Apple Care Warranty? Worth it?

"...I actually got my MBP from bestbuy, and I purchased their warranty program, It basicly covers everthing,I can drop it, run it over, sit on it, and Best Buy will fix it or replace it with a new one."

How much was the cost? For how many years? I suggest you don't drop it and try to collect. All these warranties are, are insurance policies. Insurance companies are not in the business to lose money. The more esoteric the coverage the more you pay.

ITs well worth it - I get one for every Apple product I buy. I might not need it myself, but it will instantly add extra value to your MBP if you eBay it or otherwise sell it down the road.

But -- you have one entire year to buy it and add it from the time you purchase your MBP. You can wait and see if you think you need to add it 11 months from now and add it then.

The age old question. Opinions vary. Many will say it's worth every penny. Others will say don't bother.

Consumer Reports (the magazine) has run several features on manufacturer extended warranties, recommending against them. As a general rule, their main function is to generate profit for the manufacturer.

Personally, I've never had a hardware failure on a Mac in 20+ years of ownership. My wife's 12" PowerBook from 2003 still runs fine. My current 17" MBP is now over 3 years old and I didn't ever have any problems that needed Applecare. Since I've never needed it, if I had purchased AppleCare on all my Macs, the amount of money I would have spent on that would pay for a new 17" MBP today.

On the other hand, if a logic board fails 366 days after you buy the MBP, you're looking at >$1000 to repair that, so AppleCare is a bargain.

It's really a personal decision you'll have to make. If you are a frequent user of telephone tech support, that's free for 3 years with AppleCare, vs. the 90 days you'd get otherwise. Might make a difference to you.

Also, you don't have to decide today. You can purchase AppleCare anytime during the first year of ownership.

Even if you decide to get it, I recommend waiting - it's a warranty against manufacturer defects, not damage. Should the unthinkable happen and you drop your MBP, or spill liquid on it, etc., sometime in the first year, your AppleCare Protection Plan won't help - and any problems after that will likely be blamed on the damage.

In addition to what neuroanatomist & everyone else stated, there is also your homeowners or renters insurance policy that will take care of accidental damage. Safeware Insurance also takes care of accidental computer damages among other things.

I've been buying my AppleCare Plans off eBay for about a 50% discount. They have proved to be invaluable. I've had hardware issues with the last 4 out of 5 Macs. Apple even gave me a new computer once to replace a 15-month old MacBook that I had a lot of problems with.

Also, if I sell a computer before the warranty is up, AppleCare is a great selling point and I recoup some of my money.

Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'

This will be my first post in the forums so I dont know how people will take this.

I actually got my MBP from bestbuy, and I purchased their warranty program, It basicly covers everthing,I can drop it, run it over, sit on it, and Best Buy will fix it or replace it with a new one.

also I spoke with my Home Owners Insurance agent and he added it to a declared items list, which will replace it for theft or even accidental loss. I dont know how you can accidentaly lose something but, GREAT to know.

I got the extended warranty for my toaster oven. I was assured that it covered everything, even if I accidentally damaged it myself. To test that claim, I smashed the oven with a sledgehammer - and the plan covered it!!

Cost of toaster oven: $29
Cost of warranty plan: $19
Cost of time spent on phone dealing with warranty plan company: $12
Cost of postage to ship destroyed toaster oven to service center: $14
Cost of extended warranty deductible in the fine print I didn't read: $15
Cost of postage to cover shipment of replacement toaster over: $14
Cost of internet connection fees to blog about how horrible my experience has been: $20

Total cost for plan replacement of $29 toaster oven: $94

What a bargain!! 🙂

~Now, if only they'd cover the damage to my countertop form when I hit the toaster oven with the sledgehammer. Sigh.~

Basically, in aggregate from a corporate perspective, extended warranty = big profit.

The plan cost was $399 for 3 years, its transferable if I were to sell it. Basicly the plan covers everything. If bestbuy can fix it, they will fix it. If fixing it costs more than it would to replace it they will just replace it with the current model, not the original model so if in 2 years I break it and I need it replace, they will replace it with the current Apple model as from when I purchased it.

I understand there is alot of people out there that do not believe in these things, but you will find people on both sides of the spectrum saying its great and it *****, and the same goes with Apple care, I'm sure there are many opinions out there.

Oh and to add, Best Buy matched the Student Discount of $149 off on my MBP.

why won't apple cover accidental damage if you get Apple Care especially if they are trying to sell to college students I am sure that not having that part of the warranty is deterring many people from buying one just because ** happens so why won't Apple cover it?

neuroanatomist wrote:
I got the extended warranty for my toaster oven. I was assured that it covered everything, even if I accidentally damaged it myself. To test that claim, I smashed the oven with a sledgehammer - and the plan covered it!!

Cost of toaster oven: $29
Cost of warranty plan: $19
Cost of time spent on phone dealing with warranty plan company: $12
Cost of postage to ship destroyed toaster oven to service center: $14
Cost of extended warranty deductible in the fine print I didn't read: $15
Cost of postage to cover shipment of replacement toaster over: $14
Cost of internet connection fees to blog about how horrible my experience has been: $20

Total cost for plan replacement of $29 toaster oven: $94

What a bargain!! 🙂

~Now, if only they'd cover the damage to my countertop form when I hit the toaster oven with the sledgehammer. Sigh.~

You are joking, right?

tjk wrote:
You are joking, right?

I never joke. Except maybe this one time. Or all those other times. 🙂

neuroanatomist wrote:

tjk wrote:
You are joking, right?

I never joke. Except maybe this one time. Or all those other times. 🙂

That's very good. You had me worried for a bit there. 😉

Because they aren't selling that kind of coverage. I've heard mixed stories about the Best Buy warranties, but you pay extra if you want accidental damage covered over and above the usual product defect coverage.

I have been using Apple products since the Apple IIe - before they had GUI and a mouse (the Macintosh). I never bought AppleCare for any system I owned before we started purchasing iPods and laptops.

Neglected to purchase it on a 2nd gen iPod for my wife several years ago (the first we owned) and all was well until a few months after the original warranty expired. Wish I would have purchased it, would have been cheaper than the options.

Purchased it for my son's first iPod (don't recall which version). Used it twice on it. More than payed for itself.

From then on I purchased it for everything I buy from Apple. I am so glad I did.

Purchased a refurbished MBP in 2006 since I was returning to school. First laptop I ever owned. Have used AppleCare for it on three occasions outside the normal warranty (very recently as a matter of fact). Payed for itself on the first use.

I have also purchased it for my current MBP (early 2008). I am still within the normal warranty period, but am about to put it to use to try to cure the dreaded "unresponsive keyboard/trackpad" problem.

All anyone has to do is look around and see what components like the screen, logic board, top case, etc. cost and you will see that it will almost always pay for itself on first use. If it is a mobile Apple product, I would never again consider not getting AppleCare.

As for the desktops, have no idea as the last tower I purchased was a Dual G4 MDD, that only had one repair to the Iomega Zip drive (Iomega's replacement of a known bad batch). Never purchased AppleCare for it and it still runs like a champ - most dependable Apple product I ever purchased. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case with Apple.

My guess is that people will inevitably try to abuse "accidental damage" coverage, and too many resources would be wasted on those fraud cases. Apple provides very good support for what they do cover under AppleCare, and with that, I'm fine with not expecting them to reimburse me for dropping my laptop in the toilet 🙂