Thinking of MacAir and Applecare warranty

[Mandork]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of purchasing a new 13.3" Macbook Air once the new revision comes out, and once OS X Lion is out. I haven't owned a mac before, and they have a reputation for being very reliable. However after doing some reading, I'm starting do doubt that. People seem to love the warranty and Apple support, but that's what has me worried. I've never needed to rely on warranty or tech support for any of my computers. So if I were to get a Macbook Air, would it be recommended to get the warranty? Why would I need it, if macs should be reliable and all? I'm reading things about people getting their screen replaced 3 times, and logic board replaced, fans replaced, hard drive's replaced, etc. And by reading these, the reliability seems quite awful, to be needing that applecare warranty.
Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

People seem to love the warranty and Apple support, but that's what has me worried. I've never needed to rely on warranty or tech support for any of my computers. So if I were to get a Macbook Air, would it be recommended to get the warranty? Why would I need it, if macs should be reliable and all? I'm reading things about people getting their screen replaced 3 times, and logic board replaced, fans replaced, hard drive's replaced, etc. And by reading these, the reliability seems quite awful, to be needing that applecare warranty.

The problems you see posted in the forum represent a microscopic portion of the millions of Macs sold. People who don't have problems don't come here to post about that fact. Also, Apple Support comes in handy, even if you don't have a problem, but simply need help in setting up a network or learning how to do other things you might be unfamiliar with. It's not always about hardware problems.

AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac or Apple Display
AppleCare Protection Plan

As to whether it's worth it or not, that's a matter of opinion. You'll find lots of opinions on both sides. If you want more information, here are just a few of many threads on this topic, found by searching the forum with Google:

Is AppleCare Plan worth it?
Is Applecare worth it if I don't even use the macbook pro to its full potential?
Applecare - Worth it?
AppleCare worth every penny
is applecare worth the money?
Mac Pro and AppleCare, worth it?
applecare worth it?
Is AppleCare worth it?
Is AppleCare Worth It?
Is AppleCare worth it??
Applecare? is it worth it?
Is Applecare worth getting???
Is Applecare worth it for MBP?
Is AppleCare worth it?
Applecare - if ever you thought it wasn't worth it
Is AppleCare or extra warranty really worth buying?
Applecare for MBP is $349. Is it really worth it?

 

[miles01110]

People post when they have a problem, not when everything's working fine. That being said, I never go without Applecare. One major repair and it pays for itself.

 

[chrismacguy]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of purchasing a new 13.3" Macbook Air once the new revision comes out, and once OS X Lion is out. I haven't owned a mac before, and they have a reputation for being very reliable. However after doing some reading, I'm starting do doubt that. People seem to love the warranty and Apple support, but that's what has me worried. I've never needed to rely on warranty or tech support for any of my computers. So if I were to get a Macbook Air, would it be recommended to get the warranty? Why would I need it, if macs should be reliable and all? I'm reading things about people getting their screen replaced 3 times, and logic board replaced, fans replaced, hard drive's replaced, etc. And by reading these, the reliability seems quite awful, to be needing that applecare warranty.
Thanks

Your problem is that this forum is where people who have had issues with their Macs come to get help, so you'll see the worst. Personally, although I have bought AppleCare on all my Macs, I have had to use it a single time across 11 Macs, both personal and my families. Thats right, once across 11 Macs, the rest have been flawless, from my G4s to my Mac Pro, and the reason I used it was because one of my Macs developed a few stuck pixels and so I had it fixed as they were in a really annoying clump. (This was a 15" PowerBook G4 back in 2004)

I would still recommend AppleCare however, as its good peace of mind, and also you never know what might happen after 28 months of being carried around. Although with the MacBook Airs not having a Mechanical Hard Drive, the risk is severely reduced (HDs are the biggest failure on laptops in my experience)

 

[Hellhammer]

Macs are not more reliable than any other computers. They are built by Foxconn using the same parts that other OEMs use.

There are probably thousands of threads debating whether AppleCare is worth it. In my opinion, it is if you live in the US or in other country where there aren't any laws that protect consumers. In many European countries, there are laws and agencies to protect you so in case it breaks soon after warranty, you should be able to get it fixed free of charge.

Here in Finland, the Customer Protection Bureau has set two years to be the minimum lifespan for a laptop. While they are not the same as court of law, their word is pretty heavy and in most cases, the seller/manufacturer will do what they ask. I have used their help a few times and it has always worked. I have decided that I will not buy AppleCare for my MBA as I trust that our legal system will protect me if needed but if I lived in the US, then I would since there is no such system.

 

[Mandork]

Hi,
Thanks for all your quick replies.
I've looked at that chart before, but I believe it's from around 2008.
I just feel the Macbook Air is different than other Apple laptops, because of it's SSD and thin design (possibly leading to heating issues?) So I was wondering more specifically for Macbook Air.
I wouldn't call in for tech support, but I've never had a screen or hard drive or motherboard fail on me before.
And thanks for the MRoogle link.

 

[montycat]

Apple care paid for its self on my MBP and iMac. Dont buy it right away, wait until the first year is almost up then buy it

 

[SteelWheel]

My own personal take on this: I stepped into the land of Mac with a super-duper tricked out 15" MBP (the early 2008 refresh--got it with the most RAM, fastest CPU, biggest capacity 7200 RPM drive then available, etc). I think my total cost was just shy of $4000. At that price, AppleCare was a no-brainer at $350. My three years is just running out now, and for once I got lucky--all the "bad stuff" happened to me in just the past couple of months. I ended up with a new display (not specifically covered under AppleCare, so not free, but deeply discounted compared to what a non-AppleCare customer would have had to pay), new MagSafe adaptor when the old one crapped out, and (the best part) when my disk drive went on the fritz, it was replaced with a brand new 7200 RPM drive with twice the capacity of the original one. So I did well here, obviously.

If I were buying a MBA though, I don't think I'd go for AppleCare though. AppleCare on MBAs is around $250, IIRC? That's going to be somewhere between 15-25% of your total purchase price. At that ratio, it doesn't make nearly as much sense to me. Just feels like a hefty premium to pay. Keep in mind also, that you'll have a SSD rather than a disk drive, so that's (in theory, at least) one less component that can fail.

For Mac Pros, I don't quite see the need either. I've had so few problems with tower style desktop machines over the years. Haven't bought a Pro yet, but I plan on doing so sometime in the next 12 months, and I'll almost certainly skip it.

The only machines that warrant an AppleCare purchase IMHO are the MBPs, possibly the plain old MacBooks, and the iMacs for sure (which are more or less laptop-type machines themselves).

My $0.02.