Just a couple comments regarding Applecare+ (as it applies in North America...other areas may differ)...in regards to Apple computers. Yeah...it's a somewhat different animal than the old "Applecare". With the old Applecare we had 12 months from time of purchase to buy Extended Applecare. Now Applecare+ must be purchased within 60 days of purchase.
- Applecare+ comes with up to 2 incidents of accidential damage coverage. But...this isn't as "rosey" as it seems...since some service fee's apply to these damage "incidents".
i.e.
"AppleCare+ for Mac extends your coverage to three years from the original purchase date of your Mac and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other damage, plus applicable tax."
Many folks may not read the fine print...since Apple may be advertising Applecare+ as including coverage for two incidents of accidential damage. But these "2 incidents of accidential damage coverage" are certainly not free (as mentioned above)!
Of course one of the worst "accidents" we see here at Mac-Forums is when liquid is spilt on a notebook/laptop computer. $299 for a new logic board may seem like a pretty good price (right??).
But...there's the inital cost of $99 to $379 for Applecare+ (depending on the device). So for example. If someone had Applecare+ on a 13" MacBook Pro with liquid damage...that required a replacement logic board. The initial cost of Applecare+ is $269...plus the $299 service fee...which means that this person still (in total) had to pay $568 + tax for the replacement logic board.
Again...probably less than it would cost without Applecare+...but not by a whole lot.
- Nick