it. I told them to take out the HD and i would come and get it and pay the $50 which i wasn't happy about. When i rang Apple about the AE i just mentioned the iMac as he wanted me to take it in for them to look at it, he went off and came back and said we will replace the screen and i would pay $0. The shop ordered the screen that day form Apple in Sydney got the machine back the next morning.
No Apple care wouldn't of helped then as it was 3.5 years old.
We have 2 mbpr's so would have to pay $858 for a extra 1 year warranty on each. Not worth it.
 
In the UK we have the Sale of Goods Act. Warranty is a con. I've never bought extended warranty.

I've been given replacement tvs, xboxes, toasters etc when the product has failed outside of warranty many times. I'm sure most countries have similar laws that protect the consumer.

Does it seem fair that you may have to pay for a replacement screen one day after your warranty runs out? No. If it happens to me they will be replacing it free of charge because it's not an acceptable amount of time for a product to fail at.

If they refuse I'd take them to court, it's not expensive and I'd win, which is why companies always (like 90% of the time) pay out when you quote the right legislation. You may have to send a couple of letters, and lots of companies even have an 'out of warranty' claim form because of this, and they may not volunteer the information to you, but they have a legal obligation to ensure that their product lasts a good number of years without failing and if it does that they repair or replace it at no cost to the customer.

Google it. Don't be ignorant people.
 
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Philuk84 said:
In the UK we have the Sale of Goods Act. Warranty is a con. I've never bought extended warranty.

I've been given replacement tvs, xboxes, toasters etc when the product has failed outside of warranty many times. I'm sure most countries have similar laws that protect the consumer.

Does it seem fair that you may have to pay for a replacement screen one day after your warranty runs out? No. If it happens to me they will be replacing it free of charge because it's not an acceptable amount of time for a product to fail at.

If they refuse I'd take them to court, it's not expensive and I'd win, which is why companies always (like 90% of the time) pay out when you quote the right legislation. You may have to send a couple of letters, and lots of companies even have an 'out of warranty' claim form because of this, and they may not volunteer the information to you, but they have a legal obligation to ensure that their product lasts a good number of years without failing and if it does that they repair or replace it at no cost to the customer.

Google it. Don't be ignorant people.
Click to expand...

Not in the the States.
 
Edit :The Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 seems to give some protection but I'm not sure if it's the same as the Sale of Goods Act.
 
I don't know if this applies in the US, but when I make a purchase with my Visa CC, it doubles the manufacturers warranty. So, if I were to purchase a rMBP, and if it crapped out in 16 months, all repairs would be covered by Visa. As a result, purchasing Apple care would only extend the warranty by 1 year. Something to think about, anyway...
 
The rMBP is the only Mac I've ever purchased Applecare for.

It's new, expensive, and essentially solid-state. If anything goes wrong you're hosed and have to pay for expensive repairs that in previous generations of MBP's you might have been able to do yourself.

It's a great machine with an amazing display and is fast as heck, but get Applecare for it.
 
I think American Express also doubles warranty; I bough AppleCare on my previous rMBP like others here for the peace of mind, the AppleCare of my current rMBP was purchased by the original owner, better safe than sorry.
 
Philuk84 said:
If they refuse I'd take them to court, it's not expensive and I'd win, which is why companies always (like 90% of the time) pay out when you quote the right legislation. You may have to send a couple of letters, and lots of companies even have an 'out of warranty' claim form because of this, and they may not volunteer the information to you, but they have a legal obligation to ensure that their product lasts a good number of years without failing and if it does that they repair or replace it at no cost to the customer.

Google it. Don't be ignorant people.
Click to expand...

You tell us to not all be ignorant, but I don't want to be pissing around arguing over this sales of good act with Apple. I want minimum downtime if there's anything wrong with my macbook. No mucking around taking Apple to court if they're arsey and refuse to repair the macbook. I paid about £155 for my Applecare via amazon marketplace, and it's been worth it, because i've already taken it back once.
 
So you'd rather be screwed over and pay for something that you don't need to pay for?

Mostly companies abide by the legislation. Like I said, 90% of the time. Sometimes you just need to be assertive and insistent, they won't volunteer the information. If you want to pay for your issue to be fast tracked, whatever, but you don't need Apple Care if you're in the UK. I would go to the Apple Store armed with the knowledge I have on the legislation and most likely get a similar level of service that you would with your Apple Care.

I've done it many times over the years with many products from different retailers.

It's up to you, but it's a stupid waste of money.
 
AppleCare has always been something I buy with my new Macs. The MBPr is now more like a very expensive sealed appliance. Obscenely expensive to repair, I cannot imagine failing to buy the coverage.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
So buying AppleCare seems to depend on your country's laws regarding warranties and such.
Click to expand...

Kind of. Warranties are one thing but if your county has legislation that protects you regardless then you don't need to worry as much. Most people don't know about it and buy it anyway.

If the consumer legislation in your country isn't as good as some others then I'd advise the Apple Care. In the UK, I wouldn't be as quick to buy it. I am in the process of reviewing their compliance to the legislation from user reviews and stuff.
 
Philuk84 said:
So you'd rather be screwed over and pay for something that you don't need to pay for?

Mostly companies abide by the legislation. Like I said, 90% of the time. Sometimes you just need to be assertive and insistent, they won't volunteer the information. If you want to pay for your issue to be fast tracked, whatever, but you don't need Apple Care if you're in the UK. I would go to the Apple Store armed with the knowledge I have on the legislation and most likely get a similar level of service that you would with your Apple Care.

I've done it many times over the years with many products from different retailers.

It's up to you, but it's a stupid waste of money.
Click to expand...

Right so have you had a faulty macbook over the 1 year warranty and successfully gone to Apple and argued over the sale of goods act then? So far I've only bought Applecare for this current macbook, my black macbook before that had a 3 year warranty on it. I got an educational discount on it at the time and the extended warranty was free.

I'll bear it in mind if I get a new macbook, but I'd be pretty upset if the macbook went after 2 years and Apple refused to do anything over it.
 
inscrewtable said:
Now that there is no mechanical optical or hard drives, I guess that just leaves the screen or logic board.
Click to expand...


The long-term reliability of SSDs is still a bit of a bet.

The keyboard is a wear item; I've never had one last two years. I've had power bricks and display backlights replaced under AppleCare, too. And a battery.

In fact, the two things I've not had replaced under AppleCare are the two you mention!

It's all a roll of the dice. The actuarial question is: in the period of coverage, what is the percent chance that you'll have a repair greater than the cost of AppleCare? You know the chance is 100% that you will write a check for that much if you purchase the plan...

Also, IIRC if you have a Time Capsule, it will be covered under your rMBP's AppleCare in at least some markets. That's a bit of extra value if true in your region.

Based on my own good experience I'll always go for AppleCare. They've just taken such good care of me, and it has paid for itself each time in my case. Your mileage may vary.
 
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