Customer Reviews

AppleCare Protection Plan for Portable Apple Computers 15 Inches and Above (OLD VERSION)

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Is AppleCare worthwhile? Here's my story:

My wife just started graduate school last week, and was grumbling that the battery on her early 2008 15" MacBook Pro wouldn't last a full day of classes.

For some reason, the next day she tried to snap a self-portrait with Photo Booth, and the iSight camera wouldn't work. We made an appointment and set off to the Apple store (five minutes away).

The genius did the usual voodoo with the PMMU and PRAM, then booted off of the Apple network, none of which brought the camera back, so he said it wouldn't take too long to fix it with a new screen assembly.

He brought up the MBP's repair history, looked up and said, "You qualify for a new Mac." It seems that after replacing the DVD drive, the hard drive, the logic board, and the trackpad, the iSight was the trick.

We went home with a new i5. That's one way to get extended battery life! I installed Cody Krieger's gfxCardStatus to keep the NVIDIA GPU from burning up the battery. The i5 runs way cooler on the Intel integrated graphics, and the NVIDIA is just a click away.

Oh, and we qualify for a rebate of about $80 on the remaining months of AppleCare for the old MBP! Altogether a good day!

I purchased my macbook through a third party site via Amazon. I was in no rush to purchase this product because you have a year to get this from the purchase date to extend the warranty after.
Only problem is that apple goes off of when the third party seller purchased, not when you purchase the product and register it; so just make sure of the time frame so you are within the boudaries. You can do this with apple.

I can't complain because they reimbursed me for the product but it could save you some time and effort to check before

The AppleCare Protection Plan is, as I believe someone else may have said, a necessary evil. As someone who has worked in IT in several different capacities (including working for Dell doing on-site & in-home warranty support/repair as well as my own small Tech Support / Security Consulting company) I recommend all of the warranty you can get. Especially for Macs, as although they historically don't break down as often as Windows systems, they can be very expensive to repair (though it's better than it used to be in the Motorola/PPC days since the advent of the "Mactel" architecture). One repair could easily cost more than the price of getting the extra protection. Even if you plan on replacing a part yourself, if it's anything proprietary or that has to come from Apple, the parts can be quite expensive.

That being said, do yourself a favor and SHOP AROUND!!! You don't have to purchase AppleCare right away; just make sure to do it BEFORE the factory warranty expires. That gives you plenty of time to wait for a good price. I just bought mine: AppleCare Protection Plan - For Portable Apple Computers 15 Inches and Above for HALF of the regular price of $350. That's the lowest price I've seen since I got my MacBook Pro & started watching the prices. Ironically, I was somewhat hesitant to buy it BECAUSE of the price. Kind of one of those "Is this too good to be true?" questions, especially since it was over $100 less than the sale prices of all of the other vendors, as well as the fact that it was a 3rd-party vendor named "Coomsey" that fulfilled AND shipped it. In addition, Coomsey had only 2 feedback reviews which were only a few weeks old, but at least they were both 5 out of 5! Turns out, it was a fantastic transaction. Not only was it new, authentic, factory sealed, with a working Serial #, instead of receiving it within the Delivery Estimate of November 24 - December 10, I received it on November 19; two days after I ordered it! I would tell everyone to go buy one from this company/person, but they are now apparently sold out. There are still plenty of other vendors selling them, but their average price is about $275-$280 for the 15" & up Portable Plan. That seems to be about the normal "sale" price. I apparently got lucky finding the price I did.

I never used to buy any kind of extended warranty, especially for computers since I could usually fix any problems myself. Then I had the 1st LCD TV I ever bought whack out just after the factory warranty expired (& this was back when a 27" cost about $800 or so. Then my XBOX died, and finally a few months ago my HP laptop started going downhill fast about a month after the factory warranty expired. Since that time I've purchased another XBOX, a 42" Sanyo LCD TV, an external HD, plus my MacBook Pro: all of which I bought extra warranty coverage for. Out of all of these, I'm most confident in the AppleCare plan.

In addition, Apple adds those few little extras and actually makes it relatively easy to get your Apple product repaired or your question answered. I've dealt with many companies in the Tech field, both as a home user as well as representing large companies, and most of the time it seems as if they try and make it as difficult as possible for a customer to actually return a product or receive support. With Apple, you can walk into a local Apple Store, mail it off to them with pre-paid shipping, or even have them send you the part to replace yourself. Their Phone support is also very good. I also like the fact that it's not just strictly hardware; you can actually call them up if you have a question on covered Software. They also include TechTool Deluxe on the CD, which is a Diagnostic/Repair application that checks a number of different aspects of your Mac for problems and can also attempt to fix them.

Bottom line, if you're going to invest the money to buy an Apple- do yourself a favor & go ahead and spend the extra cash on the Protection Plan. BUT - SHOP AROUND & WAIT FOR A GOOD PRICE! Hopefully this review may help someone in the future.

WhiteHatH4x0r
Information Security / Intelligence Analyst

I've used my Mac extensively since getting "converted" from PC about three years ago and have gotten so much more from my MacBook Pro. Work was made much more user-friendly. However, I had a problem with the clamshell beginning to separate near the hinge. The folks at the Apple Store took it in for repair at no cost because of AppleCare...no questions asked. It would have cost over $600 for a new clamshell unit because the unibody construction would require a new screen as well.

Great service! But, that's not the end of the story. During the repair they fried the motherboard - ordered new one and fried it as well (something was reverse-wired apparently from the factory). Because I had waited an extra 5 days in the process, they supplied me with a brand new MacBook Pro...updated to the latest version. Great service from Apple!

That's not the end of the story either. I was very nervous about the valuable info in my old computer being lost or at least having to spend days setting up the new one, reloading software, email accounts, etc. But...because I had purchased the Time Capsule backup, my computer was being backed up wirelessly whenever I'm in the home wifi. The tech guided me through the setup process via an ethernet cable (much faster than wifi) and I watched in amazement as the new computer setup process began by asking if I wanted to restore a backup from Time Capsule. Absolutely! And, once Time Capsule loaded everything on the new computer...presto...everything appeared exactly as I had left it. I mean everything...settings, passwords, documents. The Apple Care tech offered to guide me through the process but once I got started it was a breeze on my own.

I registered the new computer and immediately bought AppleCare for it. Apple refunded the remaining days on the old Apple Care contract. Excellent investment. I have AppleCare on my iPhone with the same great results. The Apple Techs are great to work with, patient with guys like me with my relatively low-tech computer savvy, and every rep I've talked to has been very skilled in solving a problem or answering a question. If you're a Mac or iPhone user - just get it! I think it's the only "extended warranty" I would ever recommend. Most are a waste of money.

If you've ever AppleCare warranty before, you know that the price tag is painful, but the support you get with it is unbeilable. I always recommend buying AppleCare to people when buying a Mac, especially if you're buying a laptop. It's a good idea to shop around for AppleCare because prices can be much lower than Apple's $350 price tag. I bought mine from seller kcdanno and was very impressed by the price; I paid about 50% of the retail cost. I would definitely buy from this seller again and will enjoy the peace of mind that if anything happens to my MacBook Pro, Apple's got my back.

"Don't leave home without one". I've been a Mac user for 25 years and would rather cut off my left hand than switch. The solid warranty and excellent phone support provided by Apple is just one reason why Macs Rule! and why you should buy APPLE CARE.

I think this is a great product, but for the price I wish they would offer accidental damage. Though for the price I payed for my MacBook Pro I don't intend to mistreat it, the extra piece of mind. Besides that, the genius bar was extremely helpful and receptive when I had to address a concern with my wife's MBP. The Apple Store App for the iPhone made setting the impromptu appointment easy and quick. For some reason Apple was saying my computer was out of the coverage period even though I was with in a year. I sent a message with my Amazon invoice and they updated their records, it took a couple days, but it got done. This will be something that will accompany my many future Mac purchases.

If you get an Apple product, do absolutely get this. It has saved my life on what few occasions I've needed it. Apple products are the best made in my opinion but once in a while there is a glitch and it's great to have this then.

and despite what Apple warned me, this product I bought here on Amazon was accepted by Apple's AppleCare registration system.

If you're going to sell your Mac on eBay, see "AppleCare and selling your old Mac on eBay" on discussions.apple.com.

Great to have. So far I haven't had a need for this but it's good to know it will be there when I do.