Macs Effectively Now Have a Three-Year Warranty in Australia and New Zealand Under Consumer Law

If you bought and own a Mac in Australia or New Zealand, your computer effectively now has warranty coverage for up to three years from its original date of purchase, even without purchasing optional AppleCare+ coverage.

Apple will now offer warranty coverage on most Mac parts for up to 24 months after its limited one-year warranty period, under consumer law in each country, according to an internal document distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers and later obtained by MacRumors.

Apple is complying with existing Australia and New Zealand laws giving consumers the right to ask for a repair or replacement free of charge if a product experiences failure within a "reasonable" amount of time after purchase.

Mac owners can inquire about service under Australian and New Zealand consumer law at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider, but we can't guarantee that every employee will be knowledgable about this policy. The change in policy is effective from today—that's December 13, 2017.

Eligible parts include the display, battery, SSD or hard drive, RAM, logic boards, GPU, internal cables, power supply, and other electronic components, so virtually every aspect of a Mac is covered, according to the document.

Apple provides a summary of consumer law, its limited one-year warranty, and its optional AppleCare+ coverage on its website in Australia and New Zealand.

Related Roundups: iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

Tags: Australia, New Zealand, warranty

Buyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral), Mac Pro (Don't Buy), Mac Mini (Neutral), MacBook Air (Buy Now), MacBook Pro (Caution), MacBook (Don't Buy)

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

DaveP

23 months ago

Of course when prices increase further in Australia, that will be purely coincidental. Customers will pay for this one way or another.

Rating: 8 Votes

b5stephen

23 months ago

I’m not sure why people think prices will go up. There is no new law here. New Zealand has had this law for decades. The difference is that Apple now has internal policies that fully recognise the Consumer Guarantees Act instead of consumers needing to bring Apple before a tribunal each time it disagrees with what a ‘reasonable’ period of time means.

Rating: 6 Votes

Defthand

23 months ago

By now, the average expected service life of electronic components should be well known. It’s ridiculous that manufacturers can absolve themselves of any liability for defective or subpar parts by declaring a warranty period of their own choosing. The warranty should be proportional to the quality level declared by the manufacturer. If Apple, for example, were to advertise that their laptops meet a defined industry specification for best-in-class parts, then Apple should back up that claim with a better guarantee. What do they stand to lose if their advertising claim is genuine? Meanwhile, a discount-minded manufacturer can declare a lower quality expectation for its product and have less liability for performance failures.

Rating: 6 Votes

Fiachers

23 months ago

Of course when prices increase further in Australia, that will be purely coincidental. Customers will pay for this one way or another.

Give me a break. In Ireland, they don't even cover two years as per EU law, and the prices are already unbelievably exorbitant, regardless of taxes, import charges and other factors. They should follow local laws and people should stop bitching about it and making excuses.

Rating: 4 Votes

urtules

23 months ago

This shouldn't be a problem for Apple because I never had problems with Mac in a first 4-5 years, but rest of PC industry going to struggle.

Rating: 4 Votes

mrapplecored

23 months ago

I love Apple gear, but... most Apple products are built in China and the shipping from there to any Western European country is probably the same and the Euro is the same all over, so there should be no price difference from Ireland to Italy. Apple should respect EU warranty regulations and for a modern device costing in the thousands 2 years really is not much to expect it to last!

Apple does not clarify on its website the warranty laws for each country it sells in, just what AppleCare costs, that is a bit cheeky. I applaud NZ and Australia for making a 3 years warranty period, consumer electronics in this day and age should be able to last at least that long before ANY problems begin to emerge. Having said that we have bought Apple gear as our computers have all lasted 6-10 years each, but not without problems (HD just died out of the blue on our laptop etc...).

Rating: 3 Votes

jsmith189

23 months ago

The one good thing about living here lol.

Rating: 3 Votes

Stella

23 months ago

I believe what consumers need is choice and best prices, US has lowest prices for any Apple products, thanks to lack of regulations.

Actually its probably because the products are priced in US$ and then converted to other currencies, which normally works out to slightly more.

I'd rather have better consumer law generally, that applies to all products, not just Apple.

EDIT: I've just seen tzm41 ('https://forums.macrumors.com/members/tzm41.901029/') post above. So, adding more evidence that your assertion isn't true.

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My experience is the opposite.. my last three Apple laptops have had several issues and required multiple repairs.

PC industry is going to be just fine with having to offer more protection for Australian and NZ customers.

This shouldn't be a problem for Apple because I never had problems with Mac in a first 4-5 years, but rest of PC industry going to struggle.

Rating: 3 Votes

tzm41

23 months ago

I believe what consumers need is choice and best prices, US has lowest prices for any Apple products, thanks to lack of regulations.

Wait you sure? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/09/14/much-does-iphone-x-cost-around-world/ says otherwise. Japan and HK have them cheaper (unless you live in a state without sales tax).

Rating: 3 Votes