All Things Mac/ Apple

[Snowy]

I usually buy AppleCare in the 11th month when they e-mail you to let you know your warranty's about to run out. Costs are then spread over the year. Not a huge difference up front, but it eases a little of the pain.

[derivative666]

Exactly what I do

[DougNg]

I thought you can only get Applecare in the first 30 days?

I have Applecare on the iPads, but the Verizon insurance for the iPhones, since that covers loss or theft

[derivative666]

You up till the end of the 1st year to get AppleCare and it will extend your support for another 2 years.

[veloaudio]

When I bought my 5s they told me I had to buy AppleCare within the first 30 days. Maybe Apple changed the policy just for iPhones?

[mclaincausey]

I may be misunderstanding what y'all are saying, but coverage starts from the date of device purchase, not from when you buy the protection.  So it doesn't in any way extend coverage to wait…

[mr.dead]

AppleCare is the extended warranty offered by Apple for notebook and desktop computers, AppleCare+ is the extended warranty for all iOS devices (iPod, iPhone, ect.) AppleCare can be purchased within a year from the purchase date, but AppleCare+ needs to be bought within 30 days. This is mainly because AC+ offers accidental or physical damage repairs/exchange so Apple doesn't want people trying to buy the extended warranty after someone already dunked the phone in a glass of beer or something. If someone comes to the store to buy AC+ within 30 days, we have to have a tech run a diagnostic first. This is mainly why anyone working for Apple will try to push buying the warranty right away instead of waiting, it makes life easier for everyone. Hope this helps!

[DougNg]

Thank you, that is very helpful

[irishexpat]

I have gotten applecare on all my macs stince back in 2003 (when you could walk into an empty apple store and just saunter up to the genius bar…..those were the days.....)

It's the best investment. When my late 2009 27" iMac was shitting bricks they replaced basically the entire suite of internals completely gratis. Issue turned out to be a bad stick of RAM.....but I'm not complaining.

the one thing I tell everyone who is buying apple: BUY APPLECARE!!

[DougNg]

Question: does upgrading your Mac yourself preclude coverage from Applecare? It's too late for my mid 2010 Macbook to get Applecare, but was just wondering

For instance, had I bought Applecare when I got my Macbook three years ago, and then upgraded my hard drive and ram, would the Apple Store continue to service the other components (such as the screen or motherboard) under Applecare?

[mclaincausey]

It depends upon what Apple has defined as user-serviceable.

I upgraded the RAM in my Mac Mini and I'm pretty sure that violated the warranty (I have no AC on it though).

But if you're upgrading a user-servicable part that was intended by Apple to be user-serviceable, as long as you're using Apple certified hardware, I think you're in the clear.

[Snowy]

I have upgraded both the RAM and HDD of multiple MBP's that DID NOT have AppleCare and they still fixed things on them both for free.

1 of them had a bulging battery, the other the battery would not charge. In both cases it was noted I'd used after market parts, but had no bearing on the bits I was there to fix.

[seawolf]

They tend to replace bulging batteries pretty quickly. I've dealt with that as well. They always handle it with grace in my experience.

[Jepanic]

I just put in some more RAM in my Macbook Pro. From 4GB to 8GB. So far running faster on the Adobe Suite CS6 Applications.

[toddjcoley]

as anyone had any issues with the track pad on macbook. mine is not working right on my mbr

[Snowy]

twice have had issues;

once it was a hair stuck under it
the other time was a battery had become defective (and was bulging from the bottom)

[toddjcoley]

so whats the best thing to do snowy?

[Snowy]

1)check to see if you've got a hair anywhere on/around the trackpad's edges, if so remove.
2)flip the MBr over and check the see if the case is bulging

Hopefully it's #1 and not #2. If it's not either, you may have a date with a genius

[toddjcoley]

i turned it off and kept pressing around the edges of the track pad and left if off for a few days and now it is working fine. lucky..

[Megatron1505]

We bought Tommy a 2008 MacBook Pro from ebay for £350 as part of his Christmas gifts, it's been totally upgraded with a new processor, 4GB of RAM and it dual boots with Windows 8.1 and Mavericks. It's a 17" and runs faster than my 2012 MBP.

On Friday he went to use it and got no response when he turned it on other than a sound from the DVD drive and a white light to say it had power. After scratching my head and doing every solution I could find of forums all over the internet I finally decided to take it completely to pieces. I found that the main connector in the centre of the computer (under the keyboard) had become loose, due to the tape holding down just being old. The connector sends power to the display, the RAM, the keyboard and the trackpad, so no wonder we were getting no response. Re-postioned it, and it's back to normal.

Pretty proud of myself for sorting it, the damn thing was an absolute nightmare to take to pieces.