Here the main point is, IMHO, that EU directive or not, this is a widely adopted practice in Italy for everything. As long as you have with you your receipt two

Here the main point is, IMHO, that EU directive or not, this is a widely adopted practice in Italy for everything. As long as you have with you your receipt two years guarantee is provided on everything but Apple product. This always looked very odd... laws can't be changed at random because of a single company policy. I must admin that, that said, the Apple support when you have a non working product is incredibly good. I saw many people with a broken iPhone entering the Apple Store in Catania an exiting 5 minutes later with a replacement. I experimented this myself with a broken screen in my MBA.