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Apple offering AppleCare+ for iPhone 4 and 4S preorders until November 14th
TUAW has received numerous emails from readers who are confused (with good reason!) about the status of AppleCare+. Good news for those who pre-ordered the iPhone 4S: If you did not get a chance to order AppleCare+ with your iPhone 4S, Apple is extending your eligibility. When Apple announced AppleCare+ the company said it would only be available at the time of purchase. That is an important distinction from "AppleCare," which can be purchased anytime in the first year but does not include coverage for accidental damage. The reason for AppleCare+'s more restrictive requirement is clear: Apple wants to make sure your iPhone is not already damaged when you purchase AppleCare+. Apple.com was flooded with pre-orders, so much so that the system was overwhelmed and many people were unable to place orders at all. Others were able to place orders, but weren't offered AppleCare+. Still others gave up and ordered directly through AT&T or Verizon's websites. Personally, after 90 minutes and at least a dozen failed attempts to buy an iPhone 4S through Apple.com and the Apple Store app, I finally gave up and ordered through Verizon's website. At that point (4:30 a.m. local time) and not having slept at all, I forgot all about AppleCare+. A second chance for pre-orders Almost immediately people started to write in to TUAW saying that AppleCare+ had not been offered and asking if we knew of any way that it could be added to an existing order. No definitive answer has been available, and various reports across the web showed that people were getting different answers. The most common were: Cancel your pre-order and re-order with AppleCare+ Bring your unopened iPhone to your local Apple Store and tell them you want to purchase AppleCare+ Call Apple when you receive your iPhone and order AppleCare+. The first two "solutions" have serious and significant drawbacks. No one wants to cancel their pre-order, because they'll lose their "place" in the pre-order line. All iPhone 4S models are currently showing a wait time of 1-2 weeks. That's not going to sit well with people who ordered in the middle of the night. Bringing your iPhone 4S to your local Apple Store is problematic for A couple reasons. First, your local Apple Store is going to be overwhelmed with customers wanting to buy iPhones, which is either going to mean that people who ordered online are going to have to wait in line or wait until the lines die down. Worse, there are several states with no Apple Stores at all, and even if there is an Apple Store it doesn't mean there's one close. The nearest Apple Store to me is a 2-hour drive, each way. A few days ago we started getting reports that people who pre-ordered iPhones through Apple.com had received emails directly from Apple offering them AppleCare+ coverage if it was not offered when they ordered. The email (which is included at the end of this article) reiterated that "every iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to 90 days of complimentary support." It went on to explain AppleCare+ as an extension of coverage "to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a $49 service fee." So far so good, but the next part of the email is where things turned odd: "We noticed you weren't given the opportunity to add AppleCare+ to your iPhone. If you would like to extend your coverage for only $99, please reply to this email." This is not something that Apple has ever done before (at least, I've never heard of anything like it), and people were understandably worried that this might be an attempt at phishing. However, there were clear signs that these emails were legitimate. First, the subject line of the email message contained the actual order number of the user's iPhone 4S order. Second, the email address for replies was pointed to a legitimate email address with the domain apple.com (and not a phishing address like "app1e.com" or some such). Most phishing attempts want you to send information to a third-party website which has been made to look official, but isn't. Earlier today I emailed Apple at that address,applestoreinfo@apple.com. I explained that I had ordered through Verizon's website (which never offered AppleCare+), and I'd heard others who hadn't been able to pre-order AppleCare+ had received this email. Here is the full text of the reply I received: AppleCare+ will be available for iPhone 4 (8GB) and iPhone 4S pre-order customers until November 14th. After you receive your new iPhone, please contact AppleCare (1-800-275-2273) to complete your purchase. Sincerely, Rachel Apple Inc. There are no guarantees in life, but it seems that Apple recognizes that this did not go as smoothly as planned, so it's making an exception for pre-orders. I assume that Apple will start enforcing the "only available at the time of sale" restriction after the initial pre-orders are fulfilled. When my iPhone 4S arrives, I plan to call AppleCare immediately and explain my situation again. My hope and expectation is that Apple will be ready to process my AppleCare+ order immediately over the phone, but just in case, I figure it won't hurt to wait to open it until I have someone on the phone to walk me through the process immediately. I will post a followup as soon as my iPhone 4S arrives. (Aside to Verizon: your order confirmation page and email both said that my iPhone would arrive on October 14th, not "ship on" October 14th. I do hope you plan to meet that deadline.) Here's the full text of the email from Apple that several readers sent in: Dear Apple Customer, Thank you for your recent iPhone purchase at the Apple Online Store. We would like to let you know that every iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to 90 days of complimentary support. AppleCare+ for iPhone extends your coverage to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a $49 service fee. We noticed you weren't given the opportunity to add AppleCare+ to your iPhone. If you would like to extend your coverage for only $99, please reply to this email. Thank you for shopping with Apple. Sincerely, Apple Online Store Team
How to add AppleCare+ to your early iPhone 4S order
TUAW is getting lots of queries from those who pre-ordered their iPhone 4S but were not given the option for an AppleCare+ purchase at that time; most of them ordered their phones from their carrier, rather than directly from Apple. If you're unfamiliar with the extended support program, you may wonder why this is an issue. It's because of some wording on the Apple website. Apple's site states that "AppleCare+ must be purchased together with your new iPhone. To buy it, add it to your shopping cart during the checkout process when you purchase your new iPhone." A call to AppleCare confirms that the service is not intended for sales made directly from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. On the other hand, the Terms & Conditions document covering AppleCare+ simply says that the extended coverage must be purchased during the original one-year warranty covering the phone. Which is the real deal? TUAW did a bit of phoning around, to local retail stores, to AppleCare customer service and to sales support. They all agreed on their advice: If you want to buy AppleCare+ to cover a phone purchased from a carrier or one where you neglected to buy it when purchasing from Apple, just walk on in to an Apple retail store within 30 days of your purchase and ask for help from any sales person. You do not have to make a Genius Bar appointment. This is a one-time exception to the policy requiring simultaneous phone & AppleCare purchasing. The sales support representative we spoke with explained that many customers who ordered from Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T weren't aware that AppleCare+ isn't a product offered by those vendors. Because of that, Apple is waiving any restrictions for the initial launch. As for those who ordered from the online Apple Store and weren't offered AppleCare+, several representatives agreed that the launch was a bit "overwhelmed." If you'd like to take advantage of AppleCare+, which offers repair coverage and technical support for two years plus minimal accidental damage coverage (one supposes that Genius Bars will become far less lenient about extending courtesy repairs and replacements for these), simply head on in after purchase, once the initial fervor dies down. Accidental damage repairs will still incur a $49 charge for each incident, and you are limited to a maximum of two ADR incidents per device/policy. AppleCare+ costs $99 and is normally purchased along with the iPhone. You can also purchase standard AppleCare for iPhone at any time during a product's initial coverage for $79. AppleCare extends your iPhone coverage and support from the default coverage time to the full coverage time of two years from the purchase date of the phone. It does not restart the warranty clock to the date of the AppleCare+ purchase, so regardless of when you buy the coverage it will not extend past the second anniversary of your phone purchase. Direct number for Apple Care 800-275-2273 Apple Care Sales Support 800-676-2775 Thanks Kai C.
Sprint may not extend equipment protection plan to iPhone 4S
A leaked Sprint slide suggests the wireless carrier will not be offering its Total Equipment Protection plans for the iPhone 4S. Customers with an iPhone 4S who want to add a protection plan to their phone are encouraged to purchase an AppleCare+ plan. These new plans from Apple offer accidental damage on top of the traditional coverage for $99. You can also purchase a third party plan from a company like Square Trade or through your homeowners or renters insurance. The wording "not sold at launch" on the slide also leaves open the possibility that Sprint my change its mind and open up the TEP plans some time after launch.
Sprint says no to iPhone insurance, AppleCare+ breathes sigh of relief
The Now Network is apparently voting thumbs-down to the idea of having its Total Equipment Protection plans available to its new crown jewel. According to a leaked slide courtesy of SprintFeed, your shiny Sprint-branded iPhone 4S (or 4) won't be offered with a healthy portion of peace of mind; rather, you'll need to purchase the AppleCare+ Protection Plan or go through a third party to have any protection from accidental damage. This may change down the road, as the slide says it won't be offered "at launch," but only time will tell. Unfortunate, yes, but we suppose there's always a bright side -- at least there's now a Sprint iPhone to not have insurance for, right?
AppleCare+ debuts for $99, offers to cover accidental damage in addition to the standard fare
Once upon a time, the AppleCare Protection Plan was a service provided by Cupertino to extend out the life of your iPhone warranty for an extra year and enable Apple reps to help with additional customer service concerns. It still offers all of that, but now a Plus has been added to the title. The new plan was revealed as the cloak over the Apple Store lifted after today's keynote, with the boxes shipping out the same day as the iPhone 4S. What's so "plus" about it, you might ask? It's plus $30, for one, getting a price bump from $70 to $100. The good news, though, is that it also now offers two instances of protection from accidental damage... for a $49 fee each time. It's a fair deal less than shelling out full retail price for a fresh one, of course, but there doesn't appear to be any other new features beyond what we're already used to getting. Oh, except for "one more thing": whereas its predecessor could be obtained and activated anytime within the first twelve months of your purchase, it appears that AppleCare+ has to be bought at the same time as the valuable treasure it's protecting. We're still sifting through the fine print, so we'll holler if we come across any other changes. This raises the question: does the accidental damage handling justify the higher cost? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Debunk: Lion USB sticks are not yet available
Apple clearly considers its new App Store-based distribution model one of the biggest advances in Lion, and to the company's credit, we found the whole thing to be quite painless. But physical media devotees needn't worry too much -- the company quietly announced at launch that the latest version of OS X will also be available on a USB key, for the lofty price of $69 -- which, incidentally, still requires Snow Leopard, unlike what has been previously reported. Word hit today that the company has finally issued the flash drive version of the software, information gleaned from an internal document reportedly leaked by AppleCare. We have it on good authority, however, that the drives mentioned in the document are not, in fact, the aforementioned sticks. Rather, the "recovery media" discussed is actually a restoration tool for AppleCare employees, used to fix faulty systems. We hate to be the burster of bubbles, but it seems that the App Store-impaired will still have to wait until later this month to get their hands on the $70 Apple dongle.
Apple issues recall for some iMac hard drives
Apple has issued notice of a recall of potentially defective 1 TB Seagate hard drives installed in iMacs sold between May and July of 2011. Apple has offered to replace the possibly defective drives free of charge until July 23, 2012. The drives, installed in 2011-model iMacs in both 21.5 and 27-inch configurations, may fail under "certain conditions," which has led to the recall. If your iMac is one of those covered under the recall, you can take your iMac in to the local Genius Bar or set up an appointment with an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Apple will not replace your data for you, so to ensure you don't lose anything, make a full backup of your drive using Time Machine or another backup solution before taking your iMac in for service. Apple does recommend replacing the drive as soon as possible, so if you have one of the affected iMacs but haven't been backing up your data, you'd better start now.
AppleCare rep tells Ed Bott Mac malware reports are up
An anonymous AppleCare support representative spoke to ZDNet's Ed Bott over the weekend, telling the reporter that complaints about malware infections on the Mac increased significantly in the first half of May. "This last week over 50% of our calls have been about [malware]," said the AppleCare staffer. "In two days last week I personally took 60 calls that referred to Mac Defender." Earlier this month, a new series of malicious software packages with names like "Mac Defender," "Mac Security" and "Mac Protector" began to assault Apple's computing platform. Websites would alert users their Macs were infected and persuade them to download and install "Mac Defender" to protect their computers from the alleged attack. Rather than eliminate malware, these trojans prompt users to provide credit card information to their authors. It's all a scam. Even so, the scam appears to be quite effective. The AppleCare staffer claims many callers believed the warnings from these malware packages were legitimate or came from Apple, and in the last week, call volume for the computer-maker's support lines was up to five times higher than normal. "I really wish I could say not many people will fall for this, but in this last week, we have had nothing but Mac Defender and similar calls," the AppleCare representative told Bott. It's unclear from Bott's interview how many callers had actually installed the phony "Mac Defender" software and how many were calling to verify the authenticity of an alert on a website claiming their computers were infected. The AppleCare staffer's facts and figures are notably anecdotal. It's difficult, for example, to reconcile a five-fold increase in call volume since the malware attacks began when only half the calls have to do with "Mac Defender." Although the AppleCare staffer's story sounds a lot like a surfer boasting about a tremendous wave, it's important to use common sense when installing software from the internet. Unlike a virus or worm that sneaks onto a computer without authorization, trojans like "Mac Defender" require an administrator to provide his or her password and knowingly install the malicious software. When TUAW first reported these malware attacks, we offered some helpful tips for avoiding these digital con games. Is this AppleCare representative capitalizing on the latest wave of Mac malware hype and exaggerating his or her story for attention? Or is the "Mac Defender" family of trojans really gaining traction among a community of unsuspecting Mac users? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Apple offers free repairs for iPhones, other products damaged in Japan quake
Apple customers with Macs, displays, and iOS devices that were directly damaged in the Japan earthquake and tsunami may be eligible for free repairs. The offer, posted on the company's Japanese website, excludes iPod classic, nano, and shuffle, and only applies to customers living in areas covered by the Ministry of Health's Disaster Relief Act. Originally posted in March, Apple's announcement joins Softbank's offer to replace lost iPhones registered to its network, and free calls to Japan from U.S. carriers, among others. Considering water and other accidental damage typically voids a device's warranty, you'll want to give AppleCare a call soon -- the acceptance period only runs through June 30th.
This is why I stay with Apple
When I described the problems I've had with Apple's notebooks thus far, a few commenters asked me why I stick with Apple at all. "Have you considered a different brand of computer? A Dell or something?" one asked. Another said, "I find it strange that your answer is to buy another product from the company that is causing you so much pain. Your interim solution is to rely on the phone and tablet from same said company. There are other computers out there." A third commenter reiterated that point: "Hasn't it occurred to you after this time, or to any of the people commenting on this post, to move away from Apple altogether?" Though I've got a house full of Apple gear and make money writing for TUAW, my brand loyalty to Apple has nothing to do with the company itself. The truth is, I've only got two reasons for sticking with Apple, no matter how much its practices or products make me want to tear out my hair sometimes.
Apple's softened "water damage" policy gains notice
Quite a buzz has appeared recently about Apple's updated water damage policies. These policies actually came to light several months ago due to some clever sleuthing on the part of Boy Genius Report, which we posted on at the time. The same policies may even have gone into effect in Europe several months earlier than that. iPhone and iPod immersion sensors have long been notoriously unreliable. Despite insider claims that the indicators will not change color unless a device has been submerged for 90 seconds, consumers have encountered triggered sensors due to ambient moisture, sweaty palms, temperature extremes and (our favorite) using your iOS device as an ocarina. The revised policies added a visual inspection for physical signs of water damage to the existing sensor color change, likely because of class action lawsuits that state, in part, that "As a result of Apple's improper application of the Liquid-Damage Exclusion, Apple sells [devices] with the intent to exclude them from the warranty coverage Apple promises consumers it will provide -- even when consumers pay extra for Extended Warranty coverage -- simply because their Liquid Submersion Indicator has been triggered, without any attempt by Apple to verify whether the Class Devices actually have been damaged as a result of submersion or immersion in liquid." The policy revision may also have come about because Apple has begun to mistrust the reliability of the sensors. So while this isn't exactly news (despite recent wide coverage), it's a good thing for consumers to know about. If a technician suggests your unit suffers from water damage, and you know that it has not been submerged, caught in the rain, sent through the wash or similar, make sure you insist on that secondary inspection. Have them check the internal device indicators as well as the external ones, for units where that makes sense. There's a big difference between a drop of sweat and a dunk in the swimming pool. It's good to see that Apple now recognizes that difference.
Apple pushing its at-home advisor program to college students
Apple is reportedly boosting its efforts to recruit college students for its college advisor program by passing out flyers on college and university campuses. As an Apple At-Home advisor, you receive a free iMac, full benefits and are paid more than $10 per hour to work 16 hours per week during the school year and 40 hours per week in the summer. Best of all, you get to work from the comfort of your home and on a schedule that fits your lifestyle. Oh, and that employee discount on all Apple products is a nice perk as well. To be eligible for this program, you must be enrolled in college and maintain a GPA of 2.7. Tech savviness is a plus as you will be helping customers who call into AppleCare and need technical support for their Apple software or hardware. Patience and a sense of humor are also helpful as you will be handling a variety of questions from skilled and not-so-skilled customers.
Apple support profile lists purchase history, sign up for VoicePass and SMS
Apple quietly released My Support Profile, which offers a hardware purchase history and access to Apple's VoicePass, its trademark filed shortly before Christmas. Once I signed in, I set up my iPhone to use VoicePass and receive SMS messages (available only in the US) from Apple Support. VoicePass will link Apple Support to your product history and allow them to provide personalized service. The right side of the page features a list of repairs and products that you've purchased and registered with Apple. You can also add nicknames to your purchases. The purchase history area is a bit spotty -- it registered my very first Apple product (15 GB 3G iPod from 2004), but missed the 5.5G iPod purchased two years later, iPhone 4 and iPad. But, it's easy to add your other products. Clicking on the product will show you if it's still under AppleCare and extend your AppleCare if it's available. The support profile is a handy place to update your contact information with Apple as well. It's worth taking a few minutes to go make sure your Apple profile is up to date and remind yourself of some of your past Apple purchases and repairs.
Apple's Greek support provider sues customer for hurting its feelings
Things are fine in Denmark, but they're rotten in Greece. Dr. Dimitrios Papadimitriadis (@papadimi on Twitter) was disturbed by some dark spots on his iMac's display, so he took it to Systemgraph (AKA System Graph Technologies), Apple's official warranty support provider in Greece. Systemgraph recommended that the iMac LCD panel be replaced, and that the entire computer receive a good cleaning inside and out. When Papadimitriadis picked up his iMac a few days later, he was dismayed to find that not only was the LCD panel still defective, but there was evidence of moisture behind the screen. The good doctor took advantage of some verbiage in the Greek Civil Code and demanded a refund or replacement of his iMac, which was still under warranty. Systemgraph refused, saying that he had not purchased the iMac from them. Papadimitriadis says he was following Apple's warranty repair procedures to the letter. With no help forthcoming from Systemgraph, Papadimitriadis even went to a consumer ombudsman to begin the lengthy process of gaining some sort of resolution. Becoming a bit frustrated, Papadimitriadis posted a note about his experience on a forum (translation here). He didn't say anything particularly bad about Systemgraph in the forum, but simply described the situation. The response from Systemgraph? They sued him for €200,000 (about US$267,000), claiming that he had damaged the company's reputation. The company is saying that now that this situation has begun showing up on Twitter and Apple websites, there's "an organised attempt to slander and insult" Systemgraph's name. After all of the public relations damage that Systemgraph has done to itself, it might be a lot less expensive to just replace the iMac. There's a hearing on January 19 for the two parties. Good luck, Dr. Papadimitriadis. And Apple might want to take a look at how warranty work is done in those countries where the company doesn't provide their own support.
AppleCare now transferable to new purchases within 30 days
According to an Apple Internal memo not yet release to the public, Apple will now allow transferring an AppleCare agreement on a product bought within the last 30 days to a another product of the same type. Previously, the policy stated that AppleCare must be canceled and then repurchased if you wanted it to cover another product you own. If you gift or sell your covered product to someone else, AppleCare could always be transferred with a simple phone call. AppleCare at present increases your warranty to two years on iOS devices and three years on Macs. I agree with TJ Luoma in believing that AppleCare is a necessity, since we have both used it to cover repairs that out-priced the plan. I don't understand the point of this policy though. It seems unlikely that a customer would buy an Apple product, have it covered with AppleCare and then within 30 days by another one and transfer coverage. Can anyone help me out on this? [via BGR]
AppleCare has paid for itself
My iMac is about three years old. I know this because my AppleCare is expiring on November 7th, and it extends the included one-year warranty by two years to give a total of three years of coverage. In short, I'm glad I've had it and wouldn't consider owning a Mac without it. In the last three years, I have had a hard drive replaced (December 2008), a logic board replaced (March 2010), and am currently scheduled to have a second hard drive replacement (late October 2010). I'm not particularly hard on my computers. They've all been plugged into UPS units (I've had good success with APC) and treated well and fairly. Perhaps I'm just unlucky. Whatever the reason, choosing AppleCare is a simple matter of numbers: given the number of Macs that Apple sells, if even a fraction of 1% have issues over the course of three years, that's going to be a significant number. Others will tell you they've owned several Macs, without AppleCare. This is the same lot who never purchase "extended warranties," which they consider "scams." To them I say that AppleCare is an exception, especially since Macs are increasingly difficult or impossible to get into. Still others will say that Apple ought to include 3 years' worth of protection with every Mac they sell. Perhaps, but the world as it exists is often disappointing compared to the world as we wish it existed. Read on for some suggestions for getting the most out of AppleCare.
AppleCare Adventures: How to get a faulty MacBook battery replaced
The old saying about cars depreciating the moment you drive them off the lot goes double for notebook batteries, which lose a bit of their maximum capacity with every charge cycle. The battery is the one component of your portable Mac that is all but guaranteed to fail eventually... though especially in the case of the newest integrated batteries, it may take as long as a decade to die out completely, depending on your usage habits. How can you tell if your battery is close to failing? More important than that, if it is close to failing, how can you get it replaced? Click "Read More" to find out.
iPhone 4 press conference, by the numbers
Apple dropped a lot of interesting numbers during the press conference this morning, from both their own research and AT&T's data. Steve Jobs also said that three million iPhone 4s have been sold to date, so let's put this into perspective. .55 percent: This is the percentage of iPhone 4 users who have contacted AppleCare regarding antenna or reception issues. This comes out to only 16,500 AppleCare cases. We are not sure if this includes issues related to the proximity sensor; however, Jobs later acknowledged in the press conference that the proximity sensor will be addressed in a future software update. 1.7 percent: This is the number of iPhone 4s returned to AT&T since the initial release 22 days ago, which comes out to roughly 51,000 returns. By contrast, 6 percent of iPhone 3GS were returned in its early days -- and the numbers of those sold are lower than the iPhone 4. The final number is that AT&T is reporting that less than one more call per 100 placed is dropped compared to the iPhone 3GS -- more calls are dropped than the earlier model, but it's only one more per one hundred. However, as was said in our liveblog discussion, this number probably does not take into account the calls that failed to connect in the first place.
Apple telling reps to smooth over iPhone 4 reception complaints, not to offer free bumpers?
BGR appears to have nabbed a document being distributed by Apple corporate to AppleCare reps tasked with handling iPhone 4 customers miffed with the antenna performance fiasco -- and for the time being, the recommendations are focusing on managing expectations, not fixing the problem. In a nutshell, reps are being instructed to pass on a more politically correct version of Steve's email by telling customers that they should "avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band." Interestingly, they agree that bumpers might fix the problem, but they're emphatic in saying that they "ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON'T promise a free bumper to customers." And yes, that statement is complete with caps and bold in the source document, so they mean business, it would seem. If it's any consolation, Apple says that "the iPhone 4's wireless performance is the best [they] have ever shipped," but let's be honest: for those zapping their calls into the afterlife every time they brush their phone the wrong way, it's not much consolation at all.
What to do when your Mac dies
In general, Mac hardware is very reliable. Like any complex gizmo, a Mac will have its quirks, but only rarely do those quirks turn into a full-on, machine-killing meltdown. When that does happen, as it recently happened to my wife's MacBook, there's a few things you can do to keep the death of your Mac from becoming more of an ordeal than it has to be. Before your Mac dies: Back up your data. Your Mac is humming along nicely now, and if you've never had a computer die on you before, you might think it'll go on crunching binary bits forever. Unfortunately, it won't -- eventually, something on the Mac is going to fail. And when it does, it'll take all your music, documents, games, videos, and family photos down with it... unless you have those things backed up in another location. At a bare minimum you should be using Time Machine to back up your entire Mac to an external hard drive. Considering that Apple bundles this simple-to-use backup software in OS X, and considering how cheap even terabyte-capacity external hard drives have become, there's really no excuse for not backing up your data. Having all of your data backed up to another drive makes a dead Mac an inconvenience rather than a full-blown catastrophe. There are other third-party tools you can use, like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, but if you're looking for a solution that doesn't require an additional download (or much conscious thought to implement), Time Machine is the probably simplest backup tool available. More suggestions, both pre- and post-death, after the link below.
