<p>We are an all Mac/Apple family…lost count of the number of devices. As such, we always purchase the extended Apple Care warranty and support. DH loves all things technical and has purchased the $99/year unlimited access to specialist. He’s driven a few to desperation, but well worth the $$. I’ve never had to wait more than 5 mins for a live phone support person. Yes, it’s a luck of the draw situation - sometimes you an issue resolved immediately, sometimes it’s best to just call back later. D has taken her laptop into the local college store and had several issues resolved. She actually did spill coffee onto her current unit which nullified the warranty - luckily it only had a few weeks left anyway - but the darn thing runs just fine!</p>
<p>One thing. I have to remind myself is that the Applecare for IPad is only two years- not three like the laptops.
So when I completely smashed my screen a few months ago, it wasn’t covered.
( when I got my iphone wet, last summer, they covered it except for small fee they also covered it when my previous ipads charging site became loose, also last summer for free because it was under warranty and that was considered a defect)
I have bought parts on [ifixit.com](<a href=“iFixit: The Free Repair Manual”>iFixit: The Free Repair Manual), before and fixing out of warranty things are pretty easy with the help of their videos. But replacing the touch screen was a bit more than I thought my near vision could handle. However, I found a local small business which replaced it in a couple days for the same cost to do it myself!
(if you are away at college and buying a new computer, check with your computer services dept to see what level of damage they can repair and how backed up they usually are)</p>
<p>Ive had Apple laptops since 1994 ( 540c powerbook with maximum 36MB of ram) and Ive used AppleCare a lot to replace video cards etc that have gone out. A couple times they’ve needed to replace the logic board or other things that also required a new system software update for free!</p>
<p>Re spilling, I agree accidents happen, but when you are spending thousands of dollars on something why treat it like a PeeChee?
Turn it off immediately, and take out batteries, keyboard, whatever is removable.
If you spilled water in the keyboard, turn it over to drain, and put it in a container of rice or container with dessicant. Once- youngest spilled a major fruit smoothie n our shared laptop( she was in middle school @@), but after I cleaned up what I could with rubbing alcohol and shut it down for a few days, it worked again, it just needed one key replaced.</p>
<p>I always buy Applecare but SquareTrade is also a good warranty and probably better than BestBuy.
<a href=“All Other Plans | Allstate Protection Plans”>All Other Plans | Allstate Protection Plans;
<p>Thanks for the information on NSSI and College Student Insurance. It looks like NSSI doesn’t cover anything accidental, where College Student does. Much appreciated. </p>
<p>Applecare + is just for iPhones and iPads - not for computers - and does cover accidental damage for two years from the date of purchase. Applecare, as mentioned previously, does not cover accidental damage but extends the warranty from one year to three. There’s a good article about it here from MacWorld: <a href=“http://www.macworld.com/article/2048197/is-applecare-worth-it-.html”>http://www.macworld.com/article/2048197/is-applecare-worth-it-.html</a></p>
<p>emeraldkity4,</p>
<p>The cases I’m thinking about weren’t due to careless use as you assumed. </p>
<p>Instead, there seems to be a rash of logic board failures which range from macs freezing randomly and failing graphical processor units to USB/ethernet ports/wireless flaking out to the point of uselessness.</p>
<p>As for Applecare, it was good when I got it for mom’s notebook back in 2006, but it seems friends and relatives who got theirs within the last 3 years have had much worse experiences…especially getting accused of incurring “water damage” when the real issue is the sensors apple uses are so sensitive a bout of humid weather could set them off as has been documented within the tech press. </p>
<p>One friend who is herself a faculty member got such a runaround from Mac tech repair depot this past week that she won’t ever go back to Apple again. </p>
<p>After sending it in to the repair depot…they suddenly said it had water damage…complete crock of BS and said they’ll only repair it for $800. Knowing her well…she’s not the type of person who would have any liquids within close vicinity of her mac notebook. </p>
<p>I work on Macs (I manage computing support for an undergrad division at a college) and have seen other weird things like cracked trackpads but the trackpad itself is smooth which would indicate to me that it’s not physical damage but Apple treats it as such even though each faculty member who complains of it says they can’t recall ever dropping anything. And even if they did, would the top of the trackpad be cracked too? Make no mistake - I love Macs and have a MacBook Pro retina display 13" that I adore. But I think the illusion of “it just works” is a bit overstated. I wish that Applecare covered what’s considered accidental damage. In our shop, it would put it on par with Dell Complete Care. </p>