The dark side

[Quackers]

I have moved to the dark side and got an Apple Mac Air last week, which i am enjoying. Can anybody tell me what Apple are like if something goes wrong with it? As its all sealed and no changeable parts i am a bit worried, i have seen Apple Care as an option, but having just spent £1150 on the Mac and i am bit skint now and do not really want to shell out more £££

[kesomir]

The word is fantastic - I've never had to use them myself, but within your warranty (and sometimes outside it) just walk into an apple store with it and talk to the 'gurus'.

[markcuk]

my inlaws just had there imac from 2006 repaired for free out of warranty (new logic board and screen) was a known fault

[dayzd]

Known faults are typically repaired for free, as is anything in your warranty period. I've read reports of repairs being carried out for free outside of a warranty period, but I don't think it happens too often.

 

If you're not covered by warranty or a recognised issue (manufacturing defect etc), you'll find some repairs are pretty expensive. If you're ever told you need a new logic board, you'll quickly find yourself considering a whole new computer...

[GrumbleDook]

I would get AppleCare ... and your local Apple Store is a boon. Book an appointment, turn up and get it diagnosed, leave it for repair.

[featured_spectre]

Apple care is fantastic....warranty is awesome, no complaints.

 

As @GrumbleDook said, book an apt, get it diagnosed and leave it. Warranty they will typically fix faults up to 1 month after warranty, longer can be rarer but has been known.

[Arthur]

As it's all sealed and no changeable parts I am a bit worried

The SSD inside the MacBook Air is upgradable should you ever need something faster and/or bigger than the one Apple provides (or it dies after your warranty/AppleCare has expired).

 

There are a couple of guides on the iFixIt website which show you how to swap the drive. It's very easy. All you need is a few minutes, a pentalobe screwdriver and a spare £235-£454.

 

11" MacBook Air: www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-11-Inch-Mid-2011-Solid-State-Drive/6317/1

13" MacBook Air: www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2011-Solid-State-Drive/6371/1

[mac_shinobi]

The SSD inside the MacBook Air is upgradable should you ever need something faster and/or bigger than the one Apple provides (or it dies after your warranty/AppleCare has expired).

 

There are a couple of guides on the iFixIt website which show you how to swap the drive. It's very easy. All you need is a few minutes, a pentalobe screwdriver and a spare £235-£454.

 

11" MacBook Air: www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-11-Inch-Mid-2011-Solid-State-Drive/6317/1

13" MacBook Air: www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2011-Solid-State-Drive/6371/1

 

OWC do RAM and SSD's for the mac book air's and ref apple care from what I am aware ( correct me if I am wrong on this point ) but you can get it within the first year of having it, although you get 90 days and after that the hardware isn't covered.

 

Not looked into apple care but I think for the mac book pro's its something like £279 which is less then £100 per year and imo well worth the money because if they have to replace the logic board or any expensive parts then they just replace it for you which doesn't cost anymore aside from getting to an apple store

 

I think there are some clauses ref not covering water damage although not related to the laptop side someone I know had a 3GS which had water damage and they did all the usual to dry it out but the home button stopped working and apple swapped it straight out for them.

[Arthur]

OWC do RAM and SSD's for the Mac Book Air's

The RAM in the MacBook Air is non-upgradeable since it's soldered onto the logic board.

 

ref apple care from what I am aware but you can get it within the first year of having it

Correct.

 

you get 90 days and after that the hardware isn't covered.

Almost. Without AppleCare, you get 90 days of telephone support, but your hardware is covered for an entire year. For a laptop, I would always get AppleCare.

[mac_shinobi]

The RAM in the MacBook Air is non-upgradeable since it's soldered onto the logic board.

 

 

Correct.

 

 

Almost. Without AppleCare, you get 90 days of telephone support, but your hardware is covered for an entire year. For a laptop, I would always get AppleCare.

 

Maybe I was thinking of a different laptop then but was sure I saw them advertise ram for the mac book air , ah well. thanks for the corrections

[Norphy]

i have seen Apple Care as an option, but having just spent £1150 on the Mac and i am bit skint now and do not really want to shell out more £££

 

As an educator, you are entitled to Apple's educational discount deals. Applecare is highly discounted for us, I got it for about £40 when I bought my iMac and it usually goes for almost four times that.

[HodgeHi]

You just need to realise that if the logic board fails for any reason not covered by any extended repair scheme, it can cost in excess of around £250 to have it sorted. This is just a single case. Macs are relatively decent machines but when they go wrong they can cost. Just search online for parts and see how much they can cost even if you decide to DIY. I know for a fact that the replacement Graphics card in a iMac was around £280.