There are some people who swear by AppleCare and say that you should always buy it for a Mac, especially if the Mac has an LCD screen (because the price of LCD replacement is so high). That would mean getting it for the iMac, MacBook or MacBook Pro.
I’ve also heard people with AppleCare say that they get superior level of service than standard Apple owners. Of course, this is anecdotal.
In the past, I have bought AppleCare through the Higher Education scheme in the UK, which meant a fixed fee of £50 ($99USD). To me, that was a no-brainer… £50 ($99) for a three year warranty is great value.
Now that I don’t have access to that discount scheme, the price is not so attractive:
- £139 ($276) for iMac
- £199 ($395) for MacBook
- £279 ($554) for MacBook Pro
If you are not worried about the technical support you get in the price of the AppleCare Protection Plan, there are alternatives to the repair coverage.
For example, home insurance policies can cover contents. The advantage of home contents insurance is they will usually cover accidental damage while AppleCare officially does not. The disadvantages to this method include a claim on home insurance will usually have an amount of money you must pay first (the excess) that you will have to pay before the insurance company pays out. Also, you could lose your no-claims discount which would mean the cost of the following year’s home insurance would go up. Taking these two disadvantages into account, home contents insurance may not be that cost-effective an option.
Another alternative is third-party insurance for computer equipment. The advantages include no excess, no security requirements and worldwide cover for theft and accidental damage. A simple Google search will bring up offerings of three years’ cover on a laptop for fire, flood, theft and accidental damage from £99 ($196) to £249 ($494), depending on the cost of the laptop.
Do you have experience with AppleCare or third party insurance?
[Source of third party pricing]
detroit // 01/01/2008 at 5:52 pm
In the U.S. most credit cards will double the factory warranty for products purchased with the credit card. I had a CD burner break a few months out of the factory warranty and my credit card company reimbursed me for the purchase price of a new unit. All I had to do was submit a note from the repair shop that it couldn’t be fixed and the bill for the new burner. A friend at work had her laptop LCD screen replaced under the extended warranty coverage provided by her credit card company.
Jeff (iMac G5) // 01/01/2008 at 9:51 pm
Had I not purchased the extended warranty, my iMac G5 (Rev “A” from 2004) repairs - just a month away from the expiration of the extended 3-year warranty period - would have cost me almost $1,000!
Symptoms included inability to sleep, the CD drive would spit the disc onto the floor when ejecting it, and one horrible day, it simply wouldn’t boot up. The $1,000 fix included a new motherboard, internatl power supply and a new CD drive.
The CD drive still spits the discs out (won’t hold onto them half way out as it should) but the unit is at least operational once more. The alarming part of this story; had this been a PC (as opposed to an Apple computer), the same repairs would have cost only a third of the Mac’s repairs - partly because I could have done them myself and saved the cost of labor.
Adam // 01/01/2008 at 10:14 pm
The Applecare Plan is one insurance all Apple users should not do without. If you hang around an Apple reseller outlet long enough you know what I mean. The lucky one will get a machine that will work flawlessly but…
Apple products are good but not infallible. If the machine failed within the warranty period you get the parts replaced free but when out of warranty it’s another story.
This is my experience - the LCD screen and HDD of my powerbook was replaced. my ipod was replaced.
BTW I am not employee of Apple but a user and their Plan gave me peace of mind for a couple of years.
Fergus // 02/01/2008 at 5:29 am
I too purchased my AppleCare under the higher education discount - to be honest I probably wouldn’t have got it if I’d had to pay the full £279… with something like a MacBook Pro I’m pretty certain you can add it onto your household contents insurance. At least then you are covered for accidental damage and theft etc.. I suppose if you don’t get it, and you need a massive repair just out of warranty, £279 would seem like a bargain in retrospect.