The straightforward process will point you towards repair or replace
If you have a Mac and need to get some repair or replacement done on it, then you’ll first need to determine whether or not the Mac is still under warranty. With most other manufacturers, this means having to go through an annoying process where you search for some serial or tag number and then call customer support to get the warranty status.
With Macs, it’s really simple. In the system information dialog, they have a tab that allows you to check your service and coverage status and shows you options for getting extra support. In this article, I’ll show you how to view this information.
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Check Warranty Status
To check the warranty status, click on the Apple logo icon at the top left and select About This Mac.
Next, click on the Service tab and you’ll see a couple of links that will take you to various pages on Apple’s website.
The nice thing about these links, however, is they automatically upload your serial number to the website, so you don’t have to find it and then enter it manually. First, click on Check my service and support coverage status and you’ll get a popup asking whether your Mac can send your serial number to Apple.
Click on Allow and it should load up the webpage in Safari. Here you will need to enter a captcha and then click Continue.
Now you will get a quick overview of three things: whether this was a valid purchase, whether you have telephone technical support and whether or not there is any repair or service coverage.
As you can see in my case, all warranty options have expired for my mid-2009 MacBook Pro. You can purchase telephone technical support or pay the out-of-warranty costs for any repairs.
If you click on the second link, Show my service and repair options, you’ll be brought to a page where you can either contact Apple support or you can setup a genius bar appointment to bring in your machine.
If you choose contact, you can either have Apple call you or you can chat with someone online. Both of these options are free. If they tell you that you have to send in your machine in order to get it repaired, that’ll obviously cost you if the warranty is expired. For example, here’s a page that gives you prices for replacing a battery on a Mac that is no longer under warranty.
The last option about AppleCare Protection Plan is only useful if you have purchased your Mac computer within the last 60 days. If so, you can go ahead and add AppleCare warranty coverage. After the 60 day window, coverage can no longer be added and you’ll only get the limited one year warranty and 90 day complimentary telephone support.
Overall, Apple makes the process of checking your warranty, finding repair costs and getting your device fixed simple and straightforward. It’s not necessarily cheap, but at least you know beforehand how much everything will cost. Enjoy!
