[tachion]

Since the author quotes prices in GBP, I'd say to everyone - skip the Apple Care! In UK consumer electronics state-enforced-warranty (or whatever these particular consumer rights are called) is 6 years. That's not a typo, it is 6 years and I've used it twice for my Apple gear that was outside of manufacturer's warranty and without Apple Care. Save yourself £329 and know your rights. And dont get my word on it, check it out yourself, it's even on Apple web pages ;)

[fludlight]

So it's a bit more nuanced than that. You can get an I-changed-my-mind full refund in the first 14 days but only if you bought the item online. You can also get a full refund in the first 30 days if the item is defective whether you bought it online or in a brick and mortar store. You can also get a full refund in the first 6 months if it is defective and cannot be repaired or replaced. After six months, you can only get a partial refund and only if the item is defective. IMHO that's still pretty good.

The rules vary a bit between England and Scotland and I am too tired to look up Wales and Northern Ireland right now.

https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds

https://www.businesscompanion.info/sites/default/files/Retur... (linked from the above gov.uk URL)

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-w...

[tachion]

It isn't really, because I wasn't just talking about return rights or periods, I was talking about rights when the device fails in whatever way within 6 years.

http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

[SEMW]

> when the device fails in whatever way

It's still not that simple.

It's not like you get six years of unlimited state-mandated insurance. The 'six years' is just from the statute of limitations -- it's just the limit after which you can no longer do anything about a violation of a contract of sale. [0]

But there still has to be violation of the contract of sale. Which means it only applies to defective products. (Or ones not as described, not fit for their purpose, etc.)

So eg it doesn't apply to accidental damage. If you spill coffee on your shiny laptop, consumer law won't help you, even if you only bought it ten minutes ago (unless the product was sold as waterproof, ofc). It also doesn't apply to normal wear and tear, unless you can argue that the degree to which it's deteriorated is enough to imply that the goods weren't of satisfactory quality at the time they were sold, taking into account the context of the kind of good, how it was described, the price, etc.[1]. And so on.

Until six months, the burden of proof is on the retailer to show that anything that goes wrong with the product was not due to the product being defective. (I.e. if there's a problem, and there's no obvious cause, there's an assumption that the goods are faulty). After six months, that assumption is reversed, and the burden is on you to show that the product was defective.[2]

We have pretty good consumer protection in the UK, but it's not a replacement for insurance (e.g. applecare etc). (Whether you actually need insurance for a laptop purchase is another question. Generally if you could replace a thing without too much hardship, insurance is pointless -- the expected value is negative (ie Apple makes a profit on Applecare); you're purchasing a reduction in variance).

(IANAL, just interested in consumer law)

[0] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5 [1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/9 [2] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/19

[tachion]

I never mentioned anything about accidental damage, so I am not sure why you've brought it and why you're mentioning state mandated insurance. As far as I am aware, neither Apple's warranty nor Apple Care does cover accidental damage, so when compared to free 6 years consumer right to have the device operating without faults during normal usage barring any accidents, buying Apple Care makes no sense.

[SEMW]

> As far as I am aware, neither Apple's warranty nor Apple Care does cover accidental damage

I was going off the page you linked to[0], which describes it as: "an insurance product which provides up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage"...

Looking more closely though, it looks like AppleCare and AppleCare+ are different products (which I hadn't previously grokked), and that sentence applies to AppleCare+ only. My bad, sorry for the confusion.

[0] https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

[H4CK3RM4N]

Don't do this with iOS devices though. Apple care discounts screen replacements/other repairs significantly with mobile devices.

[tachion]

As far as consumer rights are concerned, you shouldn't give a damn what the manufacturer discontinues. If the device fails within 6 years it should be fixed, replaced (happened to me, brand new iPhone 5 handed over immediately) or refunded.

[thirdsun]

discounts, not discontinues.

[k-mcgrady]

An important point to note is that you get your standard 2 year manufacturer warrant and then the following 4 years is covered by the seller. so for example if you get an iPhone through Vodafone and have a problem 3 years in it's Vodafone that deals with it, not Apple. I say it's important as the standard of customer service can vary widely between Apple and some retailers so if speed of repair is a priority relying on the 6 year warranty may not be your best solution.

[erelde]

In general, know you customer's rights. In the EU the minimum warranty on physical goods is 2 years. That's the minimum for physical goods in general.