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Is AppleCare worth it?
Apple’s AppleCare blurb:
“Every Mac, iPod, iPhone, and display comes with complimentary telephone technical support for 90 days after your purchase and a one-year limited warranty. The AppleCare Protection Plan extends your service coverage and gives you one-stop service and support from Apple experts.
AppleCare extends your service and support coverage to three years from the date you purchased your hardware by providing global repair coverage for all included hardware and accessories through convenient service options.”
AppleCare is a product that most businesses purchase for their computers to begin with. It’s kind of a no brainer for a business. After all, what’s not to love about having hardware and telephone support for your computer for three years from the date of purchase? Well, for some smaller businesses, upstarts and consumers, it’s the cost.
A fifteen inch MacBook Pro notebook starts at $1699 retail. AppleCare? That’s an additional $349, which can seem to be a bit of a hefty price tag up front. A lot of consumers and small businesses in this economy are operating under a strict budget, and might see that $349 as money that they can spend on something that they can physically put their hands on: RAM, a bigger hard drive, an Airport Extreme, an Apple external 24″ LED cinema display. And while these add-ons definitely have their value and can increase productivity, what happens if you are at 13 months and your MacBook Pro breaks?
A Customer Scenario
Take this scenario for example:
John purchases a Mac Pro with a 30″ Cinema Display and an Airport Extreme for his business. There is a power outage while he is out of the office and the when power is restored there is an immense power surge and it destroys the power supplies on all three units. Out of warranty, this repair would cost easily cost over $500. Under AppleCare, however, the parts for not only the Mac Pro but also the Cinema Display and the Airport Extreme are also covered if they were purchased with the computer on the same receipt. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, AppleCare for a Mac Pro only costs $249 and covers any displays or Apple peripherals that you buy with the computer.
Going back to the MacBook Pro example, several components of the computer are soldered onto the logic board: processor, video card, ethernet, USB, FireWire, audio input/output jacks. If any of these components go out, you must replace the whole logic board to get that single component replaced. A logic board can be well over a $1000 dollar part on a current generation machine, and several hundred on even the oldest of models. Not to mention, it will cover any Apple accessories that you buy with the computer on the same receipt, like a Magic Mouse or an Airport Extreme.
Getting back to the point, AppleCare is a very worthwhile investment. Apple has a very good reputation for hardware durability, but being an Apple repair technician, I can tell you countless horror stories that are based around people assuming that Apple products “don’t have hardware problems”.
Take it from me, it can happen.
AppleCare and Customer Satisfaction
Fortunately, AppleCare tops consumer reports on a regular basis for customer satisfaction. According to ComputerWorld.com, AppleCare is able to resolve issues via phone support 80% of the time while the industry average is only 60%. If your desktop system is deemed needing a repair, Apple can dispatch a local repair technician to your business or home to do an onsite repair, getting you back up and running as quickly and conveniently as possible. Notebook computers, which are a bit more sensitive to work on, can be shipped out overnight (with Apple facilitating and paying for shipping) to an Apple repair depot for a quick and convenient turnaround.
My recommendation is that, if money is tight, wait to purchase your machine until the money is also available to purchase the accompanying AppleCare. You do have up to a year from date of purchase to get AppleCare, however, most people forget and if you do remember, the activation process can be a hassle. So play it smart and buy AppleCare with your next Mac.
Posted in Applecare
Just don’t let Apple know it was a “power surge” that caused the problem. That would not be covered under warranty. Remember, a warranty is only supposed to cover “manufacturer defects”. Business or homeowner insurance might cover a power surge.
Schools that have a self-servicing service provider account might be able to get away without Applecare. If we buy a batch of 100 iMacs, plus Applecare at $249 each (guessing), there is no way we would have $24,900 worth of repairs. Then again, there have been some models (G5 iMacs come to mind) that have had high failure rates.