Why purchase macbook in SA

[dh_za]

With apple SA only giving you a year "apple care" and charging more for the devices. is there any real reason i should be purchasing a macbook pro here?

will be going to Hong Kong and the devices are way cheaper there , and I can purchase the Proper apple care ?

 

[jman]

I'd imagine that if you'd want to make use of Hong Kong's proper apple care, then you'd have to ship the device over there, because the local apple wouldn't honour that. I agree with you, our Apple 'environment' here is crap. It's all done through the Core group.

I got my Rmbp through a shop on bidorbuy. They import from the US. Was cheaper, but I'd imagine that if I'd want something fixed then I'd need to ship it there- luckily nothing's gone wrong

 

[koffiejunkie]

Apple's warranties are international. I've had a MacBook I bought in the US repaired in the UK (the old plastic fantastic top cracking).

These days I go to Hong Kong often enough for work, so I save up and plan my purchases for when I'm there. Saved a good chunk on my iPad Mini - £100 or so.

 

[$m@Rt@$$]

With apple SA only giving you a year "apple care" and charging more for the devices. is there any real reason i should be purchasing a macbook pro here?

will be going to Hong Kong and the devices are way cheaper there , and I can purchase the Proper apple care ?

Because most mac owners in South Africa probably don't travel overseas that often? And if it breaks you need to pack it in a box and hope DHL takes care of it like a baby - which they probably won't - and send it god-knows-where.

I also contemplated importing, but in the end of the day it just wasn't worth saving R1000 and you don't even know if it will arrive at your doorstep in one piece or not. And the fact that Core Group won't touch something that doesn't have a South African serial number

 

[Lynx_ZA]

I wouldn't recommend buying from another country, I bought my macbook from the UK, had an issue with it and had to ship it all the way to the UK to a family member who took it in for me and sorted it out. Although it worked out fine in the end, I still would not recommend it as it is such a hassle and you wont have it for +- a month while it is getting fixed.

But then again I wouldn't recommend getting it from core group either, So its a catch 22 situation.

 

[Sensorei]

If you buy your mac from an authorised Apple reseller anywhere in the world and it breaks under warranty then iStore or digicape will repair it if you have the receipt. I have done this after the logic board on a mac bought in the US fried.

 

[noxibox]

Because most mac owners in South Africa probably don't travel overseas that often? And if it breaks you need to pack it in a box and hope DHL takes care of it like a baby - which they probably won't - and send it god-knows-where.

I also contemplated importing, but in the end of the day it just wasn't worth saving R1000 and you don't even know if it will arrive at your doorstep in one piece or not. And the fact that Core Group won't touch something that doesn't have a South African serial number

That's not true. There was a time when Core tried to dodge their warranty obligations, but by various accounts they have improved a lot. Regardless they are obligated to honour Apple's international warranty and no-one should take no for an answer.

If you buy your mac from an authorised Apple reseller anywhere in the world and it breaks under warranty then iStore or digicape will repair it if you have the receipt. I have done this after the logic board on a mac bought in the US fried.

It applies to their laptops, but hasn't usually applied to their desktop computers.

With apple SA only giving you a year "apple care" and charging more for the devices. is there any real reason i should be purchasing a macbook pro here?

will be going to Hong Kong and the devices are way cheaper there , and I can purchase the Proper apple care ?

You can purchase proper Apple Care, if you're into that sort of thing, from anywhere.

The local supplier in South Africa gives the same standard warranty as you'll get in the US.

I wouldn't recommend buying from another country, I bought my macbook from the UK, had an issue with it and had to ship it all the way to the UK to a family member who took it in for me and sorted it out.

Why, when the local distributor is bound to honour the warranty?

 

[noxibox]

It is important to buy from an authorised reseller though. I wouldn't touch a seller on some auction site. Rather do the importing yourself from a legitimate dealer.

 

[jman]

It is important to buy from an authorised reseller though. I wouldn't touch a seller on some auction site. Rather do the importing yourself from a legitimate dealer.

Only problem with that is it's damn expensive that way. I got my Rmbp on a shop on bidorbuy, imported from the US, and was around R6k cheaper, so was willing to gamble with the warranty side of things. Luckily I've had no problems with my machine

 

[dh_za]

If I build and order a 13' Macbook Pro with 16gig ram, 2.8GHZ processor, 512 gig ram is comes in at H$15 448
that in rands is about R21 043.00 (and can claim my tax back on the way out)
The same machine at Core was quoted at R32 700
I can "nothing to declare.. and hope nothing goes wrong , or declare it and pay my vat (R2946) and other duties - Not sure how much this will be .(then core is obliged to fix it ? )

Im sure ill still out better than Core?

 

[bwana]

If you buy your mac from an authorised Apple reseller anywhere in the world and it breaks under warranty then iStore or digicape will repair it if you have the receipt. I have done this after the logic board on a mac bought in the US fried.

I've actually never been asked to produce a receipt for local repairs on MBPs I've purchased in the UK. I really enjoy getting that 20% VAT back at the airport when I leave.

 

[Darko]

You purchase a MacBook in SA because you live in SA and you want a MacBook.

 

[jman]

If I build and order a 13' Macbook Pro with 16gig ram, 2.8GHZ processor, 512 gig ram is comes in at H$15 448
that in rands is about R21 043.00 (and can claim my tax back on the way out)
The same machine at Core was quoted at R32 700
I can "nothing to declare.. and hope nothing goes wrong , or declare it and pay my vat (R2946) and other duties - Not sure how much this will be .(then core is obliged to fix it ? )

Im sure ill still out better than Core?

That's awesome. Surely if you have the item and it's not in it's packaging or anything when you arrive back in SA, ie, it's not for resale and it's for personal use, then customs won't be able to charge you. (How would they know that you bought it there if it's not in its packaging?)

 

[jman]

I've actually never been asked to produce a receipt for local repairs on MBPs I've purchased in the UK. I really enjoy getting that 20% VAT back at the airport when I leave.

I think it relates to your products' serial number. So if you enter it here: https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do then you can see what warranty coverage you have, so no proof of purchase needed. I just didn't know that core honoured the international warranty.

Nice one on the 20% off aswel

 

[Fritzinger]

That's awesome. Surely if you have the item and it's not in it's packaging or anything when you arrive back in SA, ie, it's not for resale and it's for personal use, then customs won't be able to charge you. (How would they know that you bought it there if it's not in its packaging?)

There's some process whereby you note down what you left SA with, and if you come back with something different they can charge you. I know someone who went to the states and came back with an iPad that he didn't have on the way out and they charged him for it.

 

[jman]

There's some process whereby you note down what you left SA with, and if you come back with something different they can charge you. I know someone who went to the states and came back with an iPad that he didn't have on the way out and they charged him for it.

Ah I see. Sneaky people. Someone above that posted about it didn't mention that, so maybe it doesn't happen to everyone.

 

[SauRoNZA]

With apple SA only giving you a year "apple care" and charging more for the devices. is there any real reason i should be purchasing a macbook pro here?

will be going to Hong Kong and the devices are way cheaper there , and I can purchase the Proper apple care ?

You can't register that Applecare in SA and it can't be used here.

They do locally have their own versions of AppleCare, or at least Digicape does but even so it's bull****.

Rather just add it to your own insurance.

 

[GreGorGy]

I've actually never been asked to produce a receipt for local repairs on MBPs I've purchased in the UK. I really enjoy getting that 20% VAT back at the airport when I leave.

Warranty or out-of-warranty? Did they charge?

I notice that Core will fix anything (Nintendo stuff too) that's purchased anywhere but won't honour warranties that are not theirs.

 

[bwana]

Warranty or out-of-warranty? Did they charge?

I notice that Core will fix anything (Nintendo stuff too) that's purchased anywhere but won't honour warranties that are not theirs.

Warranty.

 

[GreGorGy]

Warranty.

Interesting - maybe they really are not as bad as we all want to believe they are.