[Macworld]

Post your comments for Macworld Guide to AppleCare here

[DouglasRitter]

I always buy Apple Care -- although I never buy long term warranties on any other purchases. Reason being Apple products break more often. So far I have bought two MAC's and one Macbook. All three have suffered major breakdowns and all have had thousands of dollars of replacements/fixes -- covered under Apple Care. One could quibble that Apple products are not manufactured as well as other products. I have a Dell and IBM Thinkpad that have had no problems over the 5 years I have had them. But if you are buying an Apple product -- I advise buying Apple Care.

[brobdingnagian]

It's worthwhile for Macs -- especially if you buy AppleCare at a discount -- but I can't fathom buying it for an iPod. The biggest iPod risk is damage, which AC doesn't seem to cover, so an alternative like SquareTrade seems a better choice. Perhaps a protective case is better than either.

[ScottWickham]

I too buy them. I had a MB Pro that had an issue from day one. It was too intermittent for them to do anything about, until it failed completely AFTER the AppleCare expired. I was not happy at all, though I will most likely continue to get the insurance, I will be more persistant when it comes to them fixing something I know is wrong.

[Darron]

I used to always get AppleCare for my MacBook Pro's, but this time am going to go without on my MacBook Air. SSD's and Apple's new battery technology are supposed to be far more reliable these days. The hard drive and battery have been the two components that have failed on me within 3 years of ownership. Free replacement under AppleCare more than made up for the cost of the AppleCare contract. I'm not so sure that I'll break even on the contract anymore. So, I'm going to give it a go without this time.

[n4hhe]

Have observed the cheapest way to own Apple products is to buy new and keep for 5 to 8 years. The 2nd cheapest route is to buy AppleCare and sell just after the 2nd year when Apple updates the product line. Nearly a year of Apple warranty adds a huge value to your used product.

AppleCare would be more attractive if it included free OS upgrades.

[stephen520]

I rarely buy extended warranties, but I've bought AppleCare for each of my Macs (five, and counting). I think the extended telephone tech support alone is worth the cost of AppleCare. Repair/replacement at no additional cost is an added bonus. Over the years, I’ve received more in free repairs and replacements than I’ve spent on the extended warranties.

[BMWTwisty]

FWIW, Even Consumer Reports opined that AppleCare was worth purchasing.

[MichelleEris]

Ive owned Apple computers ever since I purchased my first Apple II in 1978; I've never bought AppleCare for any of the products. In all the time since then, I've had only one repair done within 1 to 3 years of buying the computer; all other repairs were within the original warranty period or after AppleCare would have expired. Actually, it wasn't a repair; the repair costs were almost as much as a new computer, so I bought a new computer. Even so, if I had bought AppleCare for all my computers, I would have spent more money in the long run than it cost me to replace that one iMac.

[jdb8167]

I generally don't buy AppleCare except for laptops. When I bought my MacBook Air I was seriously considering not purchasing AppleCare because there are practically no moving parts (only a fan), no optical drive and the battery has a very long expected lifespan.

The salesperson at the Apple Store convinced me otherwise. He said, "Get Apple Care, everything on the MacBook Air is soldered in. Any repair except the battery is going to be expensive." Good sales job. I bought Apple Care. I managed to get Apple to include the Thunderbolt Display on the same contract even though I didn't buy the two at the same time (the TB display wasn't available yet) which makes the contract somewhat more cost effective.

Like I said, I've always purchased Apple Care with laptops in the past so I might have been a easy sale. My Apple Care history, I've used Apple Care to replace a battery twice and an optical drive once. Mostly, my Macs have been trouble free.

[pawhite524]

stephen520, on 29 November 2011 - 07:27 AM, said:

I rarely buy extended warranties, but I've bought AppleCare for each of my Macs (five, and counting). I think the extended telephone tech support alone is worth the cost of AppleCare. Repair/replacement at no additional cost is an added bonus. Over the years, I’ve received more in free repairs and replacements than I’ve spent on the extended warranties.

I'm with you. I have used the same "brilliant reasoning" (in hindsight) and been rewarded many times over on Apple laptops, eMac, and two iMacs over the past 10 yrs. And as another writer noted selling one with AppleCare still on it got me my asking price with no quibbling.

[marcotor]

Wow DouglasRitter, you might like to know at my company, about half of our ThinkPads (more than 200) are out for service, because it is well known that Lenovo makes shoddy products. None of the Apple products are out for service as it is well known they make superior devices.

FUD is FUD, no matter how it is spewed.

[ScottGardner]

When I bought my first Mac about 7 years ago, the sales rep highly recommended I get AppleCare. I did so, reluctantly (extended warranties = sucker's bet). But I called AppleCare religiously, daily, for several months. They were always very kind, very helpful. And then one day a rep suggested I consider getting certified on Mac because I seemed to be very interested in this stuff. I did. Six months later I quit my day job and opened up my own consultancy.

[Panglos]

DouglasRitter, on 29 November 2011 - 05:55 AM, said:

I always buy Apple Care -- although I never buy long term warranties on any other purchases. Reason being Apple products break more often. So far I have bought two MAC's and one Macbook. All three have suffered major breakdowns and all have had thousands of dollars of replacements/fixes -- covered under Apple Care. One could quibble that Apple products are not manufactured as well as other products. I have a Dell and IBM Thinkpad that have had no problems over the 5 years I have had them. But if you are buying an Apple product -- I advise buying Apple Care.

You've neglected to include a key bit of information: the relative amount of use each piece of equipment gets. My experience is exactly the opposite of yours.

The other day my son and I got a laugh when we disposed of his three-year-old Dell XPS notebook. The display flopped around as if the hinge was spring-loaded; the one of the trackpad buttons was listing, apparently submerged permanently; and its chrome buttons and sprayed-on "brushed aluminum" showed signs of extreme wear even though he hadn't used the machine much in the last two years. He was getting rid of the Dell to make room in anticipation of a MacBook Air; I venture the Air will age better than the Dell did.

When I was in IT, and later when I trained notebook users, I used to say that the reason Dell had a good reputation for service was that they were good at it—and because people were likely to have need to experience just how good they were at it. (Word is, they're not all that good at it any more.)

I recently installed SSDs in two five-yer-old MacBooks and gave them new leases on life for relatively little coin. They're darn near as fast as 2010 Airs now. Another son, who owns one of them, had also recently bought an i5 PC notebook--and says he prefers his renewed MacBook by far. Beyond one battery replacement, neither of the MacBooks in question has ever required service of any kind. And the hinges, trackpad buttons, fit and finish, etc. are all in much better shape than they were on the Dell, despite much heavier use (in college, in and out of backpacks, no less). Other than scratches on the 2006-generation plastic, the machines are still like new.

This post has been edited by Panglos: 29 November 2011 - 09:32 AM