The Cost of Premium: My Year in Apple Products

The original iMac. And my first computer.

Since I knew what the difference between a Mac and a PC was, I have always been an Apple product partisan. (Just ask my parents – it’s true!) My first computer was a bondi blue first-generation iMac (pictured above), and I still remember the glee I felt when I realized I’d be spending my first summer at sleep-away camp with a cool new iPod (I was nine and that iPod was definitely cool in 2004).

Fast-forward to 2016, and I’m still that much of an Apple devotee. I’m currently typing this on a MacBook pro, texting on my iPhone, and listening to some Drake through Apple Music (I turned off Spotify premium when Apple Music dropped and haven’t looked back since). Earlier today, I was browsing Facebook (on my mac), and came across this great Odyssey article by Maddie Graham. The title: The Eternal Question: Mac or PC?

Here’s the first paragraph:

This summer I broke both my Mac and my iPhone. Yikes. I’m usually good in dealing with cracks, but both the phone and laptop were either beyond repair or way too expensive to repair. The laptop repair would cost around $700 and combined with the iPhone repair or replacement, the total cost would be upwards of $1,000. I immediately looked into ways I could get some extra hours in at work and other ways I could earn money on the side to afford such costs. Then I came back to my senses. Here I am, trying to make over $1,000 just to pay for a REPAIR and replacement, when I could get a non-Apple products (scary I know) for much less money.

As I read, I thought about the one biggest issue I’ve had with Apple all these years. The only thing lower than an Apple product’s durability is your bank account balance after you have to repair or replace it. I’ve also broken my share of Apple products, but my reaction, rather than get more durable, cheaper non-apple products has always been to cough up the cash (if necessary) and spend a bit extra to protect my products from, well, mostly myself. Switch to Android or PC? I might be looking through tinted glasses, but the grass on that side does not look greener to me.

Just in the past year, I have had to repair and replace several of my Apple purchases. I’ve enumerated them below. Enjoy!

May 2015: There goes my Laptop! (Part 1)

Repair cost: $0. Lesson: Use a Keyboard Cover.

The day was May 5. The location: floor 500m of the stacks. And the mistake was getting a seltzer and opening it after opening my laptop. One explosion and 15 somewhat blissful moments later, I realize my left shift and control keys are stuck down.

I still had my last final the next day. Perfect timing?

Two weeks later, I was able to get my laptop repaired and keyboard replaced. AppleCare covered it, and I put a plastic cover on my keyboard to protect it from any future seltzer/coffee/water.

July 2015: Tile Floors and iPhones don’t mix.

Repair cost: $115.54. Lesson: Don’t be cheap about the case.

You know that feeling when your iPhone falls out of your hand, you hear that crashing sound as it hits the ground, and before you even pick it up, you realize your screen will never be the same? I do.

Thankfully, the phone was still usable, I’d saved up some money by making almost all of my meals at home, and I was able to get a genius bar appointment within 48 hours of the incident to replace my screen. It still set me back quite a bit, but in response, I upgraded my iPhone case from a cheap case that didn’t really protect it to an OtterBox Defender that I have not taken off my iPhone since July. Since then, my screen and phone have remained in tip-top condition.

December 2015: There goes my Laptop! (Part 2: Coffee edition)

Repair cost: $0. Lesson: A keyboard cover isn’t enough.

I have very little luck when it comes to liquids, libraries, and my laptop.

This time, I was working on a final paper. It was 1:10 AM (give or take), and one of my friends found his way back to our study spot, hot coffee in tow. Somehow, some of that coffee found its way into my laptop.

Yes, I had my cover on at the time.

Thankfully, my first reaction was: “I may not have much time. I’m saving my work and emailing what I already wrote to myself.” 5 minutes after that email sent, my screen went black. It was 1:30 AM on a Thursday. That paper was due in less than 40 hours.

I’ve never been more thankful for the 24-hour service desk at ITS, which was able to remove the bottom part of the shell so it could dry out. The next day, after waiting almost 24 hours and leaving my laptop (supervised) in the library to dry out, it started working again! Since then, I have had no problems relating to that incident.

Of course, I put on a tighter 2-layer keyboard cover, and even added a laptop case to cover up my mishmash of stickers.

April 2016: You thought your charger was safe?

Replacement Cost: $44.21 (including overnight shipping). Lesson: Even power cords need protection.

There’s no question, power cords get more abuse than almost any other accessory. Shoved into bags, they often get tangled, stretched, and scrunched. Add the fact that Apple’s cords are notorious for being stylish but not all that durable, and that’s how I found myself in my Game Theory lecture, with a power cord that had been working just fine suddenly breaking at the power adapter’s pressure point.

By now, my AppleCare had expired, and Apple wanted me to fork up $80 for a new charger. Thankfully, Amazon had what I needed for less than half of that.

It was still the only time in my almost-21 years I clicked the overnight shipping button.

This was my second MacBook charger to break, so I knew I needed to do something to protect that pressure point and save myself that $40 (or more) in the future. This is where Python Cords came in – now, my MacBook charger rocks a stylish white band.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Apple products break and you spend money to repair and protect them. What’s the point?”

Apple has, over the years, developed a very loyal customer base of which I consider myself a part. Their attention to ensuring that they release only the sleekest, best-looking and best-working products has come at the expense of making gadgets that actually last.

I think the fact that I had to, in the past year, repair or replace nearly every Apple product I currently use underscores this reality.

I have continued (and will for the foreseeable future continue) to use Apple products, and will probably replace them with more Apple products once they break or stop working. The price of having to buy casing or protection, as well as the occasional repair, is one I’m willing to pay for premium. Maddie switched from Mac to PC, and even though she wasn’t paying for premium apple products, there’s a cost when you switch away too:

Despite the lack of problems with my new pc laptop, I still miss my Mac. I am a humanities major so I write a lot and having a laptop I’m comfortable with is extremely important. I’m comfortable with my current laptop but there’s something about mac laptops that are just so homey. I had the case for my laptop all decorated in fun stickers, I had lots of cute photo booth pictures, and the laptop was just so light and convenient. There’s an inexplainable quality about Apple products that is special and almost (ALMOST) makes their prices reasonable.

I’m not willing to pay the repair cost any more than I absolutely have to, and I certainly am not about to pay the cost of downgrading from the Apple ecosystem.

Let’s see how the next year plays out.