There are few things in life as painful as your beloved Mac having a problem and not being covered by warranty. Having your Mac fixed is quite expensive. Especially if it’s a logic board, LCD, optical disk and hard drive problem. It might cost almost as much as buying a new Mac.
Apple provides a standard 1 year warranty on all their products with the option to extend that for 2 years more via AppleCare. Depending on which product you have, AppleCare could cost anywhere from $39 for iPod Nanos and Shuffles to $349 for MacBook Pros and Mac Pros. $349 ain’t cheap. In fact at first glance it’s expensive. However it may pay off in the end.
Speaking from experience, AppleCare has indeed been worth it. I bought my first Mac last June 2004. It was a 15″ Powerbook G4. Loved it. At that time here in Manila, they had a promo that all Macs bought came with the extended warranty. I didn’t know much about AppleCare then but since it was bundled, I had no choice.
I finally sold my Powerbook around July 2007. A month after the extended warranty elapsed. During the time I had my Powerbook, I’ve had two top casings changed, an LCD and charger replaced.
The top casings were replaced because they developed black spots that corroded the case. It appeared on the palm rest. I guess it’s the reaction of the metal to the sweat your hands produce. The LCD was replaced because it developed white spots. As a graphic designer that’s simply unacceptable. As for the charger it just stopped charging. It was later discovered that the place where the wire meets the charger melted and screwed up the wiring. It could have been repaired by an electrician but since it was still under AppleCare I just decided to have it replaced.
Let’s calculate the value of the stuff that’s been replaced. These prices were taken from ifixit.com
G4 Aluminum 15″ Upper Case = $179.95 x 2 ()
G4 Aluminum 15″ LCD Only = $299.95
PowerBook G4 65 Watt AC Adapter = $59.95
Sub Total = $719.8
That’s $719.8 dollars worth of parts, not to mention service which was free as well versus the cost of AppleCare for the Powerbook which is $349 and you come up as the winner.
In my opinion, if you own a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, AppleCare is a must have. Since these computers have been much more prone to defects and problems. If you own a desktop and have the spare cash, get AppleCare as well but it’s not as critical as the portables. AppleCare is worth it as it means added security for at least 3 years including the original 1 year warranty.
It’s a coincidence that when I was thinking of writing this post, I saw this article on Digg. It’s worth a read as well. Oh and here’s a link to my post a year ago on why AppleCare Rocks.
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