Apple Care . . . so expensive!

I've nearly had my Macbook Pro for a year. It's been a great year and I love my Mac.

I'd like to get the AppleCare for it. I thought it would be about £100 or so; I've just been on the UK store and it's £279.99! That is steep and I don't have a lot of momey right now!

I have a few questions:

- Is there anything major the protection doesn't cover?
- How much are the main parts such as keyboard, screen, hard drive, disk drive, etc to replace (in the UK where everything is more expensive)? Is there a price list anywhere?
- Once your first year is up have you then missed your chance to buy the protection?

Thanks in advance.

DrQuincy said:

I've nearly had my Macbook Pro for a year. It's been a great year and I love my Mac.

I'd like to get the AppleCare for it. I thought it would be about £100 or so; I've just been on the UK store and it's £279.99! That is steep and I don't have a lot of momey right now!

I have a few questions:

- Is there anything major the protection doesn't cover?
- How much are the main parts such as keyboard, screen, hard drive, disk drive, etc to replace (in the UK where everything is more expensive)? Is there a price list anywhere?
- Once your first year is up have you then missed your chance to buy the protection?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Wow, I don't think I paid that much when I purchased mine a year ago!

- If you mean AppleCare Protection ... user error and any Software based issues AFAIK.

- iFixit.com is a good source of info re: tutorials and replacement parts ... Don't buy from Apple, scour other sources like eBay ..

- You have up until midnight on the last day of your complimentary warranty to buy the AppleCare Plan ... Ordinarily you wouldn't wait until after the cease of business on the last day to start considering AppleCare .... but legally you have until midnight.

Hope I've helped.

~:<EDIT>:~

I paid £101 for my iMac/eMac AppleCare Protection ... so for a MacBook Pro it just may be more expensive due to the "Pro"-ness of the Mac ... if you catch my drift.


.

Yep. I've also found Applecare for MBP a tad bit high. Though that price you mention does seem a bit out of this world. Out here it is Rs.17k (converted to about 220 pounds). iMac is of course not too much (9k = 110pounds) and macbook is 13k (converted to whatever).

But I can tell you one thing. Applecare is worth it.
- It covers everything your current warranty covers
- A DVD-writer costs 13k out here to replace (where Rs. 80 = 1 pound) so yeah, it is pretty expensive to replace. I hear the screen is somewhere US$900 or something.
- You have to buy and activate before the year ends...

Where I live (Belgium), there's an Apple reseller that offers it's own AppleCare. It does exactly the same, except that you can't have it fixed in ANY Apple Store, and it's like €200 cheaper. Maybe they have something like that in England too?

Thanks for all your replies.

Just to confirm this is the one I need isn't it? http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...c/mac_accessories/applecare_dotmac&nplm=MA515

Have you found that problems with your hardware have been common over the years?

Yep, that's the one for you ... I checked up the cost of MacBook Pro AppleCare here and it's on par with the U.K.

It makes sense that you can even get AppleCare for an iPod and it would need to be a whole lot cheaper ...

For instance, my DVD writer has gone kaput, that is, a disc is stuck inside. I called up applecare and a brand new dvd writer is on the way...

ebay!
I got my macbook applecare for $112 shipped

How can it be sold on eBay? Isn't it just some documentation rather than a physical product? Don't Apple want to know the serial number of the computer they are issuing a warranty to?

good quuestion!

how do we activate the applecare? Don't we need to submit our serial number?

hi there, i also live in the UK, i am a recent mac converter (today actually, got my first mac notebook, 2.16hgz whitebook) and originally i wasn't going to purchase the applecare but because my dad is a lecturer i got a 75% reduction and got it for only £50, i don't know if you are eligible for some sort of student discount as well? In regards to other options APP is the only option for us living in the UK and i would seriously recommend you to buy it as mac parts are VERY expensive to replace. You CAN buy it on ebay if it has NOT already been activated, i would recommend powersellers only for this type of product.

if you find this post helpful please give me a + rating.

good luck,
jordanß

Your asking for rep?

And now hes grey....

And now hes red....

Poor guy. He won't be able to recover from that much of negative repping...

As for registering the APP, here's what i had to do. I called up Applecare. Gave them the APP code. Then they sent me an email. I had to send them a scan of my iMac bill, as well as the scan of the APP bill. After about two weeks I got a snaily maily all the way from singapore with my APP registration information.

hmm sorry i didnt realise it was a rule that you couldn't

my bad,

Mac_OS said:

hmm sorry i didnt realise it was a rule that you couldn't

my bad,

Click to expand...

Even if it wasn't a rule, it's kinda bad manners. I'm sure you'll get recognition for helpfulness if you just continue to be helpful.

I'm still agonsing over the AppleCare - has anyone here got a first generation MBP 17" they've had problems with?

Applecare is worth the investment. Aside from the basic 1 year warranty, you will also have 3 years of phone support (which you lost after 90 days without Applecare). I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but here in the US, phone support can be a lifesaver. Especially if you only own one computer, because without it, you're not going to be able to access any website for help (or parts). Search ebay for a logic board or display screen for a newer MB or MBP -- Good Luck.

A logic board (mother board for you PC minded types), in a MacBook or MacBook Pro can cost almost as much as Applecare. I've known people who had logic boards replaced more than once in a Mac laptop. Mind you, you will also incur other expenses such as shipping (more times than not the local Apple Store may not be able to do the repair onsite and will have to ship your Mac to a repair facility. For iBook, PB, MB & MBP, repairs are done in Memphis, TN. You will also have to pay Apple (last I knew) $50.00 (calculate into your local currency) to back up the HD, or loose everything on it. Display's aren't cheap either.

Yes, I know of one person who has had to replace the logic board and hard drive in a first gen 17" MBP. I also have known people who had to do the same with 15 & 17 PowerBook's.

Two of my favorite stories to share involving Applecare are regarding two people who owned a iBook and a PowerBook. The iBook owner had three logic boards replaced within 2 years. The third time Apple said enough already and replaced his iBook (G3) with a better G4 model. As for the PowerBook owner, one day his 2 year old child decided to see how far back he could bend the display. My friend was panicked. He thought for sure he was screwed. He took the 2 year old PB into the local Apple Store and explained what happened. The Genius went into Applecare records to discover my friend had Applecare. His next comment was; "Bummer" -- We can't fix it here, but you'll have it back within 5 days. Applecare will cover the defective display, but I suggest you keep the PowerBook out of reach of the kid.

Try getting that done without Applecare. Applecare goes a long way with Apple. I would never buy a Mac without it.

You need it. Without it, you're on your own.

Hi, I also have a question about Applecare.
I am going to be getting a Macbook Pro soon, but here in Italy the APP costs €439, which is way too much for me! If I buy an APP on Ebay from the USA, will it still work for me here? Or will I have to send my laptop to America if something happens?