Unless you buy it online or go on vacation to EU and buy it there in person.
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I would think if it broke down you may have to take it there to get fix than in the US.
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Is AppleCare worth it?
- Thread starter ytech
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Unless you buy it online or go on vacation to EU and buy it there in person.
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I would think if it broke down you may have to take it there to get fix than in the US.
This is incorrect, it's one year like everywhere else.
http://www.apple.com/ca/support/products/mac.html
I've personally only bought it for one Mac and that is my 2012 Mac Mini.
I bought a 2015 i7 15" 16GB, 512 GB MBP last June and never bought AC for it. The warranty expired in June.
I bought a 2012 non retina 13" MBP last July and never bought AC for it and the warranty is expired as well.
I probably wasted the $99 for the AC on the Mini because it only has a year left on AC in September and I've never had to bring it in.
I bought a 2015 i7 15" 16GB, 512 GB MBP last June and never bought AC for it. The warranty expired in June.
I bought a 2012 non retina 13" MBP last July and never bought AC for it and the warranty is expired as well.
I probably wasted the $99 for the AC on the Mini because it only has a year left on AC in September and I've never had to bring it in.
I thought I read something like that somewhere. Thanks!!
Not sure, like OP, if I should extend or not. 1 year gone with no problems...
NP. You can always view your coverage by going to the Apple Menu > About This Mac > Service > Check my service...
I have owned many macs (15-20), most for professional use, and I have never bought applecare. To me it is not worth it. The two macs that gave me trouble went bad within the first year window. The rest either held up perfectly over time or were destroyed by my own carelessness.
I've never gotten Apple Care. It's insurance-- it's useful to cover a rare unexpected event but over many purchases it should turn out cheaper to not buy it unless there is a systematic quality issue. If there were systematic quality issues, I'd start to question if I was buying the right product to begin with.
Every time the people in the Apple Store try to sell me Apple Care, I give them the same argument: "If the quality of Apple products reaches the point that I feel the need for Apple Care, I'll stop buying Apple products."
Every time the people in the Apple Store try to sell me Apple Care, I give them the same argument: "If the quality of Apple products reaches the point that I feel the need for Apple Care, I'll stop buying Apple products."
Well he needs to be retrained.
It is not an insurance product, be careful with your terminology.
- It has the same structure, though, and he is right in his overall idea. Purchasing AppleCare, like insurance, is basically betting that you will need it (which means betting that your product is faulty). It's extremely useful if and when that one extreme case happens where you need a logic board replacement 2 months out of warranty. But, on average, over a period of many years and many different devices, it should be more beneficial to not purchase it - else there's something consistently wrong with the quality of the products.
It can be considered insurance in an everyday sense, but isn't legally of course.
Eh, well, I take issue with such a label.
An insurance product has an insurance premium, an excess fee and is subject to insurance premium tax. It is a system whereby you initiate a claim under the terms of your insurance policy.
An extended warranty is just an extended warranty, the terms of the one-year limited warranty with a little bit tacked on. There are no claims to make, no excess to pay, no insurance premium tax etc etc.
And on the basic, non-legal level, insurance will cover you for accidental damage whereas AppleCare will not.
having said all of that - what are your thoughts in purchasing AppleCare at half price. Is it worth it then?
- You're right in the "proper" and traditional definition of insurance. But in a loose, everyday sense it can be defined simply as "a thing providing protection against a possible eventuality", which fits AppleCare nicely.
AppleCare at half price on a new 13" rMBP I might consider. Not on a 15".
i bought AppleCare on my then new 2008 15" MBP, and a few things were replaced on that machine several years after i bought it. They ended up giving me a brand new top model early 2011 MBP 15" when they came out.
I sold that and got a mid 2011 iMac, and didn't get AC. I used it for 5 years, never really turned it off, etc etc. Best computer i have ever owned!
Now i have a new MBP 15" that has AC already. I think for a laptop, i would spring for it - but for a desktop, i don't think i would.
I sold that and got a mid 2011 iMac, and didn't get AC. I used it for 5 years, never really turned it off, etc etc. Best computer i have ever owned!
Now i have a new MBP 15" that has AC already. I think for a laptop, i would spring for it - but for a desktop, i don't think i would.
definitely consider it especially with how they are made.
I bought it on my rMBP and in the 2nd year my track pad would not fully click. They changed the entire top half of the rMBP, including keyboard, trackpad and batteries. So got new batteries 2nd year in too
I bought it on my rMBP and in the 2nd year my track pad would not fully click. They changed the entire top half of the rMBP, including keyboard, trackpad and batteries. So got new batteries 2nd year in too
- That's the same price as the 13" rMBP. I'd consider it, but probably wouldn't purchase it. Here's why, speaking for my situation and the laws in my country:
- It only provides 1 additional year over statutory rights and has pretty much the same conditions, but is worse in some areas.
- When replacements or repairs are done, coverage isn't extended (except perhaps a 90 day Apple warranty). Consumer law ensures a new two-year guarantee on any replaced part starting from the date of replacement, as well as a three-year period of coverage of the same fault.
- The method used to remedy issues is up to Apple. Consumer law gives the customer the choice between repair, exchange, partial refund, or full refund if the issue is significant.
- There is no provision for refunds if an issue can't be properly addressed. Consumer law includes a right to a full refund if a given issue can't be effectively remedied on the first attempt.
(I am currently enjoying this particular situation with my 2011 machine, where I have coverage for the dGPU until June 2019 and coverage for other logic board issues until June 2018. And even longer if I end up having to use my coverage, as it will be extended at that time.)
Practical example 2: I have some issue 3 months into ownership. It proves difficult to fix after the first attempt. AppleCare continues replacing parts 5 times without effective results. Consumer law gives me the right to choose either an exchange for a new machine or a full refund of the purchase price.
Practical example 3: Same issue as example 1 but occurring 2 years and 1 month into ownership. AppleCare gives me a replacement logic board and I have 11 months remaining coverage. Consumer law gives me nothing and I have no coverage.
It would be my claim that issues in the third year of ownership are pretty rare.
On average, I just don't think AppleCare provides enough benefit over what I already have.
Applecare is an extended warranty and that is a form of insurance. In the US, it is even regulated by the various state insurance agencies.
Thanks all,
I have until September 4th to "take the call", I should say that I *currently* staying outside the US (Middle east) for at least another year.. (But I only use my rMBP in my office here) So from the impression I got AppleCare does not really worth it if you are outside the US..
I have until September 4th to "take the call", I should say that I *currently* staying outside the US (Middle east) for at least another year.. (But I only use my rMBP in my office here) So from the impression I got AppleCare does not really worth it if you are outside the US..
Wow, people really don't understand what insurance is?
Insurance is an agreement to pay a fixed amount in exchange for another party accepting liability in the potential event of needing to pay a larger amount. It's a form of risk management by pooling. You pay more than the expected value of the service in exchange for a reduction in the variance of risk.
There is a premium-- it's a one-time premium, but it is a premium (that's the reason this thread was started).
And you do file a claim when you take your device to the Genius Bar and claim that the device is not functioning properly.
Insurance covers a defined set of events, just as Apple Care does. Insurance has exclusions just as Apple Care does. AC may not cover accidental damage. Many forms of insurance don't cover "Acts of God". My car insurance won't cover a claim if there is no sign of forced entry (if I leave the doors unlocked, my stereo isn't covered). Life insurance often doesn't cover suicide. Health insurance often doesn't cover drug addiction, preexisting conditions, or certain medications (but, contrary to true insurance does cover regular and predictable doctors visits which makes it a blend of true insurance that covers catastrophic events, collective bargaining for better rates, and transfer payments where someone else pays your bills).
I guess there are international differences here.
Thank you for the detailed run down. The only thing I take issue with here is you say that Apple's extended warranty product is exactly the same as consumer law. You say that when Apple replaces a part, your 'coverage' extends under consumer law, hence you basically say that consumer law is the superior cover. I cannot agree with you that the two terms are interchangeable.
In the UK we have consumer law cover for 6 years. I'm assuming that the third year that the EU doesn't cover is what you think would make Apple Care worthwhile. As we have longer than that in the UK, under what you say it would be completely pointless to buy AppleCare unless you wanted the phone support.
In the UK at least, although we are (for the time being) in the EU, we seem to have different consumer rights laws. One such thing is that 'If you are outside the 30-day right to reject, you have to give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace any goods or digital content which are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. '
So we can't do what you described, which gives the consumer the choice.
They were wrong. It's 60 days to decide for an iOS device (iPhone or iPad). 1 year to decide for macOS devices.
Regarding the OP:
TLDR - Would I get AC again in the future, given my experience with my 6 Plus (ie: it works just fine after 1 year warranty expired) and 2012 MBP? ... I dunno ... maybe. Before, I would have said "without a doubt, I would." Now? I'm not so sure. Blame/thank my cell provider in part for that one I guess.
I used to get AC all the time, but more for peace of mind than anything else, in the event of a failed or defective part after original warranty expired.
I got AC on my mid2012 cMBP 15". Never had to use it once. AC expired December, 2015.
I got an iPhone 6 Plus through my cell provider (first time I went through a cell provider to purchase. Before then, I just bought unlocked direct from Apple.) Cell provider did not have an option to purchase AC through them at the time, and only had their own extended warranty coverage (something like an extra $15-$20 a month for contract term ... no thanks.) At the time, I mistakenly assumed that like macOS products, I had a year to decide. So, I went in to an Apple Store about 6 or 7 weeks after I received my phone, with the intention to get AC for it, and they said I was outside the 60 day window. Turns out that even though I "received" the phone less than 2 months ago, their records had my "order date" with my cell provider as actual date of activation, and not the date that the phone was actually activated (I blame my cell provider for that one.) You may not know or recall, but for the 6 Plus, there was a shortage, so things were on large backorder then during the initial launch, and it took my provider a month to ship the phone after I had ordered it. I explained this to the Genius, and they were sympathetic, gave me the AC number to call, put a note in my customer account about the issue, and told me to call them to escalate the issue, and they'd be able to get AC on the device.
In the end I didn't bother. Phone will be two years old at the end of this November, when AC would have expired if I had gotten it. It was replaced one time though, about 5 or 6 months after I got it, due some weird App Store update glitch (said the phone was out of space when "About" reported it still had 30% free ... 128GB unit). The replacement unit still runs like new. Battery is 11% wear, which from what I've seen is average for the device's use and age.
BTW, cell provider is Bell Mobility (Canada).
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- I don't believe I did say that AppleCare is exactly the same as consumer law. I said it had "pretty much" the same conditions, meaning not exactly, and that it is worse than consumer law in some cases, which I also elaborated on.
The two are most definitely not interchangeable, and I didn't say that they were.
The general EU two-year guarantee is slightly different from Danish law, which gives the consumer more rights. I based my rundown on Danish law.
Yes, from my standpoint, the third year that AppleCare provides is very nearly the only reason to purchase it. I am not intimately familiar with UK consumer law, but based on what you said the burden of proof may be stricter than it is in Denmark, so there may be reasons to go for AppleCare in the UK which don't exist or aren't as significant in Denmark.
Below is an imperfectly translated but reasonably understandable article that describes important rules in Danish consumer warranty law, if you're interested:
https://translate.google.com/transl...tionsret-10-vigtige-regler&edit-text=&act=url
I don't think there are differences in what insurance is: http://www.lloyds.com/common/help/glossary?Letter=I
though there are certainly differences in the terms of insurance contracts and how they are regulated in different markets.
I think you may just be confusing products that are called insurance or are regulated as insurance with products that function as insurance. Apple Care functions as insurance.
This goes at least part of the way in explaining why UK prices are higher than US prices. It's more than exchange rates and VAT, it's also additional liabilities such as this. I don't think that's a bad thing-- I think these kinds of protections are quite important.