# New Mac - didn't run the Setup Assistant - how to register with Apple?



## 9780 (Sep 14, 2006)

Hey all,

Got my dad a new Mac for xmas, and much to my delight he actually plugged all the wires by himself without asking for help :clap:

However, my mom turned it on, made it all the way to the Seutp Assistant, then.. Turned it off just like that. So nothing got setup.

My dad's been setting it up on his own, no problem (or very few anyway) :clap::clap: , however I'm wondering about this part of the Setup Assistant where it asks to register the new Mac with Apple - ostensibly this is to register it for Applecare support and all?

Is there a way to register the mac now, without having to go through the whole setup assistant thing, since I don't want to re-setup everything but just register the Mini with Apple..

Thanks all, and happy holidays 

Patrix.

PS: on a side-note, my dad burned an audio CD for the first time in his life thanks to iTunes, and has been using his new Mac rather than being afraid of it and only clicking a few icons that take him to a few website. I think the older PC got jealous since the day after it suddenly wouldn't boot.. haha beejacon


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## 9780 (Sep 14, 2006)

I'm guessing it's http://register.apple.com

Which for some reason was all in Portugese by default... weird.

I'll have my dad try it.

Thanks g3 Man


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## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

i believe the applecare is keyed off the original purchase transaction... the stuff you run through when you set the computer up is more so apple has you in their database and can get you on their email list... so no need to worry, but tell your folks to put the computer to sleep rather than shutting it down! ;-)


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

mkolesa said:


> i believe the applecare is keyed off the original purchase transaction... the stuff you run through when you set the computer up is more so apple has you in their database and can get you on their email list... so no need to worry, but tell your folks to put the computer to sleep rather than shutting it down! ;-)


Yeah no this is not true. You really DO need to register with Apple, if for no other reason than to confirm the purchase date of the machine. If you don't, Apple will use the date of MANUFACTURE (which could be MONTHS earlier) as the start date of AppleCare.

Mkolesa is right that your purchase of AppleCare SHOULD kick in automatically, but sometimes it doesn't, and if there is a dispute, Apple will want the receipt as proof. Oh but wait, I haven't seen that receipt in two years! Argh!!

Registering electronically eliminates the dispute in the first place. And you can uncheck the boxes for Apple email if you don't want any, so I entreat you -- register.


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## 9780 (Sep 14, 2006)

chas_m said:


> Yeah no this is not true. You really DO need to register with Apple, if for no other reason than to confirm the purchase date of the machine. If you don't, Apple will use the date of MANUFACTURE (which could be MONTHS earlier) as the start date of AppleCare.
> 
> Mkolesa is right that your purchase of AppleCare SHOULD kick in automatically, but sometimes it doesn't, and if there is a dispute, Apple will want the receipt as proof. Oh but wait, I haven't seen that receipt in two years! Argh!!
> 
> Registering electronically eliminates the dispute in the first place. And you can uncheck the boxes for Apple email if you don't want any, so I entreat you -- register.


thanks for confirming what I was thinking, chas!

As for the receipt, it's in my email inbox (was a refurb store purchase). The problem is, the Mac was my dad's xmas present, who lives in another city, so very inconvenient. Either way, I'll get him to register through that site.

Thanks!

Patrix.


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## Manatus (May 11, 2009)

As well, there should be an alias called "Send Registration" (the icon looks like a tuxedo) in your home directory, if you don't register when you install.


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## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

patrix said:


> As for the receipt, it's in my email inbox (was a refurb store purchase).


afaik the receipt has no significance... whenever i've had a machine in for service they check the serial number against their database. in fact, when i've handed them the original purchase receipt they've given it back saying they've seen so many fraudulent ones, they don't even look at them!


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

mkolesa said:


> afaik the receipt has no significance... whenever i've had a machine in for service they check the serial number against their database. in fact, when i've handed them the original purchase receipt they've given it back saying they've seen so many fraudulent ones, they don't even look at them!


Yes, but ***in a dispute*** about coverage (which invariably centres on when the machine was registered), the receipt is legal proof of purchase. As stated above, if the customer or the vendor do NOT register the machine electronically, the assumed date of coverage start is the date of manufacture. So it behooves the consumer to register the machine on Apple's web site.

I'm a former Apple dealer who's dealt with this literally hundreds of times, and had access to Apple's registration database on a daily basis. I believe that qualifies me to answer this authoritatively.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> As stated above, if the customer or the vendor do NOT register the machine electronically, the assumed date of coverage start is the date of manufacture. So it behooves the consumer to register the machine on Apple's web site.


thats not really true...

i checked coverage status today on a 13" mbp sold on dec 23rd, and its "estimated date of purchase" was showing as jan 4, 2010 and its "coverage expires" date was Jan 3, 2011..

some machines sit on shelves for months, some end up in customers hands almost as soon as they are built...there is no firm and fast way to determine what the "estimated" purchase date will be, but i have never (and i mean *never*) seen an app agreement using the build date of the machine...i mean that could be weeks or literally months before it ends up in "the wild"..

one way or the other everyone should do themselves a favour and save the bill...that, moreso than any registration, is your proof of coverage..

i mean apple could argue that you bought the machine dec 1, and didnt register it until mar 1..how would you prove that you bought the machine when you bought it other than your invoice?


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