MP 7,1 AppleCare: Annual or 3-Year

[Stairway]

I get two options to add Applecare coverage for my 2019 Mac Pro (new old stock). I can pay annually for coverage, or buy a 3-year plan. My question is, if I plan to keep this longer than 3 years, would I have to go for the annual pay option? Or, could I do the 3-year plan now, and add annual coverage once the three years are up?

Thanks.

 

[dpCM]

Get the 3-year plan. Once it expires Apple will offer you to continue with the AppleCare+ coverage on an annual basis.

Also, the 3-year plan is tied to the mac (meaning you can sell your mac before 3 years run out with the warranty intact to someone else). AppleCare+ coverage that is extended annually after the initial 3-year period is then tied to your Apple ID and is non-transferable.

AppleCare+ charged on an annual (or monthly basis) is a subscription tied to Apple ID and cannot be transferred with the device if you choose to sell it. I learned this the hard way with my iPhone.

 

[Stairway]

Thank you for detailed answer --- 3-year plan it is!

 

[dpCM]

Thank you for detailed answer --- 3-year plan it is!

Glad I could help.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Just as an fyi my 28 core 2019 original motherboard died. Could only see one bank of ram. The price to repair would have been nearly $7k usd! Also it took almost 2 weeks to repair to get the new motherboard found as they apparently are no in great supply. I was really glad I kept the AppleCare up to date!

 

[flat4]

Just as an fyi my 28 core 2019 original motherboard died. Could only see one bank of ram. The price to repair would have been nearly $7k usd! Also it took almost 2 weeks to repair to get the new motherboard found as they apparently are no in great supply. I was really glad I kept the AppleCare up to date!

that's just crazy that a mobo is $7K

 

[smckenzie]

Get the 3-year plan. Once it expires Apple will offer you to continue with the AppleCare+ coverage on an annual basis.

Also, the 3-year plan is tied to the mac (meaning you can sell your mac before 3 years run out with the warranty intact to someone else). AppleCare+ coverage that is extended annually after the initial 3-year period is then tied to your Apple ID and is non-transferable.

AppleCare+ charged on an annual (or monthly basis) is a subscription tied to Apple ID and cannot be transferred with the device if you choose to sell it. I learned this the hard way with my iPhone.

Just checking here. My 3+ year coverage ends next Jan. Are you saying they'll offer an option to carry on with it annually at that point? If so, how do they do that - they send an email or something nearer the time?

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Just checking here. My 3+ year coverage ends next Jan. Are you saying they'll offer an option to carry on with it annually at that point? If so, how do they do that - they send an email or something nearer the time?

This happened a while back for me, so I'm going from memory which is highly suspect. IIRC, I did get an email. And I kind of ignored it for a while. Not sure if I only got one or multiple emails.

But if you look under sysprefs in your iCloud stuff, it showed a button to allow you to engage yearly coverage, and it seemed to do that near the time of expiration. For some other devices, I think i've seen them give you a window of up to 30 days after coverage expires to renew it, but not sure if that was the case for the 2019 or if that's always an option.

If youre within one month of expiration, I would think that button would be enabled.

 

[CanPhantom]

that's just crazy that a mobo is $7K

How is that even possible? An entire machine with that board was $6k. $1k for the board and 50 hours of labour???

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

How is that even possible? An entire machine with that board was $6k. $1k for the board and 50 hours of labour???

To be clear, I got charged nothing. But most of that was for the part. IIRC, actual labor was only a few hours.

 

[CanPhantom]

To be clear, I got charged nothing. But most of that was for the part. IIRC, actual labor was only a few hours.

Sure, I assumed that you did not. That would have been insane.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Don't expect Apple to remind you when your 3-year AC+ expires. The email doesn't always come. Make multiple reminders for yourself. You have a 30 day window after it expires to renew to the annual plan.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Does anyone have access to the repair parts network to check current replacement part prices and availability?

It looks like the 2023 Mac Pro is part of the self service repair program, but I don't see the 2019 listed. Here's the Repair Manual with orderable parts for the 2023 model. Some parts are the same between the models so at least that's some good news. https://support.apple.com/en-us/104074

I bet the $7k price for the 2019 logic board includes the 28 core CPU. The logic board is probably not available separately from the CPU, just like the 2013 model. So if you're concerned about out-of-warranty repair costs consider only buying an 8 core model and upgrade the CPU yourself. Then if you need service from Apple make sure to put the 8 core CPU back in it and restore it to exactly how it came because Apple can refuse service if you opened the Mac yourself for any reason.