Applecare for Mac, is it worth it?

guitarcookie1

I have until the end of the week to extend the Applecare on our 2015 MacBook Pro's, but is it worth doing at £199 a pop?

Any experience out there

ICBM

How expensive and/or annoying would it be to fix one of them if it breaks down in the next two years?

JezWynd

I've been using Macs for 25 years and apart from my first, a Performa 5300, I've never bothered with it. Macs are usually very reliable and any issues are likely to show up soon after purchase ime. That said, it paid off with that first machine - it was an all in one affair and the monitor cable deteriorated due to heat from the screen (pre lcd days) and was replaced free of charge. I've never bothered since though and never had any issues, and this with machines running motion graphics renders constantly.

But then again - peace of mind is priceless. You choose.

stickyfiddle

If you move them around a lot and/or if it's critical for work that you have them working, then I'd say yes. 

If they sit on a desk and only get used for social stuff, then probably not.

I didn't bother with mine 2 years ago (not least because we didn't yet have Apple stores in the UAE when I bought it) and the only issue I've had is a delaminating screen coating which Apple fixed last week (for free, in 12 hours, out of warranty - very good!). So I'm very happy with my decision not to bother. That said, I have it insured properly on both contents and travel policies, so I'm covered there for accidental damage.

milamber

Son has had a MacBook Pro for three years; I've had mine for two years; other half has had an iPad for almost three years and an iPhone for two years. Never had a sniff of a problem with any of them, though we do have Applecare on both the MacBooks as they were student purchases and it was free.

DefaultM

I've got it but only ever had to use it for the power supply, which unexplainedly just broke one day. However, they never even asked to see proof of my applecare. I told them I had it, and they literally just checked it, said yeah it's broken and then handed me a new one. Didn't take my name, get me to log in or anything.

ICBM

DefaultM said:

I've got it but only ever had to use it for the power supply, which unexplainedly just broke one day. However, they never even asked to see proof of my applecare. I told them I had it, and they literally just checked it, said yeah it's broken and then handed me a new one. Didn't take my name, get me to log in or anything.

You just didn't notice them scanning your implant.

RandallFlagg

Not worth it.

I have a 4 year old 27" iMac, if you get a failure within a reasonable timeframe you can argue 'consumer law' with Apple. If a high quality product fails outside of warranty but within what would be considered a reasonable period of time, Apple will (reluctantly) repair it free of charge if you stand your ground, ask for the Apple Store Manager and quote rights under consumer law.

I took my iMac in a couple of years ago (2 years after purchase) with a suspected hard drive failure, argued consumer law and they replaced it free of charge. It apparently failed again as soon as I got home. Turns out it was the extra 8GB of RAM that I had added that had failed, manufactured by Crucial, so I had a new hard drive fitted for no reason and the RAM was covered under Crucial's lifetime warranty so got those chips replaced free as well.

Biggest pain was the downtime and restore from backup.

FelineGuitars

I tend to buy my Macs from John Lewis when they are offering 3 year warranty

This eliminates me having to take out Applecare and JL are pretty good to deal with when stuff goes wrong.

Whitecat

It's worth it IMO. I have owned about 8 Macs in the last 10 years and have had to use AppleCare on 5 of them. Hard disks, battery, graphics cards and a logic board in one case.

Portables are more susceptible to problems than desktops too IME.

The other upside is that it's transferable and will increase the second-hand value of your machine a little if you sell it before the AppleCare is up.

vaticancameos

Put it this way, if the Logic Board fails on that or you accidentally kick the screen, thats like £400+ a pop to replace, so probably worth it!

RandallFlagg

Accidentally kick the screen? what do you use yours for Karate practice? :-)