Filed under: Odds and ends
AppleCare and leap years don't mix
There's dog years and Internet years, but this is the first time we've heard of a special definition of 'a year' when it comes to warranty coverage.TUAW reader Tom Moore bought his AppleCare agreement on May 3rd, 2006, and recently called Apple to activate the coverage on an older iPod. Like all iPod AppleCare coverage, it's a two year agreement (3 year coverage applies to computers and servers), and the telephone rep told him it runs through May 2008 -- at least it runs through the 1st of May, instead of the 3rd. Why not cover until the 3rd? It's because AppleCare defines a year as exactly 365 days -- whether it's a regular year or a leap year. Seems kind of stingy on Apple's part, but that's the way the coverage crumbles.
Update: Tom has asked that we mention he found the experience with AppleCare and the 'lost day' to be amusing rather than upsetting. So noted for the record!Thanks Tom!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sean said 5:05PM on 3-12-2008
Slow Apple news day?
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tim said 5:06PM on 3-12-2008
im sure it says 365 days in the fine print, and its not like they are taking a day from him, he still got the same amount of time that everyone else did.
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A Mac User said 5:47PM on 3-12-2008
Mac Users. We'll Whine About Anything.
Maybe AppleCare should last 365.25 days.
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punkassjim said 5:55PM on 3-12-2008
Exactly. Boo-friggin-hoo. Hell, and I thought -I- was being retarded by waiting to buy my iPhone until the exact day I was going to activate it, so I wouldn't waste precious AppleCare coverage time. Now I'm starting to feel reasonable.
matthew said 6:44PM on 3-12-2008
Hmm, but then you need to account for only having a leap year in century years every fourth century. So perhaps Apple Care years should last 365.2422 days. :)
tendo said 7:31PM on 3-12-2008
dude its not some phantom day sent to screw you up. it exists. Plan accordingly. I dont think apple is at fault at all. If you had a court date set for 1 year from X day. and the next year was a leap year. You'd better be a "day" early.
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Davis said 7:45PM on 3-12-2008
Shouldn't it run out on May 2, 2008 then?
5/3/2006 + 730 Days = 5/2/2008 right?
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matthew said 6:41PM on 3-12-2008
I assume it's inclusive of 5/3/2006 as the first day. So a normal 365 day year would actually be 5/3-5/2, and then with the leap year it gets pushed back a day to be 5/3-5/1.
Phil said 9:45PM on 3-12-2008
@ Matthew - Exactly... I calculate warranty expirations for a living. Try and find a firm that doesn't calculate warranty in that manner
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Tom said 11:57PM on 3-12-2008
Look, dammit, I said I thought it was *funny*, ok? Worth knowing, worth noting, but definitely not worth whining about.
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manish said 12:51AM on 3-13-2008
Damn it's a slow APPL news day.
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Marky said 3:19AM on 3-13-2008
It's not just AppleCare. My dotmac subscription expires a day earlier this year.
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Aaron Fisher said 3:20AM on 3-13-2008
In California, Apple extends your warranty for whatever amount of time/days they are working on your computer or ipod. It's a state law here =P
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ehm_jay29 said 10:50AM on 3-13-2008
I wish I could complain about apple care but heres my story:
Parents get me a mac for xmas 2 years ago.
Last year I got apple care.
Both the mac and the apple care were purchased a couple weeks prior to Xmas but weren't given to me UNTIL christmas.
Christmas rolls around and I go to activate my applecare but I can't because it is a few days past my year (because it was an xmas gift). Call the Apple Care rep, they totally understood my problem, and activated the applecare for me.
They could have been douchy and said "too bad" but they didn't. They helped me out. And for that I must give them kudos.
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