Do I want the AppleCare Protection Plan?

Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
73
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Reno, NV
Your Mac's Specs
27" iMac 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 1 TB HD, ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB, Bootcamp 3.0
I'm planning on getting a the 24-inch, 3.06GHz iMac (which is about $2000) and I'm wondering if the protection plan is a worthy investment. I wouldn't even consider it if I was paying around $1200 or less, but I'm not sure I want to risk it with $2000. If something does go wrong with my iMac in year 2 or 3, can I just have it serviced for a fee? Is it likely that something will go wrong with a mac in that time? If it were a PC I know I'd need the warranty, but I'm new to macs and I haven't heard of people having many real problems with them.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
151
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
13.3" MBP: 2.26 C2D, 4GB, 160GB
For the $2000 investment, its probably worth it to get the plan. Apple repair costs are pretty high. Not to mention the iMac is tightly built, so it probably has a better chance at heat damage...
 
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
144
Reaction score
0
Points
16
personally i beleive its a good idea to get protection plans on all of apple things.. because.. they tend to break down and when it does.. its best to have that extra warranty under your belt
 
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
1,760
Reaction score
23
Points
38
Location
Leicester, England
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook, iPod Classic, 8GB 3G iPhone, Time Capsule
I wish I'd have gotten it on my MacBook, if that helps you.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
I have purchased 9 Macs in my life. None of them had ApplCare. 2 of them required repairs to the screen (iBooks) within the first 30 days of purchase. AppleCare would have played no part in their repairs. 1 of them (Intel C2 iMac) required a motherboard change after 14 months and cost me $950 out of pocket. I suspect my Quad G5 will require repair within the next 6 to 8 months and will likely cost me $500 to $800.

My next Mac purchase will include AppleCare.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
1,186
Reaction score
73
Points
48
Location
New Orleans, LA, USA
Your Mac's Specs
13" Macbook Pro 2.26Ghz Unibody 4G RAM 160G HDD Superdrive
Just last week I took my Macbook in for repair to fix the headphone jack, which required the logic board to be replaced. The bill for that repair would have been $1025US, which was taken care of by Apple Care. It has paid for itself several times over by now.
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
5,658
Reaction score
159
Points
63
Location
*Brisvegas*
Your Mac's Specs
17 inch 2 GHz C2D imac (5,1) with 3GB DDR2 RAM, X1600 (128MB memory) GPU - OSX 10.6.3
My question about applecare is this.

Apple do advertise their computers as one of the best built home pcs put there. And they are. They just last for ages. But on the otherhand they are saying you should get applecare just incase your machine breaks down in the first 3 years. But if it's made as good as they claim then you wouldn't need apple care.

A little conflicting information in my opinion. But if you can afford it I'd go for it. For the piece of mind. But if you really are pushing for the cash to get it, then I'd say no. Sure there are a lot of people who speak of their mac issues here. But there are at least 3x that amonut that have their mac hassle free virtually like me.
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
638
Reaction score
6
Points
18
Location
UK, London
Your Mac's Specs
13 inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2.7ghz, 128gb SSD
I purchased my Macbook nearly 2 years ago and I didn't buy Applecare. I'm starting to regret it now because I'm going to university in a few months and If something does go wrong then I'll have to get it fixed and it may cost a lot.

The only issue I have is that its kind of overpriced, it costs £200 here in the UK whereas dell sell theirs for £120
 
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
213
Reaction score
6
Points
18
This may not apply, but the educational discount on AppleCare is great - I got it for £40 (about $75) on my Macbook, without the educational discount it would cost £200 (about $370)
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
638
Reaction score
6
Points
18
Location
UK, London
Your Mac's Specs
13 inch Macbook Pro Retina, 2.7ghz, 128gb SSD
£40? are you sure, I just checked their eduction store and it said £165 for macbook/air Applecare
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
226
Reaction score
4
Points
18
For a different opinion:

MY MBP turned a year old in July. Never purchased AppleCare for it and I have never needed it. I have not even had to call for technical support. It has been perfect in every way.

Since then, I have purchased three other Macs. I haven't purchased AppleCare for them either and I don't plan on it.

In fact, with any computer that I have ever owned, I have never purchased an extra warranty, never needed one. I have never had a computer or monitor fail on me since the early 90s.
 

CrimsonRequiem


Retired Staff
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
6,003
Reaction score
125
Points
63
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
For a different opinion:

MY MBP turned a year old in July. Never purchased AppleCare for it and I have never needed it. I have not even had to call for technical support. It has been perfect in every way.

Since then, I have purchased three other Macs. I haven't purchased AppleCare for them either and I don't plan on it.

In fact, with any computer that I have ever owned, I have never purchased an extra warranty, never needed one. I have never had a computer or monitor fail on me since the early 90s.

That's just good luck on your part. Unfortunately for the rest of us we don't have that kind of luck with electronics.

Get the applecare you will rest easier knowing you won't have to worry about out of pocket expenses on repairs for a couple years.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
226
Reaction score
4
Points
18
That's just good luck on your part. Unfortunately for the rest of us we don't have that kind of luck with electronics.

Get the applecare you will rest easier knowing you won't have to worry about out of pocket expenses on repairs for a couple years.

How can this be good luck?

Everything I have ever owned:

Early 90s: three Packard Bell Desktops - No defects or failures
Mid to late 90s - Numerous HP desktops - no defects or failures
early 2000's - Two Envision monitors - no defects or failures, sold them around 2005 and they still worked. Also owned an IBM thinkpad, only had one stuck pixel, I rubbed the screen once and it never came back.
Now - 4 macs, two HP latops, one HP desktop, one 23" ACD still no defects or failures.
Also owned 5 iPhones, 3 original, 2 3G, all 5 were perfect in every way, no defects, no bad pixels, just perfect.

How can that be luck on owning so much equipment?
 
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Points
1
You might want to check out Squaretrade for the warranty. They usually have 50% codes floating around so you can get a 3 yr warranty for about $100. Also, I've seen Applecare on ebay for less than Apple charges.
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
25
Reaction score
1
Points
3
My experience has been similar. All PC problems have been software issues until I recently had a dead motherboard. And, it was 4 years old, so Applecare would not have helped.

How can this be good luck?

Everything I have ever owned:

Early 90s: three Packard Bell Desktops - No defects or failures
Mid to late 90s - Numerous HP desktops - no defects or failures
early 2000's - Two Envision monitors - no defects or failures, sold them around 2005 and they still worked. Also owned an IBM thinkpad, only had one stuck pixel, I rubbed the screen once and it never came back.
Now - 4 macs, two HP latops, one HP desktop, one 23" ACD still no defects or failures.
Also owned 5 iPhones, 3 original, 2 3G, all 5 were perfect in every way, no defects, no bad pixels, just perfect.

How can that be luck on owning so much equipment?
 
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
93
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Your Mac's Specs
First gen Mac Pro, Dual 2.66
Extended warranty on any equipment that expensive is just sound investment. More so on Apple products.. they already have a high resell value, if you sell it before the applecare is up it will be worth even more. It's just like you said, if it were $1200 it wouldn't be worth it, but over $2k is a large investment.

Put it this way, you pretty much have to take it in just to get a CD unstuck (if the normal routines don't work). 2 years from now do you really want to pay just to get a CD unstuck?
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top