Help me with AppleCare.

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hello!

I am planning on purchasing AppleCare protection plan for my MacBook Pro but I have a few questions:

1. Does it cover any sort of unintentional damage to the machine for three years, i.e. will they fix the machine for free if it breaks down by itself within the three years?

2. In case I decide to sell this machine within the three years and purchase a new one, will the plan be transferred (I think I know the answer to this one)?

3. Should I take the plan?

4. If yes, should I take it now or at the end of one year? (I know it will last three years from the date of purchase either way so I suppose taking it ASAP would be better.)

5. I am buying the plan for about $35, is it reasonable?

6. The dealer I am buying it from basically deals with iPods, though he does sell Macs too. AppleCare is the same for Macs and iPods, isn't it? I mean, If I buy it from him, it will cover my notebook, won't it?

7. Any other miscellaneous info about AppleCare is also welcome.

Actually, the main question is the first one.

Thank you!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    Maybe the lack of the word 'please' in the name of the topic offended you guys. OK, 'Please help me with AppleCare!'

    Will that do?
  • Reply 2 of 14
    1. I don't think AppleCare will cover damage you make, intentional or not.

    2. AFAIK AppleCare goes with the machine, not the buyer. If you sold your mac, AppleCare would go to whoever you sold it to.

    3. It's up to you. I bought one for my G5.

    4. If you don't have the money you can wait, but don't wait too long!! Should something happen to the computer before the 1-year is up, just go and buy AppleCare then.

    5. AppleCare costs A LOT more than $35 - it costs a couple hundred.

    6. There are separate AppleCare packages for different Apple products. The iPod and MacBook plans are different prices and different boxes.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    See (and read):



    http://www.apple.com/support/products/



    http://www.apple.com/support/products/faqs.html



    AppleCare for the iPod is 59 USD, for the MacBook Pro it's 349 USD. And usually you won't get it substantially cheaper.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aryayush


    Hello!

    I am planning on purchasing AppleCare protection plan for my MacBook Pro but I have a few questions:

    1. Does it cover any sort of unintentional damage to the machine for three years, i.e. will they fix the machine for free if it breaks down by itself within the three years?

    2. In case I decide to sell this machine within the three years and purchase a new one, will the plan be transferred (I think I know the answer to this one)?

    3. Should I take the plan?

    4. If yes, should I take it now or at the end of one year? (I know it will last three years from the date of purchase either way so I suppose taking it ASAP would be better.)

    5. I am buying the plan for about $35, is it reasonable?

    6. The dealer I am buying it from basically deals with iPods, though he does sell Macs too. AppleCare is the same for Macs and iPods, isn't it? I mean, If I buy it from him, it will cover my notebook, won't it?

    7. Any other miscellaneous info about AppleCare is also welcome.

    Actually, the main question is the first one.

    Thank you!



    1. It does not cover accidental or any damage that is caused by you, only manufacture defects. Of course, if there doesn't seem to be any physical damage they will probably fix it even if it is your fault. If you want accidental damage and theft protection you'll have to buy insurance. IE http://safeware.com/ (which does not cover manufacture defects).

    2. Warranty is transferable

    3. Yes, extended warranties for laptops are one of the only electronic warranty that I would highly recommend, and so does Consumer Report. My powerbook alone has gone through 8 repairs adding up to nearly $4000 of repairs if I paid out of pocket (replaced LCD, Replaced Combo drive, Replaced Trackpad, replaced battery (twice), replaced power supply, and entire laptop replaced.

    4. Better sooner than later since you'll get free telephone support with applecare added.

    5. $35?! That's dirt cheap! You sure it's for the MBP??

    6. You buy the applecare kit and either go online or mail in a form with the activation code to enroll your laptop with the extended warranty (they link it to your MBP's Serial Number)

    7. Applecare's box comes with a free copy of Tech Tools, which is a pretty good program as long as you don't use the defragmentation program (It can seriously screw up your HD, I had to reformat my computer once because it damaged the file allocation tree).
  • Reply 5 of 14
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ichiban_jay


    1. It does not cover accidental or any damage that is caused by you, only manufacture defects. Of course, if there doesn't seem to be any physical damage they will probably fix it even if it is your fault. If you want accidental damage and theft protection you'll have to buy insurance. IE http://safeware.com/ (which does not cover manufacture defects).

    2. Warranty is transferable

    3. Yes, extended warranties for laptops are one of the only electronic warranty that I would highly recommend, and so does Consumer Report. My powerbook alone has gone through 8 repairs adding up to nearly $4000 of repairs if I paid out of pocket (replaced LCD, Replaced Combo drive, Replaced Trackpad, replaced battery (twice), replaced power supply, and entire laptop replaced.

    4. Better sooner than later since you'll get free telephone support with applecare added.

    5. $35?! That's dirt cheap! You sure it's for the MBP??

    6. You buy the applecare kit and either go online or mail in a form with the activation code to enroll your laptop with the extended warranty (they link it to your MBP's Serial Number)

    7. Applecare's box comes with a free copy of Tech Tools, which is a pretty good program as long as you don't use the defragmentation program (It can seriously screw up your HD, I had to reformat my computer once because it damaged the file allocation tree).



    battery??? i didn't think they would, what was the situation, won't hold a charge or was it the recall? doesn't apple have an "auto enroll" when you buy it with the hardware??
  • Reply 6 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NOFEER


    battery??? i didn't think they would, what was the situation, won't hold a charge or was it the recall? doesn't apple have an "auto enroll" when you buy it with the hardware??





    They usually say that batteries are "consumables" and that they are not covered under regular warranty. The first time I complained enough and e-mailed the head of customer support over it so that they replaced it because the battery died (had less than 10 min charge) within 7 months of light use. The second time was the battery recall so I guess that doesn't REALLY count under applecare



    And yes, I believe it is autoenroll if you buy applecare with the portable, but he's talking about buying it later.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton


    From what I've heard, Apple will replace any battery under warranty or Applecare if it holds less than half of the advertised charge, regardless of how you've treated it.



    what's the advertised charge for the macbook?? i just bought 2 and in 5 days i will be WINDOZ FREE...apple and I have worked long and hard for this moment. ooops i think that was a "halo effect"
  • Reply 8 of 14
    Thanks for all the wonderful help, guys! I really appreciate it.



    I just checked out http://www.apple.com/applecare/ and got all the information I required there. I should have done so before posting a thread here, but it just didn't occur to me.



    The $35 plan the retailer here is selling is for the iPod. The plan for MacBook Pro costs a lot more. I don't think I am going to spend in excess of three hundred dollars over something which I might never need. I mean, if there are any manufacturing defects, they will surely crop up within the year, won't they? And I don't need to wait an hour on the telephone for technical help. I can get all the help I require on online forums such as this one.

    I am thinking of getting my notebook insured though. Has anyone else had their notebook insured?
  • Reply 9 of 14
    I would highly suggest getting the Applecare on a laptop. Can't go wrong. It's saved my butt numerous times. Like the time I was writing a document and all of the sudden my screen froze and the computer shut down, battery was fine, I was not able to turn it back on. Took it in, and it got fixed right up within a week. Without the Applecare I probably would have had to get a new computer. Get the Applecare, it's not a waste. This happened when my laptop was two and a half years old.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DJmastamind


    I would highly suggest getting the Applecare on a laptop. Can't go wrong. It's saved my butt numerous times. Like the time I was writing a document and all of the sudden my screen froze and the computer shut down, battery was fine, I was not able to turn it back on. Took it in, and it got fixed right up within a week. Without the Applecare I probably would have had to get a new computer. Get the Applecare, it's not a waste. This happened when my laptop was two and a half years old.





    ditto the above...get applecare for all the help they give, apple is rated #1 and it's not always a hardware issue. won't leave home without it.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    I am in a fix now. It's too expensive.

    I'll see what I can do.
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