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October 26, 2006

apple

AppleCare: peace of mind or chunk of change?

Posted Oct. 26, ’06, 8:49 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple

AppleCareTech geeks often roll their eyes with disdain at the extended warranties offered by stores like Best Buy or Circuit City. They’re usually intended as sheer profits for the retailer, given that most people who pay for them never likely use them. And geeks, of course, like to solve their own problems when at all possible.

Then there’s the matter of AppleCare: some Mac users swear by it, others swear at it. Despite the fact that Macs are ranked as highly reliable, things do go pear-shaped every once in a while.

Programmer David Young and his girlfriend went to the San Francisco Apple Store to buy a new MacBook, and found themselves confronted by a particularly tenacious sales associate.

Guy: Are you going to get AppleCare with that?
Me: No.
Guy: Because I get AppleCare on all of my Macs. I’m not on commision, this isn’t a hard sell.
Me: I think we’ll skip it.
Guy: You really shouldn’t skip it. It’s $249 if you buy it now, but if something goes wrong, Apple will fix it for free.
Me: No, I think we’ll skip it.
Guy: These are first generation machines, there might be some problems down the road. You should really get AppleCare.
Me: No!
Despite being on my fourth Mac (sixth, if you count the ones my parents owned when I was younger), I’ve never bought AppleCare—the standard 1 year warranty has covered most of the major problems I’ve had. Then again, I advised my parents to get it when they bought their iMac G5. Why the double standard? I’d rather my parents weren’t inconvenienced if they ever have a tech support problem.

Many of my friends refuse to buy a computer without AppleCare, and for some of them it’s been a godsend. Still, it’s become an often contentious issue in the Apple community with some seeing it as a waste of money for a computer that will be obsolete before the warranty expires anyway.

Interestingly, the latest MacBreak Weekly featured a discussion on this very subject, with Scott Bourne coming down firmly on the side of it being worth the price and Leo Laporte shrugging it off.

As far as dealing with those pesky sales personnel, well, you could always go the John Gruber route:

I once told a sales guy at Best Buy that extended warranties were against my religion, on the grounds that they’re like placing a wager that whatever it is you’re buying is going to break, and that my religious forbids gambling. That shut him up.
But as for my MacBook, what think you MacUser readers? When the 1-year warranty is up, should I take the plunge?

[via Daring Fireball]


16 Comments

Moe said:

Although I've never had a problem with my desktop Macs (3 iMacs now from Bondi Blue to G5), I highly recommend AppleCare for notebooks. My family has owned 2 G3 iBooks, 1 G4 Powerbook and 1 MacBook Pro, and a single major service paid for AppleCare's price.

To give a concrete example: on one of the iBooks the slip-out CD tray became bent due to less than careful handling on our part. We were happy to pay for it but AppleCare replaced it free of charge. How much did we save? Roughly $300, about the price we paid for AppleCare. If something else went wrong we'd be covered too.

Another example: recently my father's G4 PowerBook became bent on the right side (next to the CD slot) so that we could no longer insert discs. AppleCare replaced it free. The cost? Again, somewhere in the neighborhood of what we paid for AppleCare.

In short, if you have one major problem that needs to be fixed, AppleCare pays for itself. If you have more than one, it keeps paying off.

October 26, 2006 8:57 AM
Matthew said:

I buy AppleCare on some of my Macs, and not on others. Macs I plan on keeping for more than a year I will "insure" with AppleCare, others that I don't plan on keeping I don't by AppleCare for.

The reason for my comment, however, is to point out that AppleCare can be purchased for a Mac anytime during the first year, or while it's covered by the original AppeCare warranty. Customers don't have to make up their minds at the time they buy their Mac.

Apple does claim that the don't provide phone support for the AppleCare plan when purchased for a Mac after the 90-day tech support period ends, but I've found that not to be true.

October 26, 2006 9:21 AM
Daddy-O said:

I'll second Applecare for notebooks. I've never had it for any of my desktops but always for my laptops and it's more than paid for itself.

October 26, 2006 9:31 AM
Nathan Barrett said:

When I got my White 500mHz iBook (2USB) ports, I bought the AppleCare.
I'm very glad I did, The hardrive had to be replaced twice. Cost me nothing except headaches, and time to reload all my songs a pictures and stuff.
So when I bought my MacBook Pro of course I bought AppleCare. Even if I dont use it, I have piece of mind, that should the hardrive fail on it, I'll get a new one.

October 26, 2006 9:34 AM
boxlight said:

I had never bought an extended warrenty in my life. However, I bought AppleCare on my 20" iMac.

With its all in one design, the fear is a problem to any one component (the monitor, the logic board) I'd pretty much have to replace the whole machine. And I saw a friend have a major logic board problem with an iBook 11 months into a 12 month warrenty once. If his problem happened a couple months later he'd have been stuck with a $700 repair bill.

On expensive devices with tightly integrated electronics like iMac and MacBook, I think the couple hundred bucks for AppleCare is a good investment.

boxlight

October 26, 2006 9:51 AM
Scott Silverman Author Profile Page said:

My rule of thumb:

On laptops, no questions asked, buy AppleCare (especially if it's a 1st gen Intel machine).

On desktops I'm a little more conservative--but let it play out for 9-11 months before making a decision. I'd be more hesitant to buy it for a Mac Pro but more likely to buy it for an iMac (desktops which can be easily fiddled with are more likely to be fixed by me, and less likely to break).

October 26, 2006 10:14 AM
Adam said:

I am very happy I got the applecare on my Macbook.

I have taken this thing in so many times it's not even funny. I actually have an appointment yet again tonight to take it in.

ever since i did the last security update my files have gone missing, programs crash, and when i try to reinstall the OS it errors out on the second disk. They actually gave me a new computer last time i brought it in.

Am I the only one having problems with the latest security update?

October 26, 2006 10:24 AM
Guice said:

I would say that people in general need the AppleCare. While the main subject here is the warranty, you might want to remember that the phone service is exctended from 90 days to 3 years. That is quite valuable to the average joe that is not necessarly plugged into the computer world.

As for tech savvy people, I would leave that to personal discretion. I personally went for AppleCare(and swear by it) because they have helped my brother with his computer as well as myself. From broken screens(after 2 1/2 years of traveling all over the country almost year round) to just accidentaly doing something stupid and Apple gets you back on the right track.

October 26, 2006 10:29 AM
Ward Author Profile Page said:

Another vote for a notebooks-only policy. On my 15" PB, I've already had to replce:

Keyboard
LCD
Power adapter (twice)
Hard drive

October 26, 2006 11:37 AM
Pat Nakajima Author Profile Page said:

Think of the karmic ramifications of not purchasing AppleCare.

I bought AppleCare for my 15" PB at the time of purchase. I've had it for a year now and nothing has gone wrong. Is it Lady Luck, or intervention of the cosmos?

Probably the former, but I like to think about these things anyway.

October 26, 2006 11:51 AM
lipbalm said:

I second Scott's comment. I wait just under a year and see how things are going with the standard 1-year warranty. If I've had any problems during that year or if I think the machine is a long way from living out its usefullness, I'll buy AppleCare on the 364th day.

I personally haven't had any catastrophic problems, but a buddy lost a perfectly good iMac at month 13 or 14 to a serious logic board issue. He had no other choice but to buy a new computer. His experience has convinced me to buy AppleCare a few more times than I would have normally.

October 26, 2006 12:18 PM
Joey said:

Consider the amount of money one invests in a Mac, then consider the $250 price tag on AppleCare.
If I'm going to spend $2,300 on a high-end notebook in hopes of it holding out for a number of years, am I really going to consider an extra $250 in return for three years of warranty to be a major shot to my wallet? Of course not.

Given Apple's support reputation, it seems to be quite reasonable to opt for an extended, free invitation to their care.

October 26, 2006 1:35 PM
Baz said:

Returning to Macs after a decade away, I'm in the Apple Store negotiating my purchase of a MacBook -

CLERK: ...so, you'll want to get AppleCare now with that too.

ME: Uh, sorry?

CLERK: Apple Care. It's an extended warranty.

ME: Yeah, I know. Why? Should I be expecting that the MacBook will break down?

CLERK: Oh, no, but....

ME: Because if that's the case - maybe I should reconsider? I mean, I've had nothing but notebooks for the last 10 years and my experience was that if anything was going to go south, it'd be within the first 3 months - and I've never felt I've needed an extended warranty. Why, my current notebook is 4 years old and -

CLERK: No! No! You don't need the warranty, its just - we recommend it. Our machines are very reliable, but, you know? Accidents do happen.

ME: AppleCare covers accidents?

CLERK: No. I meant, you know, should something go wrong after 90 days you can still call in - and, if some hardware issue does present itself after a year -

ME: So, it is going to break down. And AppleCare will fix it?

CLERK: Well, I don't think you can say if it will break. I mean, I've had my notebook for over three years now and never had a major problem.

ME: And you bought AppleCare?

CLERK: Yes!

ME: And never used it?

CLERK: Well, no...

ME: So tell me again why I should blow a further $300 on AppleCare for a computer that is supposed to be reliable? How about I see how reliable it is within the first year and decide later whether to get the warranty, just tempt fate or get rid of it altogether?

CLERK: Well, sure. Like you said, you have a year to make up your mind...

ME: Great. Let's do that.

CLERK: OK! Now, about ProCare -

October 26, 2006 5:19 PM
James said:

My one comment is that AppleCare has a high margin for resellers. I live overseas and some resellers will sell it to you at cost, meaning you can pay a little under 100 USD for a MacBook warranty. What this leads me to believe is that Apple pads the price to ensure that the reseller gets a good cut.

You can see this is true even for iPod AppleCare prices from the Apple store and from Amazon. Go take a look.

This is great, but AppleCare is just insurance, so why should you have to pay so much for your insurance? Why is it when you cut out the middle man and buy direct from Apple, you don't get the same discount you get from Amazon (or some overseas resellers).

October 26, 2006 9:29 PM
Kalessin said:

Here in the UK, the Sale of Goods Act (and associated Acts) means that AppleCare is a waste of money. If a product goes wrong because of a manufacturing fault or defect, consumers have a legal right to repair or replacement. Despite many manufacturers' offers of "one year's warranty" or similar, this legal right continues for as long as the consumer could reasonably have expected the product to last.

October 27, 2006 7:14 AM
Craig said:

I agree... for a laptop it is a must. I am not so sure of a desktop like an iMac unless you are a college student moving every 9 months.
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I heard a Consumer Reports review on the news several years ago and this is what they said.....
If the item is something you are going to keep or not upgrade during the warranty period or near when it ends then if the warranty is 1-10% of purchase price it is always worth it. If it is 10-15% you have to think about it. Beyond 15% it is rarely worth it. Their major point was that a $20-30 warranty on a $99 VCR is stupid.
************************
Apple pricing on the plans... well duh if Apple sells them less than their retailers then why should their retailers even sell them for Apple.... who would do business with a company that undercuts them at every turn.
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Side note... I used to work at Best Buy. They sell stuff to employees for 5% above cost. I got a $250 plan for my PC for $70.

October 27, 2006 8:03 AM

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