Best Buy Mac Warranty vs AppleCare
Few things are as exciting as buying a brand new Mac.
Whether you decide to purchase a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini or iMac, it’s important to include a warranty to protect your new investment.
If you’re considering buying your new Mac from Best Buy or directly from Apple, you might wonder whether it’s better to get your warranty from Best Buy or through AppleCare.
Best Buy Mac Warranty vs Applecare
When choosing between a warranty at Best Buy for your new Mac or AppleCare directly from Apple, it’s important to consider the details of each option. While there are certain perks to be gained from Best Buy, the fact is that you can never go wrong when you choose the AppleCare option from Apple.
What Can You Get Out of a Best Buy Warranty for Your Mac?
Before you buy a new Mac, it’s helpful to know what’s the difference between warranty and AppleCare.
If you purchase a Mac at Best Buy, you have the option of getting a warranty from its Geek Squad to go with it for your peace of mind.
When you buy a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac or Mac mini, you can ask the specialist about a warranty.
Best Buy’s Geek Squad warranty on Macs and all Apple devices lasts up to five years.
It should be noted that you can only sign up for the Best Buy warranty on a Mac for up to 15 days of your purchase.
This means you only have one week and a day to decide after buying your new computer whether you want to commit to buying a warranty.
Because the warranty does last for five years, however, it’s a longer period of time compared with AppleCare’s offering.
The warranty you get on your new Mac when buying from Best Buy lasts the standard one year.
This means you get a total of six years if you choose to get a Geek Squad warranty on top of that.
You might ask does Best Buy repair Apple products under warranty?
The additional warranty can cover malfunctions of your Mac, battery replacement and even accidental damage, which is a definite plus.
One of the downsides to getting a warranty from Best Buy is that you still have to pay a service fee if you bring your Mac in for repairs.
The same stands if you have to get the Mac replaced.
However, many customers who have gotten Geek Squad warranties claim to be dissatisfied with the support that’s offered.
What Can You Expect with AppleCare for Your Mac?
When you buy a new Mac directly from Apple, it comes with a warranty that lasts one year.
However, you can also opt for AppleCare, which extends that for an additional three years.
Getting your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac or Mac mini from Apple also gives you the advantage of deciding whether you want to commit to AppleCare for up to 60 days from the date you make your purchase.
The 60 days you get to decide whether you want to buy AppleCare as extra protection for your Mac puts the 15 days with Best Buy to shame.
This part is a no-brainer if you’re on the fence about extending your warranty immediately after buying.
Compared with Geek Squad’s warranty, you get two years less of AppleCare.
However, the trade-off is that Apple’s support is widely hailed as being excellent among Apple users.
If you run into a problem with your Mac, you can simply take it in to your local Apple Store and get quality service in the form of repairs or a replacement if necessary.
Of course, AppleCare does come with a fee.
You can choose to pay a onetime fee of $200 or $10 per month.
However, if you choose to purchase AppleCare to safeguard your Mac, you’re better off paying the onetime $200 fee as it comes out cheaper than the $10 per month option over the three-year period.
During your AppleCare coverage period, if you run into a hardware problem or accidentally damage your Mac, you can have it repaired at an Apple Store.
The fees for repairing and replacing parts is very low with an AppleCare plan.
Technical support from Apple is also excellent, which makes the cost of AppleCare perfectly acceptable for most users.
Additionally, if you suddenly decide that you want to cancel your AppleCare coverage, you can do that.
If you pay monthly, this is easier, but even if you paid the onetime fee, you can cancel and get a refund for the remainder of your coverage period.
Which is Better, Best Buy Warranty or AppleCare?
Taking all of the details into consideration and comparing Best Buy’s warranty versus AppleCare from Apple, the choice should be clear.
Although Best Buy has the edge over Apple in terms of length of warranty, that’s not enough to convince customers to choose it.
Apple’s support is far superior, so AppleCare directly from Apple is the best option for anyone who wants to purchase a new Mac.