5 ms·

I will never buy another Apple product without AppleCare+. It seems like with these ridiculous repair costs that's exactly what Apple was going for and it worke

I will never buy another Apple product without AppleCare+. It seems like with these ridiculous repair costs that's exactly what Apple was going for and it worked. If you had AppleCare+ ($199 for 3 years), it would have cost $99 to fix. The funny thing is that in my country (Czechia) you cannot even officially buy it and have to jump through some hoops to get it. Fortunately, once you do have it, it's accepted everywhere including authorized repair shops regardless of your country.

sz4kerto 4y ago
Unfortunately AC+ is not available in many regions. :(
izacus 4y ago
Jacking up repair prices to force you into a subscription sounds like an extortion racket to me :/
- yesUgotit 4y ago
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    Tim Apple built his computer so that if I bump it off my waist-height table, it will shatter into a million pieces and I'll be out >$500. Conveniently, Tim Apple also sells a peace-of-mind insurance policy that replaces your Mac no-questions-asked. Does this create a conflict of interests that encourages them to design fragile display assemblies, unfixable Logic Boards and un-upgradeable storage? You decide!
    - yesUgotit 4y ago
      After butterfly keyboards and graphics card recalls, I think Apple has learned some lessons about selling crap.
  - solarkraft 4y ago
    > Free market charges what it must Apple charges what they can because the market isn't free.
    - throwaway1777 4y ago
      How is the market not free? Apple is not even close to a monopoly in the laptop space
      - abrouwers 4y ago
        If my screen breaks, and I need a new screen, apple is the ONLY one who can provide the part.
        kube-system 4y ago
        Not true, you can get new panels from third parties.
        abrouwers 4y ago
        I googled (briefly), but couldn't find anything on an m1 MacBook air, for example. How do prices compare to Apple?
        kube-system 4y ago
        Search “M1 MacBook Air LCD” on Amazon, eBay, or aliexpress and there are dozens of options around $250
        yesUgotit 4y ago
        But not the only laptop vendor to choose from. There’s a free market to sell laptops in. What terms are attached are up to the consumer to consider. Many people are happy with Apples terms. That some technologists are not is not evidence of a conspiracy. Contemporary problem solving does not have to contort itself to the philosophy and nostalgia of some computer nerds. Same as we don’t have to kowtow to a Bible; it’s not about the what but who; present/future meat bags don’t owe past meat bags. No one asked to be born.
sokoloff 4y ago
AppleCare is insurance. There's a bit of a wrinkle in that it's insurance from a company who can do the repairs as well, but at the end of the day, it's insurance. At work, we looked across the body of devices we had and tracked the AppleCare incidents (times when insurance "paid off") and concluded that it wasn't worth buying across the fleet. (This is aligned with the general principle of "don't insure against losses you can afford".) If you can't reasonably afford the loss, insurance can make sense and you should consider AppleCare. If you can (or if you can self-insure across a large install base), you probably shouldn't.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Or if you know that you (or someone like your kid) is more likely to treat your gear more roughly than average. But, yes, in general extended warranties aren't a great deal.
  - ivegotnoaccount 4y ago
    Or if you know that you will probably have issues with your computer sooner than later even though you're not rough with it. I did initially not buy it with my current laptop. Something broke during the standard warranty. Got the motherboard replaced... With a faulty one. So they replaced it again. Got a feeling that buying extended warranty would be a good idea. And indeed, 3 months past the standard warranty end, it refused to boot at all. And once again, got replaced with a (less) faulty motherboard (some faulty USB ports). I'd have preferred not being given broken motherboards by the warranty service, but since I have no ultimate proofs, had I not bought it, I would most likely have been refused service.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      Well, repairs are usually warrantied themselves. There's probably a better case to be made for laptops and phones you use outside the house than there is with other things. Sure, a TV can die young. However, as the parent said, if you can afford to self-insure you'll probably come out ahead on average.
fezfight 4y ago
So $200 x 3, + $100? It's 20 dollars more to get Apple's insurance than to just get it replaced! Brutal!
- ztrww 4y ago
  I’m pretty sure it $200 for the entire 3 year period..
yreg 4y ago
I buy Apple products, I like them, but I'm not going to buy AppleCare. I expect Apple (or the resellers since there is no Apple Store in Slovakia) to deal with anything that is supposed to be covered by warranty. Both of our countries have strong consumer-protection laws. AppleCare is basically insurance, and I would much rather take a 10% chance of having to pay $900 than a 100% chance of having to pay $100. Insurance makes sense for stuff you can't afford to replace, such as a house, not for consumer electronics. That is, unless Apple sells AppleCare at a loss, but I somehow doubt that.

sz4kerto 4y ago

Unfortunately AC+ is not available in many regions. :(

izacus 4y ago

Jacking up repair prices to force you into a subscription sounds like an extortion racket to me :/

yesUgotit 4y ago
- smoldesu 4y ago
  Tim Apple built his computer so that if I bump it off my waist-height table, it will shatter into a million pieces and I'll be out >$500. Conveniently, Tim Apple also sells a peace-of-mind insurance policy that replaces your Mac no-questions-asked. Does this create a conflict of interests that encourages them to design fragile display assemblies, unfixable Logic Boards and un-upgradeable storage? You decide!
  - yesUgotit 4y ago
    After butterfly keyboards and graphics card recalls, I think Apple has learned some lessons about selling crap.
- solarkraft 4y ago
  > Free market charges what it must Apple charges what they can because the market isn't free.
  - throwaway1777 4y ago
    How is the market not free? Apple is not even close to a monopoly in the laptop space
    - abrouwers 4y ago
      If my screen breaks, and I need a new screen, apple is the ONLY one who can provide the part.
      - kube-system 4y ago
        Not true, you can get new panels from third parties.
        abrouwers 4y ago
        I googled (briefly), but couldn't find anything on an m1 MacBook air, for example. How do prices compare to Apple?
        kube-system 4y ago
        Search “M1 MacBook Air LCD” on Amazon, eBay, or aliexpress and there are dozens of options around $250
      - yesUgotit 4y ago
        But not the only laptop vendor to choose from. There’s a free market to sell laptops in. What terms are attached are up to the consumer to consider. Many people are happy with Apples terms. That some technologists are not is not evidence of a conspiracy. Contemporary problem solving does not have to contort itself to the philosophy and nostalgia of some computer nerds. Same as we don’t have to kowtow to a Bible; it’s not about the what but who; present/future meat bags don’t owe past meat bags. No one asked to be born.

sokoloff 4y ago

AppleCare is insurance. There's a bit of a wrinkle in that it's insurance from a company who can do the repairs as well, but at the end of the day, it's insurance. At work, we looked across the body of devices we had and tracked the AppleCare incidents (times when insurance "paid off") and concluded that it wasn't worth buying across the fleet. (This is aligned with the general principle of "don't insure against losses you can afford".) If you can't reasonably afford the loss, insurance can make sense and you should consider AppleCare. If you can (or if you can self-insure across a large install base), you probably shouldn't.

ghaff 4y ago
Or if you know that you (or someone like your kid) is more likely to treat your gear more roughly than average. But, yes, in general extended warranties aren't a great deal.
- ivegotnoaccount 4y ago
  Or if you know that you will probably have issues with your computer sooner than later even though you're not rough with it. I did initially not buy it with my current laptop. Something broke during the standard warranty. Got the motherboard replaced... With a faulty one. So they replaced it again. Got a feeling that buying extended warranty would be a good idea. And indeed, 3 months past the standard warranty end, it refused to boot at all. And once again, got replaced with a (less) faulty motherboard (some faulty USB ports). I'd have preferred not being given broken motherboards by the warranty service, but since I have no ultimate proofs, had I not bought it, I would most likely have been refused service.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Well, repairs are usually warrantied themselves. There's probably a better case to be made for laptops and phones you use outside the house than there is with other things. Sure, a TV can die young. However, as the parent said, if you can afford to self-insure you'll probably come out ahead on average.

fezfight 4y ago

So $200 x 3, + $100? It's 20 dollars more to get Apple's insurance than to just get it replaced! Brutal!

ztrww 4y ago
I’m pretty sure it $200 for the entire 3 year period..

yreg 4y ago

I buy Apple products, I like them, but I'm not going to buy AppleCare. I expect Apple (or the resellers since there is no Apple Store in Slovakia) to deal with anything that is supposed to be covered by warranty. Both of our countries have strong consumer-protection laws. AppleCare is basically insurance, and I would much rather take a 10% chance of having to pay $900 than a 100% chance of having to pay $100. Insurance makes sense for stuff you can't afford to replace, such as a house, not for consumer electronics. That is, unless Apple sells AppleCare at a loss, but I somehow doubt that.