Applecare Questions

My understanding is that Applecare for the MB may be purchased at anytime within 1 year from the date of purchase. My questions are:

1- Does it matter what country I buy the Applecare? Because some countries it is cheaper than others.


2- Is there any kind of bias towards an Applecare consumer who wants tech support/repairs in a country/region in which he didn’t buy the Applecare. Say I bought a Macbook from Thailand and I then bought the Applecare on promotion from Signapore and I needed repairs done while in South Africa. Would this pose any problem whosoever? The countries I listed are simply examples.

 

I would probably call Apple up to get an answer on that. I'd actually try to talk to 2-3 different reps, just incase someone doesn't know and gives you a false yes. Also get the name and operator id of whomever you talk to.

 

1. Are you planning on going to a different country just to purchase AppleCare? For Apple notebooks they recieve worldwide support.

2. Well, its stated as worldwide support in the warranty and I would imagine whereever you are, thats what your gonna get. Remember only the mobile line (those can that power themselves) are eligible for Worldwide support, Mac Desktops are only warrantied in the States and Canada.

 

1. No, where you buy it shouldn't matter. It's the same product worldwide after all.

2. Coverage is global(a) for ALL computers, not just the portables, now. It used to be only portables though.

a. The worldwide service & support is valid in all countries with an Apple presence (which is a lot of countries, but far from all). You can always call a country that is covered from one that is not, of course.

Read the terms & conditions at http://www.apple.com/support/products/proplan.html for specifics.

 

Call apple and get a straight answer

 

You must not be reading it very well or skipped across this information it states....

"Your coverage for defects begins on the date of your covered equipments's Apple hardware warranty expires and terminates at the end the coverage period. (Repair coverage period) If the product is a Mac mini or is a portable product, meaning that it can operate independantly without power cord, Apple will provide Worldwide repair and replacement service, as described below. If the product is neither a Mac mini nor portable, then Apple may restrict service to the United States and Canada."

So like I said, only portable products or Mac Mini have worldwide support, the rest such as Mac Pro/iMac/eMac do not.

 

Thank you all for recommending I call apple directly because it is very necessary. I am still in the process of attaining information but I will shed some light as to what I have gathered thus far.

The original warranty (1 year limited warranty) is global and accepted in basically every country.

The Applecare is a gray matter all together. Some countries simply don’t offer it to customers and likewise they also don’t honor it from customers who bought it elsewhere.

Some Apple Resellers in some countries offer their own extended warranties this is basically valid only in the country it was purchased.

Applecare is available region by region and there is some coordination between most of these regions. The formula is very simple. Basically if you bought a Applecare in a Western Nation then you will have no problem with it being accepted in another western country. Some countries in Africa/Middle East/Asia will give you problems and simply won’t honor say an Applecare issued in the USA.

 

Could have sworn I saw it was for all now. Thanks for the correction xbandaidx

 

Well the definition they used and stuff can be confusing such as they used the word "may" so meaning its really up to them if they want to have you send it in or not, but using the word 'may' would make it seem like they won't.

Going with what mopete said, it would seem like that is highly likely, however I dont think other countries shouldn't honor that stuff, they should and if they choose not too, I would imagine that Apple Headquarters would punish them if they found out, they could easily put restrictions on them or even pull their agreement with them. Apple doesn't seem like the kind of company that would put up with that kind of stuff, they are devoted to their customers.