Cost of Apple repairs Vs PC

[Clanger]

(Edit: title should be "Mac" repairs not "Apple")

Q: Are Macs generally more expensive to get fixed when out of warranty than PCs?

It seems many people in forums think it's near bonkers to buy a Mac without Applecare. I know that a main board for a Mini is likely more than a new Mini. Don't know about, say, a MacbookPro. But if repair bills are higher for a Mac, then shouldn't the cost of Applecare be factored into the decision of choosing Mac over PC?

I have both BTW (before anyone starts on me)

[staffsMike]

I wouldn't buy any expensive laptop (which I include iMAC's in since they use mobile components) without a decent warranty. The £200 - £300 is worth every penny if the laptop actually goes wrong. My dell xps has a 4 year warranty (on-site next day) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I can fix my own PC but laptops are too hard to find parts for as well as being too expensive to fix the most trivial things. So yeah, applecare should be factored into a MAC purchase but not a typical PC imo.

[arthurleung]

I wouldn't buy any expensive laptop (which I include iMAC's in since they use mobile components) without a decent warranty. The £200 - £300 is worth every penny if the laptop actually goes wrong. My dell xps has a 4 year warranty (on-site next day) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I can fix my own PC but laptops are too hard to find parts for as well as being too expensive to fix the most trivial things. So yeah, applecare should be factored into a MAC purchase but not a typical PC imo.

I've been using my cheap laptop for 20 months almost 7x24, the chassis is falling apart but the components are working perfectly fine. motherboard rarely breaks (if at all) and ram/harddrive is replacable, LCD is probably the only thing that will break. I've got my LCD replaced for less than 60 quids in Hong Kong.

Laptop isn't that hard to service, I could take apart my laptop and put in some arctic silver. Motherboard could be replaced for less than 100 quids, since it use reference motherboard used in loads of different machines.

For £300 (that would be equal £350 in 4 years if you save it in the bank), you might as well just get a new laptop that is gonna be faster than your would-be-old XPS.

For the price of Macbook + Applecare you could almost buy 2 laptops with the same spec you know.

[Spud1]

For the price of Macbook + Applecare you could almost buy 2 laptops with the same spec you know.

I'd love to know where from - thats impossible spec for spec and qualiy wise imo unless your buying second hand..

Generally the answer is yes - Mac repairs will cost you more than PC repairs, but only because of the cost of the components, and even then that really only applies if you go for official Apple parts.

The key difference is that with PC, you have a massive array of choices when it comes to replacing a part, and this amount of choice creates competition, forcing down the prices. With a mac, if you want to stick with official parts you only have one supplier for all these parts, so the prices will be artificially high. Combine that with the fact that most mac outer-casings are designed to be as asthetically pleasing as possible (rather than being designed as a functional device) and the servicing costs do indeed go up.

However, that said - if you were to take you PC in for repair in a shop, you would likely end up paying the same sort of prices to get it fixed as a mac user would...so I guess the real difference is that its generally easier to fix a PC yourself with a bit of know-how, and more difficult with most macs.

The question of buying applecare or not is the same as buying an extended warranty for anything really - the cost is about the same as a PC warranty, as is the risk. I imagine the reason most apple owners reccomend taking it is that if anything does happen to go wrong, you will get your computer fixed and returned to you in good condition with it still looking as pristine as when you took it in..you don't have to risk butchering the pretty case trying to fix it Applecare has been a lifesaver for me twice, and has got me new plastics, battery, cd drive and charger for my macbook, so for me it was a worthwhile investment

[Clanger]

The main issue, it now seems to me, is that you can replace the main board of a 2.5 grand games PC for £200. But the proprietary main board of a base £400 Mac costs....about £400 if it fails! So unless you like gambling, then you have to add between £129 and £279 for Applecare to the cost of a Mac (depending on whether it's a mini or macbookPro) before you compare with a PC.

Wish I didn't find PCs and Windows such a nightmare....

[Guy]

The main issue, it now seems to me, is that you can replace the main board of a 2.5 grand games PC for £200. But the proprietary main board of a base £400 Mac costs....about £400 if it fails! So unless you like gambling, then you have to add between £129 and £279 for Applecare to the cost of a Mac (depending on whether it's a mini or macbookPro) before you compare with a PC.

Wish I didn't find PCs and Windows such a nightmare....

Unless your talking about the MacPro's then yes its going to be expensive because they use mobile componants, so cost wise normal windows based laptop componants are gonna be roughly the same price as the mac equivilents.

[GoNz0]

spacle mac laptops and there intergrated CPU & video, average laptop repair = £800 in parts when we fix one through applecare, a refurb board costs about £400, a new one you can double it.

the main reason i wont buy a macbook, there an utter rip off and never will be worth the money.

[Steve]

If the laptop you buy uses a fairly generic chassis and components (e.g. it's a mainstream Acer/HP/Dell etc) then they're pretty easy to fix.

I've fixed an Acer and a Dell laptop in the past three months.

Mac hardware's a whole different kettle of fish. Sure, hard drives, RAM and such might be replaceable, but watch out for other stuff.

[Steve B]

spacle mac laptops and there intergrated CPU & video, average laptop repair = £800 in parts when we fix one through applecare, a refurb board costs about £400, a new one you can double it.

the main reason i wont buy a macbook, there an utter rip off and never will be worth the money.

are you saying that you'd never buy a macbook because they cost so much to repair? if yes, then i agree that the price is high, but i've had the one i've got for over a year, and it was already a year old when i bought it and it's been fine (touch wood!)]
If you're a student, then you get 3 years apple care for about £66 anyway, so it's quite a good deal.

[GoNz0]

yes thats what im saying, there overpriced and corners are cut.

its a cheap ass intergrated mobo like you find in the extreme low end throw away motherboards, with a mac badge on and a 50x price hike.

[Clanger]

But it all comes down to what you'll pay to avoid the PC-Windows "experience". Unfortunately, for many of us, it's a lot!

I just use a PC for games.

[staffsMike]

I've been using my cheap laptop for 20 months almost 7x24, the chassis is falling apart but the components are working perfectly fine. motherboard rarely breaks (if at all) and ram/harddrive is replacable, LCD is probably the only thing that will break. I've got my LCD replaced for less than 60 quids in Hong Kong.

Laptop isn't that hard to service, I could take apart my laptop and put in some arctic silver. Motherboard could be replaced for less than 100 quids, since it use reference motherboard used in loads of different machines.

For £300 (that would be equal £350 in 4 years if you save it in the bank), you might as well just get a new laptop that is gonna be faster than your would-be-old XPS.

For the price of Macbook + Applecare you could almost buy 2 laptops with the same spec you know.

I wouldn't buy an extended warranty on a £500 or less laptop, you're right of course.

But let's say your £1000 laptop breaks after a year an half.. outside typical manafacturer warranties. The cost to repair could quite easily go far and beyond the cost of the warranty and it's an pain in the backside to get them fixed as it could take weeks.

Where as with an onsite warranty it's up and going again in a day.

As for fixing laptops yourself, well i'm sure it isn't too bad for most laptops like dell and hp but that doesn't make the parts an easier to come by or very cheap at all and they are very easy to break if you don't know 100% what you are doing. Doubley so for a MAC imo.

[GoNz0]

apple mac main boards for the laptops that are around 2-3 years old tend to cost around £500 to replace if you supply the old board, if not add another £200 to the bill.

its an utter rip off because the CPU is part of the board !
and the fact its named after a fruit..

@ staffsmike, onsite warranty is ok until you come across HP :|
if i am lucky i am sent to 25% of the jobs with the right part, 25% again is the right part but need more, and the other 50% your in the hands of a indian guy with a girls name who can just string along a sentance in engrish.. its horrible

[staffsMike]

@ staffsmike, onsite warranty is ok until you come across HP :|
if i am lucky i am sent to 25% of the jobs with the right part, 25% again is the right part but need more, and the other 50% your in the hands of a indian guy with a girls name who can just string along a sentance in engrish.. its horrible

Oh don't I know that, I spent a year at a place using HP's "onsite" warranties. What a joke. Almost all of them got taken away in the end to be fixed elsewhere.. managed to convince them to use dell before I left lol

I do consider dell's onsite work to be top notch though Used it a few times now and it's great.

[GoNz0]

balls i got a hp monojet repair tomorrow, i jinked myself

[darrensen]

To be honest, i buy Apple care for all my Apple computers. Regardless of it being a notebook or desktop, parts are always expensive. For the sake of a few £100 i just wouldn't take the risk. After 2/3yrs i normally change my machine anyway.

I've had a mighty mouse go wrong twice and off the top of my head there about £30 a pop.