AppleCare Rumor

[Kwyjibo]

I'm not sure if this is the right category but it is a rumor and didn't seem appropriate for any other forums. Feel free to move if necessary. I called up Apple today to order AppleCare for my iBook and I sort of started to get him talking about MWSF. He was reluctant but leaked that AppleCare prices will be increased $50 for every program. He said that steve will open this section by mentioing the harsh conditions in this industry. His name was Travis, and he quickly leaked the new applecare price scheme but it seems like those are the only announcements he knew of due to extra secuirty.

iMac/eMac $219.00
iBook $299.00
Power Mac $299.00
PowerBook (w/ or w/o display) $399.00

I know they seem like a big jump but he advised me to have anyone I know thinking about applecare for their current machine to upgrade asap. Thats all I got.

Kwyjibo

 

[Over Achiever]

Let me just say...ouch.

Looks like I came back from vacation one day too late for the double your RAM promotion, and now a $50 hike in applecare costs!

Ouch.

 

[edesignuk]

That takes the pi$$! First $99 charge for iTools which we all had to get our heads around, now this??? I realy hope the guy you spoke to was talking out of hos arse.

 

[e-coli]

sheesh...i'm being milked so much lately I feel like a cow.


[edit] It's true. I just heard it from a tech support guy at apple.[/edit]

 

[vniow]

Oh great, another price increase?

That is not what Apple needs to do right now.

 

[sparkleytone]

if apple is indeed going to up the prices on applecare, they need to do a few things to save face.

one of them is to upgrade the coverage on laptops. pretty much every retail store now sells some sort of accidental damage protection for three years on laptops. I know that CompUSA was already doing it when I worked there. Basically, coverage would include not only an extension of the manufacturers warranty, but also any damage made by accident to the machine, INCLUDING the LCD. Up to three LCD screen replacements in the time period.

another thing they should do is offer onsite service included for all models instead of the powermacs only. this is something that really won't cost them as much as it sounds, being that most problems can be solved with simple phone tech support.

i for one support the price increase as long as its justified. think of the alternative, already being done at major PC companies. do you really want Apple to farm out phone support to India and get a tech that can barely speak english?

 

[solvs]

You know, I realize Apple is a business and all, and they have to make money and cover costs. But aren't they trying to win more people over? I mean, what are they thinking? Shouldn't they, you know, cut costs as much as possible? Increase market share? This is going to be a PR disaster if it's true.

Bring on the Over-Priced/Under-Powered computer debates and iTools/.Mac comparisons.

 

[spinner]

sparkleytone is right, I would much rather pay the extra $50 and talk to someone who can speak english and is competent. Here at Gateway we get a lot of complaints from people who could not understand the techs or the tech was incompetent. The techs in India are very knowledgable, but broken english just doesn't cut it when you are trying to fix someones computer. The few that are still in the US don't get nearly as much training as they used to. Techs are hired with little or no computer knowledge or experience at all.

This is NOT the path we want Apple to take. Believe me $50 is a small amount to pay for decent tech support.

 

[Bradcoe]

More software!

The software that comes with the AppleCare Protection Plan is junk. The plan however is wonderful. I'm more than happy to pay the extra $50 for it, but it would be nice if Apple would include some higher quality software with more functionality. Defragmenting ability along with a more thorough disk checker program are needed. Something as powerful as Norton Utilities, or even Norton Utilities itself. It all has to obviously be OS X capable.

 

[TyleRomeo]

I bought my mac so i wouldnt have to deal with the headaches of crashes and difficult intallations. So forget applecare. If you take care of your mac, it will take care of you.

Tyler

 

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by TyleRomeo
I bought my mac so i wouldnt have to deal with the headaches of crashes and difficult intallations. So forget applecare. If you take care of your mac, it will take care of you.

Tyler

It's great that you have such confidence in your mac, but at the end of the day it is still just a computer and can brake, and when it does chances are it'll cost more to fix than a PC, so for my money the current Apple care at least is worth every penny.

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by TyleRomeo
I bought my mac so i wouldnt have to deal with the headaches of crashes and difficult intallations. So forget applecare. If you take care of your mac, it will take care of you.

Tyler

Right on. I have never paid for extended warranty for any product I've ever purchased, and have never regretted it. In my opinion people are just too risk-averse and not thinking rationally. Insurance is the biggest scam - why do you think insurance businesses of all kinds make so much money? And yes, I've had items break on me, like my Dell laptop whose display started dying after a couple of years. Yeah, if I had paid two or three hundred more for the 3-year warranty when I bought the Dell, I could've had it repaired. But so what? That's life. Instead I went out and bought me an iBook

 

[sparkleytone]

Re: More software!

Originally posted by Bradcoe
The software that comes with the AppleCare Protection Plan is junk. The plan however is wonderful. I'm more than happy to pay the extra $50 for it, but it would be nice if Apple would include some higher quality software with more functionality. Defragmenting ability along with a more thorough disk checker program are needed. Something as powerful as Norton Utilities, or even Norton Utilities itself. It all has to obviously be OS X capable.

as far as I know, TechTool is very far from being crap. its not about the software anyway.

yes, there is something to be said about taking care of your stuff. BUT, its a false syllogism to equate that to not needing extra insurance on your expensive things. i saw way too many people who took great care of their things coming in and wishing they had the protection at CompUSA. you just can't clean your computer of defects.

a good case for insurance programs. my girlfriend's father was driving home from work one day when his 3 year old car gave out on him suddenly. he ended up being stranded on a busy highway. turned out that the engine was destroyed. this is a man that takes immaculate care of his things. oil change, tuneup, checkup, everything when it is due. this is ALSO a man that buys protection on almost everything. when this happened, most people would be up the creek due to lackluster car warranties. he bought the extra stuff. he ended up getting a BRAND NEW (read NOT rebuilt) engine for a grand total of $50. that $50 went to the mechanic as a thank you.

 

[arnette]

Re: Re: More software!

Originally posted by sparkleytone


its a false syllogism to equate that to not needing extra insurance on your expensive things. i saw way too many people who took great care of their things coming in and wishing they had the protection at CompUSA. you just can't clean your computer of defects.

I totally agree. I hope that it's a all-encompassing upgrade in the amount covered with AppleCare. When I buy my next iBook it will definitely come along with some sort of insurance package. I'm leaning towards CompUSA but I'd much rather give my business to Apple directly.

 

[lmalave]

Re: Re: More software!

Originally posted by sparkleytone


as far as I know, TechTool is very far from being crap. its not about the software anyway.

yes, there is something to be said about taking care of your stuff. BUT, its a false syllogism to equate that to not needing extra insurance on your expensive things. i saw way too many people who took great care of their things coming in and wishing they had the protection at CompUSA. you just can't clean your computer of defects.

a good case for insurance programs. my girlfriend's father was driving home from work one day when his 3 year old car gave out on him suddenly. he ended up being stranded on a busy highway. turned out that the engine was destroyed. this is a man that takes immaculate care of his things. oil change, tuneup, checkup, everything when it is due. this is ALSO a man that buys protection on almost everything. when this happened, most people would be up the creek due to lackluster car warranties. he bought the extra stuff. he ended up getting a BRAND NEW (read NOT rebuilt) engine for a grand total of $50. that $50 went to the mechanic as a thank you.

Oh, and how much money will your girlfriend's father pay for that extra protection over his lifetime? And how much money will he "save" over his lifetime when he actually needs to use the insurance? Sure, the one-time hit is bigger if you don't have insurance, but I'll take my chances. The insurance business is just like gambling at a casino: the odds are with the dealer, NOT with you! Insurance companies have complex actuarial models to make SURE that they take in more money than they give out.

Why the heck to you think Apple does such a hard sell on the AppleCare? (I've seen those Apple Store kids in action - they're way more obnoxious than the Circuit City or Comp USA folks that usually just ask you once and then drop it). Apple pushes it cause its a VEEEEEERY high margin item, I'll bet. Out of the $300 they take in I'll bet they don't even pay $200 out on average. C'mon folks, this is just like any other investment decision. Those that are willing to take more risk (within reason) come out better financially when averaged out over a lifetime. Those that let risk avoidance guide all their decisions get correspondingly lower return.

 

[sparkleytone]

ah but the fact that the higher margin is in the services also leads to a bargaining tool. this doesnt really work at the apple store, but it does work at retail stores such as compusa. if you have a good salesperson working with you, they are going to do anything in their power to 'help' you buy it. the amount of stuff you can get for free can be amazing. i have given away packs of cds, hardware discounts, surge protectors, software, and more just to nail a services sell. that may not sound like so much, but it helps to lessen the upfront cost and also can get a customer to buy something they will MOST LIKELY NEED. great for you and your luck...but it won't always be like that. i just hope you dont bitch and moan when it DOES happen to you and you are up the creek. i have seen way too much of that as well.

 

[rainman::|:|]

About everything i've ever needed was in the 1-year limited warranty, it's cheaper in most cases to shop around and buy replacement parts if you need them... especially with the new prices.

Yet another reason i'll never buy applecare...


pnw

 

[Kid Red]

Originally posted by TyleRomeo
I bought my mac so i wouldnt have to deal with the headaches of crashes and difficult intallations. So forget applecare. If you take care of your mac, it will take care of you.

Tyler

Agree. I've had 7 macs in the past 6 years and never needed applecare. Apple care is mostly for issues people don't know how to get info off the net. Otherwise, just treat your machine well.

 

[gopher]

With Powerbooks, Flat Panel iMacs, and iBooks AppleCare makes sense. LCD machines are more prone to failure. And for the iMac, accessing the non-user accessible areas is going to be necessary for clock battery replacement, and eventually power management replacement. I just hope neither fails until I'm ready to buy a new machine.

 

[jholzner]

I used to have a Beige G3 that completely stoped working about a month after my Apple Care plan ran out. It was the motherboard and would have been very expensive to fix. I figured why invest a ton a money into fixing it when for about 500 more dollars I could get a new one. So, I did and then, about a week later...my monitor went out...so I had to get a new one of those as well. All in all I spent about 1500 dollars when I could have had it all fixed for free. True, I did get a better machine but it was all out of my pocket. If I had had AppleCare...I would have just had if fixed for free and kept my old machine for a year or more.

So, it seems Apple may raise the price of AppleCare...not a big deal really but rumors are also around that they may start charging for upgrades to the iApps...couple that with the .Mac thing and it's really starting too add up. I don't think I'll be able to afford to keep all my iApps up to date it they do this. Without the latest and greatest iApps...Mac OS X really isn't much of a digital hub. Also, how can Apple position Mac OS X as the digital hub when you may have to buy the OS and the iApps upgrades seperatly? Mac OS X is not a digital hub without the iApps.

 

[iJon]

they have already increased apple care. that will be 70 dollars in the last year. apple has already added 20 to the price. apple doesnt care if people buy it. they make more money when they dont buy it. i feel so sorry for pople who bring in their computer and their logic board died and its gonna cost them 600 dollars. i know in my pismore, i have had 3 logic boards replaced, 2 new sound cards, new dislpay, and a new battery. all free.

iJon

 

[Kwyjibo]

How clever Apple doesn't care about raising the prices of AppleCare, good one ijon. Kwyjibo

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
How clever Apple doesn't care about raising the prices of AppleCare, good one ijon. Kwyjibo

haha you being sarcastic or agreeing with me. but honestly they make lots of money if people buy parts like that if they didnt have applecare, unless it costs a lot to make those parts, but i really dont think a logicboard costs 600 to make because i bought a pimp mobo for my pc for 130.

iJon

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by iJon
they have already increased apple care. that will be 70 dollars in the last year. apple has already added 20 to the price. apple doesnt care if people buy it. they make more money when they dont buy it. i feel so sorry for pople who bring in their computer and their logic board died and its gonna cost them 600 dollars. i know in my pismore, i have had 3 logic boards replaced, 2 new sound cards, new dislpay, and a new battery. all free.

iJon

But again, we're talking probabilities. Your parents own an Apple store and you have had bad luck yourself with the Pismo, so you've seen enough bad stuff happen to make you wary. But what percentage of people actually have problems? Sparkleytone is also a strong advocate of extended warranties, but again, he works at CompUSA so he just sees a lot of hard-luck stories. But you have to look at percentages, not volume. I guarantee you that Apple makes tons of money off AppleCare. Apple is NOT providing free parts out of the goodness of their hearts. AppleCare is priced to maximize profits, pure and simple.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by lmalave


But again, we're talking probabilities. Your parents own an Apple store and you have had bad luck yourself with the Pismo, so you've seen enough bad stuff happen to make you wary. But what percentage of people actually have problems? Sparkleytone is also a strong advocate of extended warranties, but again, he works at CompUSA so he just sees a lot of hard-luck stories. But you have to look at percentages, not volume. I guarantee you that Apple makes tons of money off AppleCare. Apple is NOT providing free parts out of the goodness of their hearts. AppleCare is priced to maximize profits, pure and simple.

there really is no percentage i know about. my dad (head of the service department) still thinks it is the cheapest insurance, well actually compaq is cheaper but thats not the point. i think the people i sell applecare to are people who have had to use applecare in the past or new pc switchers that are scared their mac will break down like their pcs. some people tell me if i boast about how great these macs are then why should they need applecare. i tell them these are machines and they may break, it just happens but there isnt a single part in that computer besides ram that is cheaper than that applecare, which makes it a great buy. i would never get a mac without a applecare. they great thing about applecare is that anything you buy apple related at the same time as the purchase of the mac and applecare will be covered on it. you could buy an ipod, airport, display, keyboard, mouse and it will all be covered for the 3 years, as long as it has apples logo on it.

iJon