Old Mac Cover

[allenlondon]

Whenever I have a minor problem with my Mac Mini (2014), or Mrs A with her Macbook Pro (2008), I can fix them. Come the crunch, I'd just buy another, and use our regular back-up hard-drives to get the new one going.

All very easy, but I have been involved with the machines since the 1980s. Mrs A hasn't - she just works them. One day it might be me that claps out, rather than the Mac, and I don't want Mrs A to be stuck with a duff computer.

Q. Is it worth signing up for the Which? tech-help services. It's £5 at present as a special offer, normally £10 (per month).

Alternatively, does AppleSupport still support what they'd class as 'obsolete' machines?

[allenlondon]

Just re-read the question and realised that it sounds as if I'd 'just buy' another brand new Mac. Not what I meant! What I meant was, I'd just buy another 12+ year old Macbook or 6+ year old Mini!
Even old ones are a silly price, but new ones? Leave it out.

A

[Sunk]

AppleCare is good but expensive. If you can afford it, sign up to that on your deathbed. Don’t waste any money on Which?

Depending on what you do on your computers, it might be better to upgrade to a pair of iPads which are far more reliable and user friendly than desktops.

[allenlondon]

Hello Sunk. We’ve both got fairly late iPads, but like a ‘proper’ Mac for day-to-day use.

Mail organising, Photoshop manipulation, digging out files from ten years back - all v difficult on an iPad.

[allenlondon]

And do you want to expand on the 'not wasting money on Which?'?

We've been using it for years, not as the 'go-to' guide to buy things, but certainly as an unbiased indicator of what's on the market.

So why should their tech help be less useful?

A

[Sunk]

Which? is a great magazine/service and is very useful before buying something.
Paying for tech help is a bit different. The advice will only be as good as the ‘expert’ on the other end of the line. My experience of tech/IT support is that it is largely useless. Usually a PC guy who knows nothing about Apple/Macs and his just searching Apple’s forums, which you can do yourself.
I have never had AppleCare. Any problems I have solved myself.

You could pay Which? £5 and then ask them some questions that you know the answer to, to asses how good the responses are.

[allenlondon]

Yes, I’ll do that, as there’s no contract - and it’ll be worth a fiver to find their mark.