Should I get the warranty with my new MacBook Pro?


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First of all, I'm in Canada, so some things may differ versus people in the US. But I'm looking to get a new MBP within the next week or two once the local Best Buy gets the preinstalled models in. I've been considering getting the extended warranty through them, but am not sure if I should. They offer two different sets, one is $300 upfront which covers for 3 years: performance, parts, labor, accessories, no lemon (so if there are 4 hardware problems with it, they will replace it with an equal or better model), 24 hour customer service, and diagnostic support. Then there's another one which is $30/month, which covers all of the things in the other plan, plus I'll get some coverage from Geek Squad whereby they will offer remote support (so they can access my computer from anywhere and fix the problems), and if I bring it in for a problem, they'll backup all of my stuff onto a new MBP and give me that as a loaner until mine gets fixed.

So my question is should I consider getting one of these warranties or am I fine with whatever standard one comes with it from Apple? Are MBPs prone to problems frequently and majorly enough that I should opt for an extended warranty? I consider myself decent with PCs, I've built them and solved any problems that arise, but I've never touched a Mac before, so I'm not sure if just Google alone will be enough to help me solve problems. Any help/tips/experiences are welcomed!

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I can't speak with much detail as I don't 100% know myself, but if you can I'd recommend buying through Apple themselves using their education discount. Now obviously this isn't possible for everyone, but I believe any Mac bought via the education policies have 3 years of coverage rather than the standard 1 year. Regardless of any discount, that alone makes it worthwhile trying to find a way to do that.

That said, all Macs do come with 1 year as standard. Applecare can be bought to push it to 3 (or is it 2) years. My 2008 Macbook Alu is rock solid. Only problem I had was a battery which cut out at about 70% twice. The Apple store couldn't replicate it, but swapped the battery for a new one. Really really good CS in my opinion. Obviously this is dealing directly with Apple. I'm from the UK, but I have a feeling the Best Buy warranty won't quite be unto scratch as the Apple one is. Especially if Best Buy are anything like stores we have over here.

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I say its worth it for just 3 things:

Logic boat failure

display failure

Keyboard failure

Those are the 2 most costly, and 1 most PITA parts if they die.

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$30 a month is a horrible, 10 months payment = AppleCare for 3 years. Hardware cover is what you need to protect yourself from expensive repairs. It's always a risk not to for laptops (and it can be an costly one!). The additional phone support is nice, but should be seen as a bonus. Apple have a very good technical support site http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/ which will cover almost every issue you may encounter.

Backups should be a routine for any important data, because although they say they can your recover data, there is no way to recover a hard drive fault. Doesn't matter what system you're using or what coverage of support you have.

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AppleCare warranty = yes.

Best Buy warranty = no.

This.

AppleCare it up and you're good to go. Best Buy's warranty for anything is simply a rip off and it won't be the same quality repair or diagnosis as Apple's. Do everything in your power to buy from Apple themselves.

Also, sidenote: At least in Canada, the educational discount does not extend AppleCare to 3 years. It simply lowers the price (pretty significantly).

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I am completely ignoring anything previously said and answering the thread title with a resounding "YES". I got a MacBook Pro in 2008 and my warranty just went out in May. In that time frame I had to send it in on three separate occasions and was not another dime was spent, also, each time the computer was completely fixed (my model had a known Nvidia issue) as well as returned to me round trip four days.

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I asked the local Best Buy and Future Shop here and they said that students get a free copy of Microsoft Office. Would Apple offer anything similar does anyone know? Or are their discounts and $100 towards the App Store their way of matching that?

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I think it is worth it. From past laptop experience, I expect 4+ years out of a laptop. My late 2009 MBP has been fine, but I do wish I would have picked up the extended warranty for it. Although an upgrade would be nice, I don't really want to spend my money on that.

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My general rule for buying extended warranties is if its a mobile device (laptop) then use, desktop, no

In the years that I've had my MBP, I've had the following replaced, all for free, for the cost of Apple Care:

1. New charger (old one had wires beginning to come out towards the unit)

2. New Hard Drive (seek levels were off and I was experiencing frequent lockups)

3. New Glass Track Pad (I was getting odd double clicks and triple clicks)

4. Another new charger (I was used to the old Mag Safe chargers and had a case that was messing up the magnetic part)

5. Hinges/Screen (Hinges were getting loose. I honestly didn't need to do it, but figured I might as well. The screen is required to be replaced by Apple when they do hinges.)

All in all, the parts themselves paid for the warranty, not to mention the ridiculous labor charges I saved. Granted, I could have done the work myself without the warranty, but really for the chargers alone, it has been worth it.

My other MBP has also had two Mag Safe chargers replaced. Each time I have gone to have real work done (not the chargers being replaced) it has only taken 24 hours to get my machines back. I'm not sure what everyone's experience is, but mine has been excellent. I will never not purchase Apple Care.

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Considering how often their products break down, you'll probably be forced to get the extended coverage if you don't want an expensive paperweight.

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I bought a 4 year warranty through Futureshop for my MBA. This was last November and the warranty was $200 for me, Apple's was $275 at the time, but Apple has dropped theirs to $200 for 3-year I believe. I don't trust futureshop and I believe Apple's warranty is better, but I chose mine strictly on price and not quality.

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Considering how often their products break down, you'll probably be forced to get the extended coverage if you don't want an expensive paperweight.

:unsure: Break down?

As noted here via the examples posted, most of the things people end up getting fixed via AppleCare are things that would have otherwise been lived with if there was no warranty, and they are also things that can and do happen to PC laptops all the time.

Go away, troll.

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Get the Apple Care warranty not the Best Buy one in my opinion.

I got Apple Care for my MacBook Pro from eBay, even cheaper than retail by almost 50%. I'm sure it was stolen or something but it worked fine. laugh.gif

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Well I will also offer my MBP story.

I have a Late 2006 MacBook Pro with the 3 year AppleCare. I have replaced the power adapter 3 times, battery 3 times, replaced a fan, optical drive and I/O board. In fact, before that I had a Core Duo MacBook Pro which Apple had kindly replaced for me when I went to the Apple store and complained of extreme heat issues. The Core2Duo had just been released at the time so they gave me a brand new one sealed in its box. DEFINITELY recommend you get the AppleCare extension, you'll be glad you did as out-of-warranty repairs on Apple devices can get very expensive.

Oh and as others have said above, DO NOT get the BestBuy warranty, or any BestBuy warranties for that matter, they are USELESS.

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So I looked into it and I don't think I get a discount on the warranty in Canada like some of our British friends as a couple of you mentioned, but I do get $100 via the education discount so it's $1149 for the laptop. Now my question is should I buy from the store or online? If I get it online, I'll get the $100 education discount as well as $100 towards the app store, but Best Buy said if I get it from them they'll throw in Microsoft Office for free when I show my student card to them, and I won't have to wait for shipping obviously. And MS Office is something I will definitely need for school and labs, whether I buy it or acquire it by other means. So...

Online

  • $1149
  • $100 towards App Store

Best Buy

  • $1249
  • Free Microsoft Office ($128 retail)
  • No wait for shipping

So the Office balances out the education discount almost, but is the remaining $72 of App Store credit worth it? Do you guys find you use it a lot for Macs? I have an iPhone as well which is jailbroken however, so I don't really buy stuff for that, but are there things on the MBP side of it that I might need? Just want to make sure I get the most out of my money.

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So I looked into it and I don't think I get a discount on the warranty in Canada like some of our British friends as a couple of you mentioned, but I do get $100 via the education discount so it's $1149 for the laptop. Now my question is should I buy from the store or online? If I get it online, I'll get the $100 education discount as well as $100 towards the app store, but Best Buy said if I get it from them they'll throw in Microsoft Office for free when I show my student card to them, and I won't have to wait for shipping obviously. And MS Office is something I will definitely need for school and labs, whether I buy it or acquire it by other means. So...

Online

  • $1149
  • $100 towards App Store

Best Buy

  • $1249
  • Free Microsoft Office ($128 retail)
  • No wait for shipping

So the Office balances out the education discount almost, but is the remaining $72 of App Store credit worth it? Do you guys find you use it a lot for Macs? I have an iPhone as well which is jailbroken however, so I don't really buy stuff for that, but are there things on the MBP side of it that I might need? Just want to make sure I get the most out of my money.

Hmm... Are you sure you don't get discount on warranty? I just went into the store now to double-check and sure enough, education discount on AppleCare for the low-end MBP 13" brings it down from $279 to $219.

The more expensive the MBP, the greater the discount becomes.

Oh, and happy birthday! :rofl:

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I ill tell you what I told every one of my friends and my parents that bought a mac

apple has 1 year and when you get close to the 10mo, go to the apple website and get the extended warranty (2 more years) and you will not regret it.

The apple ill allow you to go to any apple store/best buy i would assume and get yout baby fixed

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Hmm... Are you sure you don't get discount on warranty? I just went into the store now to double-check and sure enough, education discount on AppleCare for the low-end MBP 13" brings it down from $279 to $219.

The more expensive the MBP, the greater the discount becomes.

Oh, and happy birthday! :rofl:

Ahhh right you are, sorry. The discount is there. I guess I'll probably get it from there then. And thanks for the birthday wish :D

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