Struggling Climber, Lost on MacBook Mountain

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Today at Apple - Apple

please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe these are available 24/7 and I'm also pretty sure they were available to me when I was a lowly non AppleCare plus subscriber. So it's not clear to me how these items could possibly be the "priority 24/7 access to Apple experts" advertised on the web page I shared.

Everything else you shared is appreciated and there is no question but that I am going to need to take myself back to school big time to get a handle on this. I've got my work cut out for me, no doubt about it. Still, I doubt you intended those study suggestions as being the "priority 24/7 access to Apple experts" I was asking about.

So I must admit I'm not understanding... you quoted a specific question I asked then provided a great deal of information -- which is no doubt useful -- but I'm not clear on how any of it answers my question.

Another feature not everyone may be aware of is if you click on the bell icon under the very first post, you can unsubscribe from a thread so you no longer receive email notifications of replies you may no longer wish to read.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/94ef5f6f-b1af-4463-ba76-8adaaab7a64d

Touché. Well played.

PS. For anyone who is interested and who may not already be aware, the "additional text" feature on this forum is a place you can put excess text that exceeds the 5000 character limit and once you submit your post, that additional text can be found hiding just beneath the post title, or thread title in this case:

If you click on that inconspicuous little down arrow it will open up to a world of excess text, which is most of my post, basically. So if you didn't see that, you haven't really read my opening post. Not that you would necessarily want to... I have an advanced case of TLDR. But if you're interested, it's there. Cheers.

dialabrain wrote:

My interpretation is those with AppleCare+ take precedence over those that don't.

so when I call in my call is routed differently than when I wasn't an AppleCare+ member? That is an interesting idea. If that is the case it's hard if not impossible to tell the difference from when I wasn't a plus memeber. If they really want AppleCare+ members to know they're getting a premium service they ought to have a unique number that requires AppleCare+ to call and have that number answered by Apple's most qualified and knowledgable advisors. AND, a total bypass of the blockhead AI. And it should be available 24/7 as the promo claims. That would fit the description of what is advertised, to my mind. Otherwise, the "priority access" simply isn't obvious from the customer standpoint and the 24/7 part is nowhere to be seen (I'm expressed my dismay with the text chat).

Tom Gewecke wrote:

If you would post any specific problems you have with your machine and software in these forums, one of the volunteer experts here may be able to help more quickly. Be sure to tell us exactly which version of MacOS you are using and also check your profile to ensure the description of your machine/device is accurate.

Will do. This opening post has been somewhat of an orientation exercise as well as my seizing an opportunity to blow off some steam. Going forward I intend to limit each of my posts to a specific issue and/or question. Cheers,

I just posted a detailed reply to this post, broken down into responses to several specific quotes. Then I saw a typo and tried to hit edit and the screen seemed frozen so I clicked on refresh and my entire post disappeared. Can anyone tell me what happened? Did I exceed posting limits for newbies or something?

etresoft wrote:

The support you get from AppleCare is most valuable when you need to call on the phone or get support in person. An unpleasant chat interaction might not be because of multitasking. You might be texting with an AI chat-bot.

Suggestion noted, but I'm confident it was no chat bot. And as I mentioned, the next day I lamented the experience to the manager of the Apple store and he advised me that multitasking with numerous customers at once was an explicit requirement made of the chat support staff, done to keep wait times down. 

Most people don't like to read or write long passages of text.....Your post isn't that long. It is well short of the 5000 character limit. 

Yes well, I guess you missed the bulk of it... in the second paragraph of my opening post I mentioned, "So I used the additional text feature for most of it... hope you can see it..." followed by:

----------------------------- insert additional text found under the down arrow above -------------------------

So yes, if you have a closer look you should find that the majority of my opening post is hiding in the "additional text feature" and that it definitely is in excess of 5000 characters. I'm not proud of it.... but them's the facts.

However, support isn't the most valuable feature of AppleCare+. You seem concerned about the purchase price. If that is important, then what you really want is the 3 year repair service from AppleCare. The only thing worse than a $6000 computer is having to buy an addition $6000 computer 18 months after the previous one stops working.

Value is primarily a function of immediate need. My concern for the $6000 plus price tag is that a) it's many times what I've ever spent on a computer in my life, and b) in so doing I eagerly anticipated being blown away upon receiving it by how splendid a machine it is. "Awe struck" is how I expected to feel when I first turned it on and began to navigate this beast of a computer. And if you are able to view the part of my opening post you missed, you'll see that was not the experience I encountered by any stretch. Rather, some approximation of the precise opposite. 

I am aware that the 3 years of AppleCare+ included in the $6000 price tag covers the critical areas you highlight, should catastrophe strike 18 months down the road, etc.. While I am aware of it, at present that awareness is entirely peripheral. That is because at this time I have no need of repairing or replacing a damaged or brokendown machine. 

What I do have need of at this point in time is help resolving specific challenges that crop up like clockwork during every hour I spend on this machine. And the particular help that would be most valuable to me right now is that advertised in the AppleCare+ promo where it promises "24/7 priority access to Apple experts". That is what I need and want and would most value right now.

And this forum appears to be the closest thing to that at the present time. If I understand correctly, this forum is not an AppleCare+ feature, but if I can find what I need here then I will vacuum it up with gratitude and the concerns I've expressed about AppleCare+ will drift aside to join their friends in the periphery.

Most people don't like to read or write long passages of text. One of my old professors says we are in a "post-literate" society.

I have heard what your old professor expressed from other sources as well. Literacy is a relatively recent development for humanity and appears it is moving to take it's place as a blip on the screen of history, replaced by audio visual content as our prominent medium -- which esssentially brings us back to how things were done for millenia, when stories were shared verbally by firelight with the whole tribe intently watching and listening, enthralled.

One of the places that you are most likely to find retired geeks who are happy to read and write text is in this forum. So if text is your preferred method of support, then I recommend you follow Tom Gewecke's advice and just start a new thread for your question.

Will do. Perhaps not just now, though. Tired now. Good night, I will be back in a new thread (or ten) in due course.

Ah, would that I had more time to indulge this exchange. To systematically dismantle such a uniquely obtuse offering is a task to be relished. Unfortunately, far less amusing matters demand attention.

Pleasant day all.

If you still do have specific problems with your hardware or software, let us know and someone will try to help.

Thank you for the follow up. My attention has been elsewhere, not on the laptop in recent days. Also, an Apple advisor introduced me to the user manual and I've spent some time looking at that. I have no doubt that this forum will prove to be a valuable resource, as soon as I have more time to spend on the laptop I know questions will present themselves. Cheers