Mac Mini 2018 AppleCare

[D.T.]

I just think of it as extending the warranty to 3 years because as of late, Apple’s design and QC hasn’t been all that. I’ve never purchased extended warranty on anything. Not my apple watch, 7 ipads, cars, electronics. But on the mini? Yep. So did the workplace for my hubby’s mini.

Right, minus the phone support, it's effectively an additional 2 year warranty (since you have 1 year OOTB). Interestingly, the extra warranty offered through some CCs, can stack onto the AC warranty, and you wind up with a machine covered for 4 years (obv. with the 4th year having no phone support and having to go through a totally different repair / warranty claim process).

I used to wait till close to the first year of ownership was up, did that with a previous Mini and with my current MBP, but Apple has since changed how long you have to purchase (it's now 60 days, and I think you have to do some kind of remote validation vs. buying it with the machine up front).

 

[jinnyman]

I did it just in case. I usually don't do it for a desktop, but a relatively cheap price was hard to beat. I was thinking why not.

Then there was some kind of sentimental issue. I purchased a mac mini when I was attending a college, and I had to let it go back then due to a financial issue. I've always missed the mini, and after my personnel come back, I wanted to get another mini, but the one selling was already too old gen. When a new mini was announced, it was no brainer for me, and I wanted to keep this one very long. I guess that's why I went with the care.

 

[F-Train]

Right, minus the phone support, it's effectively an additional 2 year warranty (since you have 1 year OOTB). ... I think you have to do some kind of remote validation vs. buying it with the machine up front.

I just want to note that AppleCare+ covers accidental damage, which the standard warranty does not. I suspect that this is one of the principal reasons why people purchase AppleCare+ for iPads, iPhones and laptops. Because I move my mini around, this was for me a consideration.

I purchased AppleCare+ after my initial purchase and it does indeed require confirmation of ownership and purchase date. However, this is straightforward. If you have an Apple account/I.D., which I would think the vast majority of mini purchasers do, it takes a minute or two on-line.

 

[Cruciarius]

I always buy AppleCare for all my Apple things. Saved my wallet last year for my iMac when things started going wrong. They had to replace the screen, logic board, and... I forget what else. Would have cost me about the price of a nice iMac, but under AppleCare, it was free.

 

[D.T.]

I just want to note that AppleCare+ covers accidental damage, which the standard warranty does not. I suspect that this is one of the principal reasons why people purchase AppleCare+ for iPads, iPhones and laptops. Because I move my mini around, this was for me a consideration.

I purchased AppleCare+ after my initial purchase and it does indeed require confirmation of ownership and purchase date. However, this is straightforward. If you have an Apple account/I.D., which I would think the vast majority of mini purchasers do, it takes a minute or two on-line.

Yeah, that's a great point, and I guess all AC is now AC+ as well (i.e., there's only one product). Oh yeah, that process for activating it doesn't sound any different vs. what I've done in the past buying it after-the-fact (in fact, for one Mini I bought the AC from a seller on Ebay, $29, worked perfectly).

Funny enough, I'm looking at a situation where I would move a Mini around a bit too, between two locations, home office vs. one offsite office, the latter having a display, [probably] KB and mouse.

 

[G3Blue]

I’ve now purchased AppleCare. If you’re thinking of doing so you only have 60 days.

 

[harriska2]

I always buy AppleCare for all my Apple things. Saved my wallet last year for my iMac when things started going wrong. They had to replace the screen, logic board, and... I forget what else. Would have cost me about the price of a nice iMac, but under AppleCare, it was free.

What year is your imac?

 

[Cruciarius]

What year is your imac?

Late 2014 iMac 5K with 3TB fusion drive and 32GB RAM.

 

[Hessel89]

I believe the Mini ranks at the top of "the reliability curve" for all Apple Macs.
Mine's gone 6+ years without a "blip".
When I get a 2019 Mini, I won't even bother thinking about AppleCare.
Not worth it.

The 2012 mac mini, yes. The 2018... I’m on my 3rd replacement.. that should tell you enough. Might just be coincidence on my side but I wouldn't count on it. I guess I was one of the “beta testers” for this product since I was one of the early adapters.

 

[godzfire]

Um did Apple raise their price on Applecare from 99 to 119? I just bought a new Mac Mini within the past month and was considering adding AC to it, but when going to do it online, it now shows this:

 

[Boyd01]

You have selected AppleCare Plus, which covers accidental damage and is more expensive.

FWIW, I've bought many more Apple products than I can count, starting with an Apple ][ in 1978 and a "Fat Mac" 512k in 1985. Only (maybe) half a dozen times that I've purchased AppleCare - which is based on my personal experience with reliability. I did get it with my PowerBook G4, which was fortunate because I needed two motherboard swaps on that machine after two years due to a RAM problem.

The basic fact is.... Apple wouldn't sell AppleCare if they didn't make money from it. Just looking back at my personal history, I saved enough from *not* buying AppleCare to completely pay for several of my Macs. It's an insurance policy, and each of us needs to analyze the cost/risk. Having said all this, I will be tempted to get AppleCare when (if?) I get a new Mini because it will be one of the top spec models that I'll keep for many years and it does provide some peace of mind for a hundred bucks.

 

[Duncan68]

When I bought Applecare+ late last year for the mini, I paid $99. This is in the US.

 

[Boyd01]

Ah, you're right.... it shows as $99 for me when I add a mini to the cart.

 

[godzfire]

I purchased my Mini from B&H Photo, and in the order it was supposed to include Applecare for $99, but when I reviewed my purchase yesterday for my credit card stuff and to confirm my Applecare, I discovered that I wasn't charged for it and it wasn't part of my original order.

I did a chat for B&H Photo online and said something happened where the Applecare option didn't get selected or added, and I wanted to correct that. They said that they can't do an Applecare warranty after the purchase and to contact Apple.

I'm upset as the issue where I couldn't submit my order online was B&H's checkout system was disabled for some jewish holiday recently, so I had to wait and resubmit my order a day or so later. So because of that I lost my ability to purchase Applecare through them and the only way I can purchase it is to pay $20 more via Apple? :-/


EDIT: Bah, found out the issue. I use VPN and the Apple website had my location as Canada and was charging me those rates. Once I cleared out cookies and relogged in, it then showed the normal $99 purchase price. All good.

 

[harriska2]

I got it for $89 (school discount) because I no longer trust their stuff to work for at least 3 years.

 

[phairphan]

If Apple moves to a more frequent update schedule for the Mini, having AppleCare on the device may also help with resale value. That is if you're a frequent upgrader.

 

[user_xyz]

Are people taking out AppleCare for the 2018 Mac mini? I always have with MacBooks but unsure with the Mini.

I did.
[automerge]1570252164[/automerge]

I always take out AppleCare with any new Apple computer considering all components are generally soldered onto the mainboard. If they weren't and the system was upgradable, or 'workable', I probably wouldn't, but if something should fail after the first year the repair charges could be costly considering a small part may have failed, but be hard-connected to a larger part, ie the logicboard....

Same feeling here!

 

[Boyd01]

Bah, found out the issue. I use VPN and the Apple website had my location as Canada and was charging me those rates.

Actually, that was a better deal... at current exchange rates, $119 CDN is only $89 USD.