ModYourMac.com Tech Support Series Episode One. Should I buy Applecare?

Posted on June 11th, 2008 by phiber811, under John, Tech Support Series, main.

You just dropped anywhere from $599 to upwards of $18000 on a new Mac. Or you dropped anywhere from $149 to $499 on an iPod. Regardless of whether you purchased on line, in an Apple Retail Store, or from an Apple Specialist, a human being or a website offered to sell you AppleCare. You were quoted a price ranging between $39 and $349, depending on the device in question. Depending on the device, and your wallet, that can be a pretty sizable chunk of change. So, what is Applecare? Why do you need it? Why should you buy it? And why is everyone trying to sell it to you?

Many would typically categorize AppleCare as a service contract. However, its a bit different. Instead of locking you into taking your machine one place, and having to have it serviced by one company, or selling you extended warranties that you’ll probably never use, Apple capitalizes on the simple fact that they service all their own hardware. Yes, you read that right. When your Apple technology is repaired, it is repaired by either Apple, or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. This could be in the Apple Retail Store, or at a 3rd party Apple Specialist. Regardless, what this means is that an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) will be diagnosing, repairing and testing your hardware. Kinda nice to know that its not being done by some chump, right?

Given this, Apple knows that your machine will be repaired by their authorized people. Since you’re already going to go to them in some form for service, they’re willing to sell you piece of mind. Does that catch you off guard a little? The concept of purchasing an intangible? It shouldn’t. When we buy a car, we’re always interested in the warranty. 3 years, 30,000 miles. 5 years, 50,000 miles. 10 years, 100,000 miles. Bumper to bumper, power train, etc. Warranties are important. They give us piece of mind that if our expensive car breaks through no fault of our own, the manufacturer will repair it. What a novel idea!

Big surprise, Apple does the same thing too. Your new device comes with a standard one-year warranty against manufacturer defects and failures. Just the same as most other big ticket items you buy. But here’s where AppleCare shines. For that nominal fee, you can extend your one year warranty to two years for the iPod line, and three years for your computer purchase. Simply put, your warranty just got longer.

So, why is this necessary, good, and so on? Simple. You just spent money on an expensive piece of technology. You bought and Apple device, so you’re expecting quality. But, sometimes things fail. Its inherent in electronics. And wouldn’t you expect to keep that iPod or MacBook Pro for more than oh, a year? Say, two, or three at least? One should hope. So why arent you protecting that piece of technology like the expensive jewel that it is? As any and all Apple tech’s will tell you, you should. In fact, we’ll beg you. If you haven’t bought AppleCare and you come in for a repair in your first year of warranty, we’ll gladly tell you what that repair would have cost out of warranty, in order to illustrate the value.

For example. You drop $2499 on a MacBook Pro. Its an amazing machine. AppleCare is $350. Now, in your second year of use, the video chipset fails. If you have AppleCare, getting your machine will cost you nothing. Apple will replace your Logic Board and cover the labor for free. Why? Because you bought AppleCare. But, what if you didnt? Well, you can expect that a replacement logic board will run you between $500-$800, and you’re looking at being charged between $100-$125 in labor from your service provider. Do the math. even at its cheapest, you’ve already justified the cost of AppleCare by $150.

Now bear in mind that the aforementioned scenario is very illustrative in terms of cost. But if you think logic boards never fail, hard drives never die, screens never lose their backlight, and DVD drives never stop burning or spinning, then you’re in for a rude awakening.

In short, AppleCare is a repair guarantee. If your machine fails through no act of negligence, misuse, abuse, or act of god, Apple will repair it at no cost to you, because you bought AppleCare. But dont think for a second that Apple is doing this to be nice to you. Just like you’re buying piece of mind with your AppleCare purchase, Apple is hedging their bets that you wont ever use it. They’re hoping against hope that you’re machine runs perfectly from day one, until you replace it, and/or the warranty expires. Why? because if it does, they’ve just made between $59-$349 off you without lifting a finger. Put simply, its free money to them. And if the majority of people buy AppleCare and never use it, Apple still comes out ahead in terms of the people who do. Its financially sound on their end, and proactive on your end.

So, with all of this said, please buy your AppleCare. You can purchase AppleCare any time within the first 364 days of ownership of your device. It gives you the piece of mind to know that if something happens, you’re covered. It also means that when you come in for repair, we can smile at you from behind the service counter and tell you that parts and labor are covered and not to worry, rather than telling you its going to cost several hundred dollars. Believe me, we’d much rather bill apple, than bill you.

(John Hart is an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician since 2001. He’s worked for Apple Specialists for the entirety of his professional career. He has repaired and worked on every Macintosh model shipped in the last ten years, and many beyond the last decade.)