• Applecare Protection Plan

On nearly all of their mainstream products, Apple offers an extended warranty program called AppleCare. From there, each AppleCare protection plan is priced accordingly based on the product that it covers, or protects. For example, an AppleCare protection plan for a 13-inch MacBook Pro costs $249.00, and a plan for a iPod Touch costs $59.00. In today’s post, we will cover some additional details regarding AppleCare protection plans, and list some tips to whether or not AppleCare is worth purchasing. With your new Mac or iProduct (iPad, iPod, iPhone) will significantly raise the price tag.

Although, it may be worth the money, right? Extended warranties are like insurance for your electronics and devices. In some cases yes, and in some cases no. AppleCare is probably worth it for some people, while it may not be for others, but before we get to that, let’s review the details of Apple’s extended warranty, in more detail.

Apple offers a free, standard warranty with every new purchase, which supplies a year of coverage on hardware. This basically amounts to: if your Apple product fails, Apple will repair or replace the product for free, within the first year upon purchase. The standard warranty also supplies you with 90 days of complimentary phone support for most Apple items.

The AppleCare protection plan adds two additional years of coverage for Mac computers and Mac displays. Combined with the standard warranty, 3 years total. AppleCare plans for iPods, iPads, iPhones, and Apple TV add an additional year of coverage to the product. Combined with the standard warranty, 2 years total.

Deciding whether or not an AppleCare extended warranty is worth the cost depends on the individual. However, you can procrastinate on purchasing AppleCare for the duration of the standard warranty on a product, which is 1 year.

In other words, you have a full year of standard warranty that comes with your Apple product purchase. AppleCare can be added anytime within that year. The phone support is a nice addition, but don’t consider it as an asset when deciding whether or not to purchase AppleCare. With, you can Google your way to a tech answer faster than you can make a call to AppleCare phone support. Apple’s AppleCare warranty may be a worthwhile purchase for: – People who plan to keep their Mac products for several years. – People who are not comfortable with repairing Apple products themselves. Avoid purchasing an AppleCare plan if: – You commonly upgrade to the latest and greatest of Apple products.

Updates to nearly all Apple products are released on a quartered year basis, so there will likely be a better version of what you have in less than a year, which is the time limit for the standard warranty. If you are a person that sells their used Apple products so that they can purchase the newest model each time it’s released, AppleCare is not worth it. Also note, AppleCare does not significantly increase the resale value of Apple products. Thus, it’s probably wiser to not purchase AppleCare and save the money initially. – You are tech savvy.

If you have the skills to repair your Apple device yourself, AppleCare probably isn’t worth it, as you can simply buy any needed repair parts for cheaper than the cost of the AppleCare plan, and fix the device yourself. Of course, this is heavily dependent on what fails. If you have a MacBook, and the motherboard, display, and hard drive all fail. Then, it’s probably going to be quite expensive to fix. An example of how AppleCare works: I have had AppleCare on two MacBooks, both of which I did use the AppleCare for repairs and replacements. – Top case on plastic MacBook started chipping and breaking. AppleCare repaired and replaced the top case.

Applecare Protection Plan

– Charger for plastic MacBook broke. Apple sent me a brand new charger in the mail, which arrived in approximately 3 days. – MacBook Pro (aluminum) battery tabs broke.

Thus, the battery was not secured. Apple sent a replacement battery in approximately 3 days, and the laptop was repaired by a local authorized Apple retailer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that AppleCare was worth it, as the plans for the MacBook and MacBook pro cost $250 each. I could have probably purchased a new top case, charger, and battery and done the repairs myself for less than $500.00. However, the AppleCare plan worked efficiently and speedily, so I had very little downtime without a computer. Overall, AppleCare is a good buy depending on who is buying it. If money is not an issue for you, go for it because it’s always nice to have that insurance in case your Apple device does break.

Do you have any experience with AppleCare? Leave a quick comment to help others who are considering purchasing AppleCare!