Apple Care a MUST? Worth?

I know and think Apple Care is worth it - how can it be sold at Apple website under refurbished for less that retail by the way?
Anyway is IT a must in that a PC laptop after one year, I kid you not, stuff starts falling off. One trip to Apple store and it pays for itself.
My machine is 2.4 256 MB GPU that was $2500, I think refurbed they are $1699, so is that my price? Notice that its $100 more than refurb $1999 newer chip, extra 1 MB cache is better that 1999 3 MB cache I suppose.
With Apple care, how much is it worth and again, why under refurb is apple care cheaper?

While AppleCare is sold in the Apple Store Refurbished section, the prices are not any lower than retail. The only prices lower than retail in Refurbished are the hardware. AppleCare for a MacBook Pro is US$349 in both the retail and refurbished sections of the Apple Store. It might be less if you are looking at educational or business discounts.
That said, legitimate AppleCare can be found for MUCH less than retail but you must leave the Apple Store to find it. Try smalldog.com, amazon.com, or lacomputercompany.com.

Similar Messages

  • Apple Care Warranty? Worth it?

    Is the Apple Care Warranty worth it? I'm buying a new mac, and am thinking 1 year coverage may be good enough.

    I have been using Apple products since the Apple IIe - before they had GUI and a mouse (the Macintosh). I never bought AppleCare for any system I owned before we started purchasing iPods and laptops.
    Neglected to purchase it on a 2nd gen iPod for my wife several years ago (the first we owned) and all was well until a few months after the original warranty expired. Wish I would have purchased it, would have been cheaper than the options.
    Purchased it for my son's first iPod (don't recall which version). Used it twice on it. More than payed for itself.
    From then on I purchased it for everything I buy from Apple. I am so glad I did.
    Purchased a refurbished MBP in 2006 since I was returning to school. First laptop I ever owned. Have used AppleCare for it on three occasions outside the normal warranty (very recently as a matter of fact). Payed for itself on the first use.
    I have also purchased it for my current MBP (early 2008). I am still within the normal warranty period, but am about to put it to use to try to cure the dreaded "unresponsive keyboard/trackpad" problem.
    All anyone has to do is look around and see what components like the screen, logic board, top case, etc. cost and you will see that it will almost always pay for itself on first use. If it is a mobile Apple product, I would never again consider not getting AppleCare.
    As for the desktops, have no idea as the last tower I purchased was a Dual G4 MDD, that only had one repair to the Iomega Zip drive (Iomega's replacement of a known bad batch). Never purchased AppleCare for it and it still runs like a champ - most dependable Apple product I ever purchased. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case with Apple.

  • Is apple care worth it for the iphone4s?

    I was wondering who has bought Apple Care for their iphone?  Do you think it is worth it??

    Well Applecare + gives you up to two replacements for breakage incidents, so I think it's worth it. For $99.00 it's worth the piece of mind. I know that Apple will do a one time replacement for iPhone 4 but something tells me that this will be coming to an end with the new plan being available for 4S. If you can swing it, it's worth it to me.

  • Apple care/ American Express Warranty - Worth it?

    My year is almost up as far as the warranty goes, and I purchased this on my american express card which doubles the warranty.
    I've only had to call apple once and this was a battery issue, they sent the battery overnight(excellent service)
    My question is if something like this occurs again, something small but important(cdrom,battery) - will I have to contact apple or american express?
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    https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/cda/dynamic.jsp?name=BuyersAssuranceCCSGFAQ&type=intFAQ
    Now, what happens if you buy Apple Care? (I purchased my MacBook with AmEx and bought Apple Care at the time, so I wondered that myself.)
    This is what the Buyer's Assurance Plan says (on page 2):
    "If you purchase an additional service contract or extended warranty with a product which is otherwise eligible under the Buyer's Assurance Plan, and the combined coverage provided by both the original manufacturer’s warranty and the purchased service contract does not exceed five years, then the product is eligible for coverage under the Buyer's Assurance Plan. The Buyer's Assurance Plan will extend the warranty time period and mirror coverage of the original manufacturers' warranty up to one additional year after both the original manufacturer’s warranty and the purchased service contract have expired. ... "
    Since the Apple warranty is one year and Apple Care adds three years, the Buyer's Assurance would be tacked on when the Apple Care ended. However, it's not really clear from the way that is worded whether or not you'd have to buy the extended warranty at the time you bought the product. That would be a good question to ask American Express.
    The Buyer's Assurance Plan also says (page 2):
    "If you buy an additional service contract or an extended warranty for a computer, computer component or part that already comes with an original U.S. Manufacturer’s warranty, unless such coverage is provided from and
    administered by the original manufacturer, coverage under the Buyer’s Assurance Plan does not apply."
    Since Apple Care is provided by Apple, it would seem that this exception would not apply. That would be another question that might be worth asking American Express.
    The American Express Buyer's Assurance plan can be found at https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/benefits/includes/pdf/buyersAssurance20 03.pdf

  • Apple Care and 1:1 - worth the price?

    I am buying my first ever Mac (wither MBA or Pro -retina).  Life long windows user.  What do you think about the 1:1 service and the Apple Care?  Do I need them?  I live in NYC so there are several Apple stores in town.
    Thanks

    Apple care is worth it if you have a mechanical problem with the MBP.  If there are no mechanical issues that develop, then it is not worth is, simply put.
    The fact is that Apple Care is priced so that Apple  will NOT lose money on repairs, so statically it is is not in your favor.  You have to balance that with 'peace of mind' as you would insurance.
    Note that Apple care does not cover damage to the MBP whether intentional or accidental.  Should you drop the MBP, there is NO coverage.  It cover manufacturing defects only.
    If you are very much a novice to computers, 1 to 1 has virtue.  Otherwise most of your issues can be addressed in these forums.  An inherent problem with 1 to 1 is that there will be a very uneven quality of the instructors.  You may get a good one, you may not.  Luck of the draw.  Having knowledge and being able to teach others do not go hand in hand.
    Ciao.

  • Worth getting apple care for the Retina model?

    Is it worth geting apple care for the Retina models? have read they can be dodgy...
    Since I will have a one year warrenty could I just skip out on apple care untill a month before the warrenty expires as the warrenty will cover all my needs?

    jaymanjoel wrote:
    From the sounds of it, the Retina 2012 model is so not worth it. I assume that the 2012 retina model is almost like a testing ground to build on future retina models so there will be a lot of bugs to sort out... i assume such bugs like program capabilities with retina will be sorted out by the time the 2013 model comes around?
    Have to agree completely with that.
    If I was in the market for a new Mac it certainly would not be one of the Retina models. Way to expense for what you get and then there are all the problems with it.
    You know I've been doing my work and having fun on computer for over 20 years and never needed a screen like the Retina to actually get things done and make some money.

  • "Apple Care" worth the $$$?

    What are your thoughts on the “Apple Care” plan for the MacBook Pro? It strikes me as an extended warranty with somewhat limited coverage. Is the service worth the rather hefty price? Thank you.

    Considering that if a flaw is found that can't be a fault of yours through accident or otherwise in the first 3 years of ownership could cost:
    $150 for the battery
    $500 for the logicboard
    $1000 for the screen
    $300 for the soundboard
    $400 for the optical drive
    and
    $1000 for the chasis
    $75 for the power supply.
    and that you get 7 day a week phone tech support which could otherwise run $50 per incident, I think the cost of AppleCare is quite fair. And that you can purchase it anytime in the first year of ownership, that's also a plus.
    If though you like to do it yourself, and pay full price for parts and labor, when Apple is willing to admit culpibility, don't buy AppleCare.
    There are insurance programs like this one if you prefer dealing with insurance where accidents are covered:
    http://www.safeware.com/
    But do they have knowledgeable tech support staff?
    For some having both is valuable. Anyway, it is your choice.

  • IPod Touch Apple Care Worth While?

    Does anyone think that the iPod Apple Care is worth while? Thanks!

    Thanks. You could say a little more about how you've found it worthwhile?

  • Is Apple Care worth it for me? Retina macbook - please help!

    Hi everyone,
    I'm new to Apple having just bought my first Macbook Pro Retina 13 last month and absolutely loving it!
    My question is probably very similar to others but I'm finding contradicting answers everywhere - so is Apple Care worth it for me?
    If it doesn't include accidental damage, and just software/hardware, then is there any need for me to purchase it in its first year? Or even 2nd year for that matter due to EU consumer laws?
    What confuses me is that when I bought my macbook from the apple store, the employee told me a story of how a woman had just bought her retina macbook 2 months before hand & brought it in for repair as the screen had been damaged from her closing her macbook.. but she didn't have apple care so this cost her £800 to replace the screen - ouch!
    But if she DID have applecare, how would this even be covered if it's only software & hardware and no accidental damage? Or are they just a bit more lenient when you have apple care?
    Thanks!

    Apple makes a profit from AppleCare; otherwise it wouldn't offer the service. On average, buyers lose money on it. Consider whether you can afford to be self-insured for the risk. Make sure you understand that it's a warranty extension and a support contract, not insurance against loss or damage.
    If you choose to buy AppleCare, don't buy it at the same time as the Mac, and don't buy it from Apple. Get it from a reputable discounter such as LA Computer anytime before the one-year factory warranty expires.
    An exception to the above rule is that if you buy an Apple display together with a Mac, you have to buy AppleCare at the same time in order to get coverage for both.

  • Apple care worth it?

    I usually don't buy extended warranties and such, but is it worthwhile to get the one yr extension via apple care (3gs)?

    Personally, I don't think its worth it for several reasons:
    1) AppleCare just extends the normal warranty by a year - meaning that it only covers manufacturing defects and hardware failure due to those defects. The vast majority of problems that will happen to a mobile phone - damage due to scratches, dropping, cracked glass, etc - won't be covered.
    2) If warranties didn't make businesses money then they wouldn't be sold. Clearly, phones replaced under warranty cost Apple less than the monies they pull in from warranty sales. Based on simple probability, you will have to replace items on occasion but you will cover that cost by your savings from not buying the warranties.

  • Apple care is useless in India. I bought an iPhone 5 from a Maple store in June 2013.  Also got convinced at the store and purchased an additional Insurance worth Rs 1000 at the same time. The iPhone 5 has a very poor battery life. Needed to be charged at

    Apple care has been of absolutely no help to me. My 10 month old iPhone 5 stopped charging one fine day and Apple denies any responsibility for  the same. Between my Family of 4, we Re currently using 5 Apple devices. Am so disappointed with the service from Apple. Although my cell phone is well within the warranty period , I have been denied a replacement. And the Shield Insurance that I purchased is now declining the insurance amount even. They insist I prove that it is an accidental damage. And Apple refuses to cover what they choose to call a 'physical damage'. So where does that leave me ?!

    I cannot see the damage. But the screening centre has pics showing it is damaged. Apple refuses to cover a physical damage. But the reason the device is damaged could only be coz it had a poor battery life from start. The iPhone 5 is infamous for the same. We all know it. Apple conveniently denies responsibility.
    And the Insurance company says it covers only accidental damage. Now how am I to prove an 'accidental' damage ? Unless I lie to them....

  • My Display Only Works Part of the Time and Apple Care Won't Help Me (Long)

    I bought my computer at a discounted price because it was a restocked item, but was it really worth it? I'm beginning to think not. I saw that it had one stuck pixel, but saving that much money on such an expensive computer, the pixel hardly seemed like a travesty. However, I think I've discovered the real reason why the last owner gave up such a seemingly exceptional piece of hardware...
    After about a month of flawless operation my "new" computer started to act a little strangely. It wouldn't always go to sleep when it was scheduled, the screen saver wouldn't always come on by itself...things that I though a simple PRAM reset, SMC reset, or disk permission repair would fix. After countless attempts at all three "fixes" I was still having problems...a few days after these problems started occuring something even more drastic happened: My computer would turn on (the little light would come on, I'd hear the fans start running and the start up tone) but the screen would remain black. I tried several PRAM and SMC resets as suggested on this forum, but the screen continued to come up black for about an hour. That's when I called Apple.
    The Apple Care specialist on the phone asked me for the serial in which I had to lift the computer up to get (since I obviously couldn't read it off the screen). She suggested an SMC reset which, I explained to her, I had tried already but it hadn't worked, however, I was willing to give it another shot. Oddly (and rather annoyingly) enough it worked, and for a short amount of time I was happy...until it happened again...another call to Apple...and again...and about 3 or 4 calls to Apple Care later, they suggested that I go in to an Apple Store to have it looked at.
    The Apple Specialist made an appointment with me to meet with an Apple Genius the next day at 4:30PM at a store about a mile away from my house. The next day I lugged my 24" iMac through the local mall (I'm female, 5'2", and I weigh about 108 so it wasn't too easy of a feat) to discover the apple store was CLOSED for the next few days so that they could "make the store better." I called Apple Care on my cell phone right there in the mall and asked them what was going on. Didn't they know that this Apple Store was closed? The man I was talking to said that they knew and he wasn't sure how the person I had talked to just the day before had signed me up for an appointment when he hadn't even asked for my e-mail address. It was most bizarre. This man made an appointment with me for later that same day at an Apple Store about 45 minutes away from where I live. I didn't want to go, but I'm a college student and I was a desperate for my computer to work again.
    Shaking around in that box must have brought it out of it's strange seized-up state because as I brought it out for the Mac Genius to look at it turned on for him no problem. Quite a frustrating problem because it's so spontainious that it keeps making me look like either a liar or a fool. He said he'd run an 8-hour diagnostic check on it and I could pick it up the next day. So the next day I waited for their call but I got none. I called them and they said that they were still running tests and it'd be ready the next day. The day after, about an hour and a half before I had to go to work, they called me and told me my computer was ready. They said they had ran a 24-hour diagnostic and everything was working fine but they said they'd run more tests if I wanted them to. I'm a full-time college student and I need my computer for just about all of my classes, so I declined more tests and told them I'd pick it up right away. I dashed over there to pick it up and dashed back as fast as I could (and I even made it to work on time...but just barely). Later that night I found that they had accidentally left their diagnostics CD in my computer (I called them about it and they said that would like it if I would bring it back...I still haven't mailed it).
    All was fine and good (well, just okay...it still had problems with its sleeping and screen-savering) with my computer until yesterday. I got that black screen again upon start up....but this time my "fixes" worked after a few tries. There were no more problems for the rest of yesterday.
    However, today I came home from school and go to start up my computer and the screen turned on and I saw the little mac symbol and that little circle of bars...but then it froze. I held in the little button to force a shutdown and when I started it back up again I was greeted by my good old friend, Mr. Black Screen. Just wonderful. I tried my "fixes" but today I didn't get lucky. So while I was holding in the button to start up my computer (again) and give it another go, I held it longer than I was supposed to and the little on light began flickering. Then I heard this unpleasant tone that lasted a few seconds before stopping and treating me to the startup sound. This time the screen turned on. Yay! I go to call Apple to find out what I had just done, and I find out that my 90 days are up and unless I wanted to pay $50 for them to be puzzled by my issue once more or give them $300 for not quite 3 more years of service, I'd have to lug my computer to an Apple Store or post here to get help. Thanks a lot Apple Care.
    My "new" computer cost me almost $3,000. It should work the way it's supposed to. I need it to last me no less than 6 more years, but with the problems I've had with it in the first 3 months (which seem only to be getting worse and more frequent), I don't know if I'm expecting WAY too much out of it. I've been a loyal Apple user for 13 years and out of the 5 computers I've had in that time I've never had so many problems (actually I've never had any problems, at least nothing really serious; I'd never even called Apple Care before this). I'm a fairly experienced user (I'm not a Mac Genius or anything, but I know the ropes) and I am sure this is not normal behavior for an Apple computer (or any computer of that matter).
    I'm so frusterated I'm not sure what to do. What's wrong with my computer? How can I get Apple to help me? How can I get Apple to even believe me? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you so much for reading my very long (and rather dramatic) story.

    Thanks for reading and thanks for the advice. Perhaps I'll ask them about it next time this problem occurs, although carrying the thing through a mall that is only about a mile away is the least of my worries. I'll do if it is both free (I don't make enough at my job to pay for such a service) and relatively speedy, although I'd hate for them to come over and for the computer to work properly (as bad as that sounds). It'd be a wasted trip and nothing would get fixed.
    I'm contemplating videotaping myself performing my "fixes" on it the next time I have this problem.

  • Apple care would cost if I could even get it after it was repaired.

    Ok so I'm getting a pre owned Apple TV from store and I was just wondering how much it would cost to get fixed. Also, how much the Apple care would cost if I could even get it after it was repaired

    The ATV is $99 brand new.
    Apple TV model
    Out-of-Warranty Service
    Apple TV 2nd and 3rd Generation
    $59
    Apple TV 1st Generation
    $169
    I cannot imagine it being worth the hassle of purchasing AppleCare for such an inexpensive device.  AppleCare+ would not be applicable.  If you really want AppleCare for the ATV, it is $29 and must be purchased while the device is still under warranty.

  • Buy apple care plan help fix everything for the imac osx lion 10.7.5

    Hi apple pplz.. I have a question to ask you. If i buy renewal my apple care plan for imac osx lion 10.7.5. Sometime in the future, if my computer is broken down or having issue on the computer. What the apple care plan coverage all the internal part if anything goes wrong it. Cause i don't want to pay for a huge money just for fixing the parts if cost more $1000, worth more than i bought it brand new??

    Apple is not here, you're talking to other users.
    If you buy the AppleCare warranty, it will cover any defects in the computer, just like the included one-year warranty. Note that you must purchase AppleCare within one year of the purchase of the Mac.

  • I could not get my iPhone 5 which purchased in Australia repaired by apple in the US. Guys from apple retail store verified a replacement for me and asked to call apple care. However, apple care said they cannot get it fixed nor repaired.

    My iPhone 5 got some defects and I went to a apple reatil store yesterday. The guy from the genius bar told me that he verified a replacement for me. And I need to call 1-800-apple care to finish that process. I called apple care and one of the senior supervisors told me that I have to send it back to Australia (where I bought this iPhone) to get it repaired. Turns out I could not solve the problem after a apple store vist and several calls. I just want to know if there any way to solve this. This iPhone is a factory unlocked one that purchased in an apple retail store in Melbourne at the day it was first released. And my experience today is not what I can tell as fair. I will be really appreciate for any helps and advices. Thanks.

    Warranty on iPhone is not international, but valid only in country of
    original sale. Since you purchased the iPhone in Australia, your warranty
    is valid only in Australia. You must either personally return the iPhone
    to Australia for evaluation and possible replacement or sent it to someone
    in Australia to take into Apple for the evaluation. Apple will not accept
    international shipments for repair nor will Apple ship out of the country
    after replacement.
    Sorry to be the bearer of this news, but it is the way iPhone warranty and
    replacement has always worked.

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