Tourist Tip #235 / Getting That MacBook or iPad Fixed

It wasn’t so long ago that breaking out a MacBook at an Israeli café earned you envious stares. These days, though, Apple products are too boringly commonplace here to turn any heads. While this may hurt your ability to project exotic cool, the good news is there are plenty of places to repair or, if necessary, replace your Apple products on your next trip to Israel.

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Apple has yet to grace Israel with its official stores, but a quick Google search turns up plenty of businesses that repair or sell Apple products in nearly every city in the country. Only a handful are authorized service providers or resellers, meaning Apple has deemed them worthy of handling their products.

Authorized service providers have special access to Apple parts and information, and they have to meet certain requirements like having Apple-certified technicians on staff. But the biggest bonus is that they honor AppleCare warranties on MacBooks and iPads – just be ready to wait up to a few weeks to get your gadget back. AppleCare unfortunately doesn’t apply to iPhones in Israel, so keep yours away from the beach.

If your Apple product is beyond fixing or has escaped your possession, and you just can’t go another day without a replacement, you can find one while you’re here. Even the newest products like the iPad Mini and iPhone 5 are sold in Israel, having arrived soon after being released in the United States. Fair warning, though: They’re quite a bit more expensive than you’re probably used to. The most basic MacBook Pro with Retina display costs about $2,300 in Israel, compared with $1,500 in the United States, and iPhone 5s start at about $1,100, compared with $200 in the States.

Assuming you’re desperate enough to pony up that kind of cash, consider spending it at an authorized reseller. That way you can be confident the products are the real deal; also, they'll qualify for AppleCare, which unlike the warranties provided by local businesses will be honored when you get back home.

One well-known chain with both service and reseller authorizations is iDigital. As a bonus, its four locations provide the closet thing you’re likely to find to the sparkly Apple Store experience in Israel, replete with T-shirted young employees, iLearn training courses and even an Expert Bar for service issues.