Hi, require your suggestion on which is good either Apple Care Plus or extended warranty from OW or HN.
Could not decide what to take for a MacBook for high school.
Apple Care Plus or Extended Warranty from Officeworks or Harvey Norman
avi2377 on 27/12/2024 - 13:45
Last edited 27/12/2024 - 14:10 by 1 other user
Last edited 27/12/2024 - 14:10 by 1 other user
Comments
Thanks askbargain for the information
Apple care wont avoid your claims
Apple care if you’re going to spend money
As for HN extended warranty…
isn’t there a class action in the works?Thanks Jimothy for the valuable information this is the product HN sales representative tried to sell me
have had good experience on applecare plus
Bought ipad m1 on launch.
after 2 years took in for minor screen imperfection.
Was given a refurb and told refurb has 2yrs of statuary warrantyThanks kogi for the information what is actually covered in the apple care plus
See my comment below.
I would never ever pay for extended warranties from HN/JB/GG/OW. Usually way too many exclusions to weasel their way out of it. My recommendation if you need it on Apple products is always go with AppleCare, but I will explain further below to consider if you actually NEED it.
As well as extended normal warranty (remember you can ACL argue your way to replacement Apple stuff even outside of their normal warranty period quite easily), AppleCare offers accidental damage replacement for a known service fee ($149/$429) that’s on top of the original AppleCare policy price (see below for cost). So I wouldn’t really think of AppleCare as an extended warranty, that’s not where the main benefit is. I think of AppleCare as an insurance policy (and I'd argue that how their T&C reads) with a capped excess of $149/$429. Keep in mind, that if Apple deem the damage was caused by a manufacturing fault, and not your carelessness, no excess will apply. However, feel free to google plenty of horror stories of Macbook displays randomly cracking and not being covered under warranty.
As an example, a new screen replacement will usually run you more than half the price of the actual laptop (see here for a $1,000+ CAD bill for a new M3 Air Screen) whereas if you have AppleCare it’s only going to cost you $149 for the screen + original AppleCare cost. Any other damage comes at a $429 service fee. This is fairly endless, as long as you haven't been what they deem 'reckless' under the policy.
That being said, if you are just going to buy the base model MacBook Air, and you’re not prone to breaking things (when was the last time you cracked a laptop screen?), I’d probably put the money into a ‘future laptop’ fund instead of buying AppleCare. This is because the value from AppleCare gets significantly better on more expensive products as the excess doesn't change. A screen replacement on a 13” MacBook Air M1 is the same service fee as a screen replacement on a MacBook Pro 16” M4. The difference is that without AppleCare, that Pro screen is probably going to run you closer to $2,000, if not more to replace in the event of accidental damage without cover.
So why might you not consider buying the AppleCare? Generally, the cheaper the Macbook, the larger the percentage of the original price paid the AppleCare is going to be in the long run which is why I say it might not be worth it on the lower base spec models.
Model - RRP Range - AC+ cost - Percentage of orignal cost to buy AC+
Air 13 M2 - $1599 to $3099 - $299 (18.7 - 9.6% premium) + screen replacement (28.0 - 14.4%)
Air 13 M3 - $1799 to $3299 - $329 (18.3 - 9.9% premium) + screen replacement (26.6 - 14.5%)
Air 15 M3 - $2199 to $3699 - $379 (17.2 - 10.2% premium) + screen replacement (24 - 14.2%)
Pro 14 - $2499 to $10779 - $449 (17.9 - 4.2% premium) + screen replacement (23.9 - 5.5%)
Pro 16 - $3999 to $11529 - $649 (16.2 - 5.6% premium) + screen replacement (19.9 - 6.9%)So you can see, when you start adding on things like extra RAM or storage (especially with what Apple charges lol) or a better display etc , it might start to make sense. Paying an extra 10-15% for three years piece of mind seems like okay value. However, If you are just buying the base model, and I said hey want to give me an extra 28% and you can have a free screen replacement in the next three years? You would be crazy to say yes to that.
Also consider that AppleCare isn't cheap. With accidental damage that isn't screen related you are still paying $429 to fix it (minimum $728 on the Air 13 M2). It is very likely you could go third party and pay a similar amount, if not slightly more for the same fix.
Some other things you should consider:
- Does your home and contents policy cover accidental damage to electronics like laptops?
- Do you have a credit card with insurance that will cover the item for a set period if the item is purchased using the card?
- Can you afford the cost of a new Macbook if you broke yours without AppleCare in the next three years? If you can't, but you can afford the AppleCare now, perhaps it might be more worth it to you.
My experience with Apple has been that they won't try to weasel out of things and repairs and replacements will be quick and painless. Even if they claim something is not covered if you persist they will probably replace anyway as a good will gesture because they don't want you to have a bad experience. I imagine that claiming through a box shifters extended warranty which is underwritten by some giant insurance company will be a nightmare process even if (big if) they don't try to wriggle out of it. Plus accidental damage coverage is great.
AppleCare is terrific value - my last 2 Macbook Pros had screens replaced no dramas - the other great thing is the AppleCare phone support for any problems that pop up and if it's a really technical problem you can usually get them to escalate the problem to a specialist - VERY helpful feature!
This is coming from a biased point of view for obvious reasons, so take my stance with a grain of salt.
AppleCare+ - Insurance. Monthly cost for 2(?) years and excess if anything happens, great for smash/loss protection.
Officeworks Extra Cover - 3 years all up, Over $1000 product is just a repair plan, Apple may be a bit resistent covering a macbook air m2 for that long under ACL but any other models will be covered for that anyway.
HN Product Care - up to 4 years, any mechanical fault minor or major results in a store credit for either same value that you paid for, or if a equivalent/better machine is cheaper then that price.
ACL for 4 years on a macbook air is very 50/50 whether you get covered, i doubt minor failures will be covered for that long (eg battery degradation, overheating etc) - product care covers these.Thank you all for your valuable suggestion looks like from all the feedback it’s better to go with Apple plus care
AppleCare covers accidental damage