Is extended Applecare for your Mac worth it?
For those of you who haven’t been questioned by an Apple employee about purchasing extended Applecare for your new Mac (and for those that have), you are faced with the decision most customers generally dread at other stores. The question that runs through your mind is this: is this just a scam for more of my hard-earned money, or is it really worth it and necessary?
After all, every one of us has spent a fair amount of time in a Best Buy or Circuit City, and has received that nagging harassment from some stooge employee who is really gung-ho about selling us the protection plan, right? “Would you like to ensure those rechargeable batteries for 3 years for the low price of $15, ma’am?” the eager sales rep asks; I’d almost bet that sales reps and their protection plans are more consistent than the earth’s rotation around the sun.
So when you walk into an Apple store, an environment that is clean, bright and shiny with intelligent looking people walking around in Apple shirts, you start wondering whether you’ll receive the same sales pitch. Don’t get your hopes up…you will.
However, if you’ve ever been through it, the decision to spring for the extended plan or not has seemed more difficult, has it not? After all, these are some of the smartest sales reps you’ve encountered; surely they must not be offering you something you don’t need.
If you were or will ever be that person I just described, you were right on the money. One thing I’ve learned as a long-time Apple fan, that we as the Apple “elitists” don’t like to discuss amongst the Microsoft true, is that Apples need just as many bothersome repairs, if not more, than other computer manufacturers.
See, Apple’s shiny pristine reputation tends to fade and become tarnished to those who’ve been using the products for a while. We know that Apple products aren’t perfect, and what’s worse…Apple won’t admit very quickly when something is definitely wrong.
What that means for you is that you will be wanting that extended warranty out of necessity. I recently took one of my Macbooks in for repairs; let me just say, I’m glad I had coverage. The total repairs ran to over $500 dollars for what was a flickering display and a cracked case.
Moral of the story is this: Apple computers really are about the software, not the hardware, because inevitably things will go wrong with technology. Once you admit to yourself that Apple products aren’t impervious to troubles, you can be realistic and realize that your shiny case will probably cost a pretty penny to fix. At some point, it might very well be worth those few extra dollars for 3 years of protection.
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January 31st, 2008
I purchased the Apple Care plan for my Mac. I’ve had my MBP since 10/06 it only need to be repaired once and that was earlier this month. I had a faulty batter earlier this month. I called AppleCare, and my replacement battery arrived the next day.