AppleCare+ for Mac...thoughts?

Associate
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Got a new Macbook Air arriving next week, undecided whether to bite the bullet and add AppleCare+ for it. £229 for 3 years, excess is £79 for screen damage and £229 for other damage.

I had a MBP for 5 years and in that time spilt liquid on it 3 times (Yes i know i'm clumsy:p). The first time set me back around £350, the second i got lucky and the third well...see first line. I did have a MBA for 3 years before that and luckily didn't get into any mishaps so i'm undecided on this one.

Anyone here have it? Recommend it? General thoughts?

I fully intend to try and be less clumsy this time around but with my track record it's worth looking into :)
 
Man of Honour
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I've had very poor quality from Apple products so I'm going to have to say yes to getting Apple Care. Admittedly most of my experience has been my family buying their phones but almost every one has failed at some point. Recent Macbooks from 2016 to 2019 have all had significant issues such as keyboard failures (the new MBP 16 seems to be much improved and the latest Air is too new to tell). So based on that I wouldn't personally own a Macbook without it.
 
Soldato
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Got a new Macbook Air arriving next week, undecided whether to bite the bullet and add AppleCare+ for it. £229 for 3 years, excess is £79 for screen damage and £229 for other damage.

I had a MBP for 5 years and in that time spilt liquid on it 3 times (Yes i know i'm clumsy:p). The first time set me back around £350, the second i got lucky and the third well...see first line. I did have a MBA for 3 years before that and luckily didn't get into any mishaps so i'm undecided on this one.

Anyone here have it? Recommend it? General thoughts?

I fully intend to try and be less clumsy this time around but with my track record it's worth looking into :)
Yes, definitely worth the money. The wifi/bluetooth card failed in my 2011 MBP in around 2014, had it replaced, and the laptop is still running flawlessly now - it's almost certainly saved me a grand.
 
Commissario
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Mac Pro - Replaced PSU.
Mac mini - Replaced logic board.
iMac i7 - Replaced optical drive.
iMac i5 - Replaced optical drive.
My MacBook has had a new screen due to a dead pixel but that was within the first year and a new keyboard which was later included in the repair programme and would have been covered anyway.
iMac (2017) - It has an intermittent wobbly fan which I need to get booked in and will do once I am able to record it as it's very intermittent.

Yeah, I'd always get it.
 
Soldato
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I have always purchased it for most of my Apple devices, just nice knowing you have that extra cover.

I also have a HomePod and apple TV, unsure if you can get apple care for these but Ive never bothered or thought of getting it, seen as these devices are not that expensive, but I would always purchase if its a iMac/mac/ipad or iPhone.
 
Soldato
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I've never had a charger fail, not on my old MBP, this MB or any of my phones. My lad has an MBP and he's still on the original charger.
All the Macbook Pro and Airs i supported a few years back, the cables all disintegrated. The chargers still worked but not good for employees safety having exposed cables and also turning up at client sites.

I was constantly in the Apple Store in Regent Street replacing them. I did put it so the sales guy once why they just didn't make them more modular. All i needed was the magsafe cable and not the actual adaptor or mains plug/cable.
 
Commissario
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All the Macbook Pro and Airs i supported a few years back, the cables all disintegrated. The chargers still worked but not good for employees safety having exposed cables and also turning up at client sites.
Teach people to disconnect them by pulling the plug, not the cable. The same goes for iPhone connectors, it's not rocket science, it's idiots mistreating stuff.
 
Soldato
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Teach people to disconnect them by pulling the plug, not the cable. The same goes for iPhone connectors, it's not rocket science, it's idiots mistreating stuff.

People that can’t leave their iThing/Max alone for 5 minutes to charge and insist on pulling the USB/Power cable tight as a guitar string rather than sitting closer to the mains outlet go through cables really fast, unsurprisingly.

I broke one 65W MBP charger in 10 years and that was only one of the foldout “ears” you wrap the cable around after it was dropped onto concrete from around 3 metres up.
 
Commissario
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The issue was whatever Apple made the rubber coating out of as it just perished and broke away.
So how do you explain the fact that in nearly twelve years of owning Apple products, I've never had a cable perish and break away?

My daughter goes through lightning cables like chicken nuggets because no matter how many times I tell her, she still pulls the cable to disconnect them and after a few months she has to buy a new one because she's ripped it apart.

People don't care, it's as simple as that, especially if they have a nice IT person who will just replace the cable when they break it. It's not just Apple products though, at my last firm I had to keep a stock of Dell laptop PSUs because I'd generally get a call every couple of weeks from an idiot who'd broken one. I kept a note and one guy managed to go through four chargers in about eighteen months due to the way he treated it. Funnily enough, when I asked him for his cost centre and manager authorisation, he then managed to start looking after it.
 
Soldato
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So how do you explain the fact that in nearly twelve years of owning Apple products, I've never had a cable perish and break away?

My daughter goes through lightning cables like chicken nuggets because no matter how many times I tell her, she still pulls the cable to disconnect them and after a few months she has to buy a new one because she's ripped it apart.

People don't care, it's as simple as that, especially if they have a nice IT person who will just replace the cable when they break it. It's not just Apple products though, at my last firm I had to keep a stock of Dell laptop PSUs because I'd generally get a call every couple of weeks from an idiot who'd broken one. I kept a note and one guy managed to go through four chargers in about eighteen months due to the way he treated it. Funnily enough, when I asked him for his cost centre and manager authorisation, he then managed to start looking after it.

No idea why, the company had about 100 employees most of which were consultants that travelled. It was almost like the cables casing dried out and crumbled away.

The outer casing of my Dell spare charger which i only use at home has come out of the connector.
 
Soldato
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I've never had a charger fail, not on my old MBP, this MB or any of my phones. My lad has an MBP and he's still on the original charger.

I've been through 2 chargers on my 2011 MBP and the Apple Store have replaced them as they said failure was a known issue. I've never broken any other cable in my life, including my phone charger which gets plugged in and unplugged far more frequently.
 
Soldato
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So how do you explain the fact that in nearly twelve years of owning Apple products, I've never had a cable perish and break away?

My daughter goes through lightning cables like chicken nuggets because no matter how many times I tell her, she still pulls the cable to disconnect them and after a few months she has to buy a new one because she's ripped it apart.

People don't care, it's as simple as that, especially if they have a nice IT person who will just replace the cable when they break it. It's not just Apple products though, at my last firm I had to keep a stock of Dell laptop PSUs because I'd generally get a call every couple of weeks from an idiot who'd broken one. I kept a note and one guy managed to go through four chargers in about eighteen months due to the way he treated it. Funnily enough, when I asked him for his cost centre and manager authorisation, he then managed to start looking after it.

Whereas I've never had a laptop cable break in my life, yet our macbook one fell apart in about a year. They're badly designed, you've just been lucky!
 
Soldato
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Anyone here have it? Recommend it? General thoughts?

General thoughts are it is expensive if you are buying a base spec with no upgrades. £229, plus if as you said spill a drink on it that is another £229 just to get it fixed, so your £999 laptop cost £1457, a broken recent model Macbook Air with liquid ingress on that famous auction site sells for £350-400+ with a box etc. Meaning you end up in the same position almost having not bought the insurance plan, and just getting a new unit, which might be newer if you make it last a year+

I'd personally be just looking at what your household insurance costs, and what is covered, and the excess involved.
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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General thoughts are it is expensive if you are buying a base spec with no upgrades. £229, plus if as you said spill a drink on it that is another £229 just to get it fixed, so your £999 laptop cost £1457, a broken recent model Macbook Air with liquid ingress on that famous auction site sells for £350-400+ with a box etc. Meaning you end up in the same position almost having not bought the insurance plan, and just getting a new unit, which might be newer if you make it last a year+

I'd personally be just looking at what your household insurance costs, and what is covered, and the excess involved.
Currently looking at the new Macbook Air spec'd to £1300-1400. The extra year's warranty does look pricey, but then you're 100% covered, and repairs will easily cost more than that..
 
Soldato
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So what do folk reckon? Is Applecare worth £200 as it seems quite expensive for what sounds like basically accidental damage insurance cover? I'm assuming if you have any hardware faults on a laptop costing £1000+ you'd be able to get it fixed free under warranty for at least a couple of years any under EU law? I noticed when ordering on the website it states the following :-

"AppleCare+ benefits are separate from a consumer’s right to a free-of-charge repair or replacement, by the seller, of goods that do not conform with the contract of sale. Under English law, consumers have up to six years from the date of delivery to exercise their rights; however, various factors may affect your eligibility to receive these remedies. For more details, click here."

To me that implies most hardware faults would have to be fixed for free within the first couple of years anyway? I believe John Lewis offer 2 years 'warranty' on products though it sounds like that's actually what they might be obliged to by law anyway!

Also, does Applecare come with any kind of guaranteed turn around time on replacements/repairs or do they provide loan devices? That's the only way I could see it being worth the £200 cost?
 
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