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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Applecare for my MBP - is it worth it?

D Fuller said:
And you'd bought AppleCare on 2 MB Pros, you'd have paid $281 more than that.
Click to expand...

I should perhaps note that I'm on my 4th logic board on that same MBP, never bought AppleCare, and this was the first board I had to pay for, the other 3 were covered by the defective Nvidia graphics chip deal...
 
D Fuller said:
It's your money, but in the past 9 years, i've owned 4 Macbook Pros and 3 Mac towers. If I'd bought Applecare for them all I'd have spent $2143. In that time, I've had one of the Macbooks back to the Apple store for replacement of a battery that was faulty. It was after the warranty ran out, but they replaced it for free.

YMMV, but I've saved $2143 by not buying Applecare.

Also, Applecare does not cover "accident, abuse, neglect, misuse (including faulty installation, repair, or maintenance by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider), unauthorized modification, extreme environment (including extreme temperature or humidity), extreme physical or electrical stress or interference, fluctuation or surges of electrical power, lightning, static electricity..." so buying it because you might drop the Macbook won't really help.
Click to expand...

You didn't "save" this money, you simply decided to self insure and this amount remains in your insurance account. :mellow:

Like someone pointed out, Applecare is a form of insurance. You hope you don't need it, but... :crying:

I have owned probably 25 or more Macs since 1984. I am not sure when they started offering AppleCare but for many years I didn't bother with it, either. But, the last few years, I think the build quality of Mac is not quite what it used to be - and the units are probably that much more capable, with a lot of electronics packed in there. So, in the last 5 years or so, I have been getting AppleCare - first just for laptops but I even got it for my recently purchased 6-core Mac Pro. So far, I have NEVER needed it - a waste of money? I don't think so... peace of mind. I'd say, get it and sleep a little better. :thumbup1:
 
Terry VerHaar said:
You didn't "save" this money, you simply decided to self insure and this amount remains in your insurance account. :mellow:

Like someone pointed out, Applecare is a form of insurance. You hope you don't need it, but... :crying:

I have owned probably 25 or more Macs since 1984. I am not sure when they started offering AppleCare but for many years I didn't bother with it, either. But, the last few years, I think the build quality of Mac is not quite what it used to be - and the units are probably that much more capable, with a lot of electronics packed in there. So, in the last 5 years or so, I have been getting AppleCare - first just for laptops but I even got it for my recently purchased 6-core Mac Pro. So far, I have NEVER needed it - a waste of money? I don't think so... peace of mind. I'd say, get it and sleep a little better. :thumbup1:
Click to expand...

Well no, Terry, I didn't save it, I spent it on other things I needed (or wanted). As you can see, I'm not fond of insurance companies, even if they're Apple. If you sleep better by giving your money to them, then have at it. It's your money.

I really don't mean to keep getting drawn back into this thread, but here's how I see it: what's the worse that can happen? You have to come up with the price of a new Mac. Now, that's about $2500, and I can do that if I have to. And I'm going to do that in any case about every 2 1/2 years. Most computers fail early in their lives if they're going to fail. Electronic components are like that. So for taking the "risk" that I'll have to buy a new Mac before I really want to, I save $350. But I save $350 ever time I buy a Mac.

I can't count how many macs I've owned since 1984, but it's well over 2 dozen. In that time, I've replaced one system drive on a server, and the battery I mentioned earlier. Maybe I'm lucky. YMMV.
 
An alternative calculation for me would be to cost out the bill for a replacement disk drive and hard drive over the past 6months...

But, leaving aside the cost, Applecare works, right? It's not a scam.
 
Applecare is a product, from which Apple presumably makes a profit. They've calculated that the average cost of repairing is more than covered by the money they collect selling Applecare.

Why would I give them that money when the product, by design, takes more from me than it provides?

It's a gamble, sure, but just like in Las Vegas, the odds are stacked in favour of the house.
 
Well, not quite. My car insurance is required by law. Not Applecare.

Lack of health insurance can lead to bankruptcy, health problems or worse. Pretty sure lack of Applecare won't lead to that.

Lack of liability insurance can sink a business as well if there's a problem. Applecare?

But you're right that all insurance companies are there to make a profit and operate on the premise that they bring in more money than they pay out. The odds have to be stacked in their favour or the business model won't work.
 
If this Mac were a tower I wouldn't bother with it - I could do it all the repairs myself - but considering the track record it's already had...

Anyway if it failed within 2 years (which it rather looks likely to!) and I could have avoided the additional cost I'd feel like a complete idiot.

:hat:
 
Absolutely, if the peace of mind is valuable to you, then Applecare becomes worth it. All the best...
 
Vito DeFilippo said:
...

Why would I give them that money when the product, by design, takes more from me than it provides?

...
Click to expand...

Unless I am missing something, all "products" (as well as services) are designed to do that in a capitalist system. Yes, it's called profit. Insurance falls into that category.

The real question is not how much it costs them to do repairs, but does it cost YOU less for the repairs than for the insurance, and the peace of mind? As always, if you don't think the product is worth the cost, you don't have to buy it.
 
Excellent points. It's not just about the money. It's the time and effort involved. Which is the best replacement part? Where can I source it? Better things to do really...

I always feel a good deal is one where both parties benefit. This sounds like such a deal.
 
Terry VerHaar said:
Unless I am missing something, all "products" (as well as services) are designed to do that in a capitalist system. Yes, it's called profit. Insurance falls into that category.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, Terry. And I would agree with you that profit is normal and to be expected in regular products and services. In general, they are providing something that has value.

But extended warranties are nothing more than gambling. If you want to pay for a pull at the Apple slot machine, go ahead. But there's a reason extended warranties are pushed upon us. It's because they are cash cows.

I suppose I could see it if the peace of mind were valuable enough to you, or if you were unable to financially bear the cost of repairing your computer. Other than that, the odds are you are wasting your money.

Sure, there are some that will say it was worth it cause their computer died and the repair was covered by Applecare, but that's the nature of gambling. Sometimes you win.

But usually you don't...
 
Terry VerHaar said:
The real question is not how much it costs them to do repairs, but does it cost YOU less for the repairs than for the insurance?
Click to expand...

This is exactly the right question. And for one computer, the answer is not clear. And in Karel's case, it might well be worth the peace of mind.

But over the many computers you will own if you are in this business, the answer is clear. It costs more for the insurance than for the repairs. I didn't think this up on my own. (Consumer Reports, among others, has been writing for many years about what a bad deal extended warranties are.) But I have done the math on my own stuff, and I always come out ahead by not buying the extended warranty.
 
Lets put it this way...

The one machine I failed to buy Applecare for - 2008 MB Pro -

recently suffered a complete Logic Board failure (not due to the NVIDIA 8600)
This is on a lightly used machine. WTF?!

Its a $330 replacement fee - I had gotten used to Apple reliability and just plain didn't think to purchase AppleCare after the 1 year warranty had expired.

Expensive lesson.
 
Michael Hardwick said:
Lets put it this way...

The one machine I failed to buy Applecare for - 2008 MB Pro -

recently suffered a complete Logic Board failure (not due to the NVIDIA 8600)
This is on a lightly used machine. WTF?!

Its a $330 replacement fee - I had gotten used to Apple reliability and just plain didn't think to purchase AppleCare after the 1 year warranty had expired.

Expensive lesson.
Click to expand...

Just have to point this out... Applecare is $349 for a MBP. You're still ahead.
 
GET THE APPLECARE.....IT'S WORTH THE PIECE OF MIND. MY 17' MACBOOK PRO HAS HAD 2 NEW MOBO'S FITTED BOTH WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT OF STANDARD WARRANTY AND £700.00 EACH....

Take the tip and search the net for cheaper places to purchase than apple. amazon for instance. good luck.
 
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