As a Mac owner you’ll be pretty familiar with the concept of an Apple ID. OK, perhaps you’re not entirely familiar with it, but you know that you have one. It’s either a mac.com, me.com or an iCloud.com email address, or perhaps it’s your personal email address. Whatever you use as your Apple ID, you will have an Apple Support Profile. But what’s that? What does it do, how can it help you and where can it be found? Regardless of whether or not you have taken any AppleCare extra warranty, here's how the Apple Support Profile will be useful to you.
Your Apple Support Profile
Your Apple Support Profile is the place to manage your Apple ID, your contact information, your Apple products, their repairs, any support cases you have raised and is a place to participate in Apple’s communities - their self-help forums for Apple customers around the world.
Welcome to Your Apple Support Profile
If you were unaware of this, it comes as no surprise as it is a little difficult to find. However, it’s easy to get there if you can remember the web address, which is: supportprofile.apple.com
Apple Support Profile Overview
The Apple Support Profile page is divided into two main sections: My Apple ID and My Products.
My Apple ID has three sections
- Phone Numbers / VoicePass
- Personal Information
- Apple Support Communities
My Products lists your registered products (if any are already registered) and has the following three links:
- Cases
- Repairs
- Communities
The Apple Support Profile Main Page Showing VoicePass, Contact Info and Products
Phone Numbers / VoicePass
VoicePass is a way of registering your telephone numbers with Apple so that, if you need to call their support, they will know it is you calling and they will be able to provide a fast, personalized support experience (so they say).
In this section of your Apple Support Profile, you are able to enter your daytime, evening and mobile telephone numbers. It is possible to have two or all of them as the same telephone number you wish, or they may be different.
It is important to note, though, that each telephone number can be registered to only one customer at a time. This means that your home telephone number, for instance, can not be used by both your significant other and yourself; it can be used by only one of you. If that’s the case, it’s probably best to use your iPhone telephone numbers (presuming you’ll call Apple Support from your iPhone, of course).
Note, also, that telephone numbers with extension numbers, such as you’d get on a PBX (Private Branch eXchange) at work, can not be registered for VoicePass.
It is possible to update or change your telephone numbers, and VoicePass inclusion or exclusion, at any time on this page.
VoicePass Registration Confirmation
On registering any of your telephone numbers for inclusion in VoicePass, you will be able to select your preferred language from the choice of Deutsch, English, Español, Français or Italiano.
Personal Information
This section contains your name, Apple ID, password, email address and postal address. This information can be corrected, updated and maintained by clicking on the edit link on this page.
Apple Support Communities
You also have your Apple Support Communities profile information containing profile image (photo/avatar), your Nickname and your Level - where points are awarded for participating in Apple Communities.
If you have ever reviewed any apps in the Mac App Store (or the iOS App Store) then you will likely see a nickname here already. Again, your profile image and nickname can be edited just here.
Cases
This section lists any support contact that you have had with Apple, either by email or by telephone. It will detail the date of the support activity, the product for which support was required (including the serial number) and a Case Title - a summary of the support action sought.
There is also the opportunity to raise a new support case, from this page, if you need help from Apple support.
Repairs
This section allows you to look up the status of a single repair and requires you to enter either a Case or Repair ID and either your Postal Code or the Serial Number of the product.
Without this information you will not be able to get the repair status, unless you click the “View My Repairs” link, on the right, which will list the status of any repairs you have or have had previously.
Communities
This last section takes you through to the Apple Support Communities welcome page which invites you to submit a question to the community.
As you might expect, with the number of customers and the number of Apple products (both current and legacy) any such online forum could become easily overwhelmed. Hence, the Apple Support Communities are divided into support on a per product basis: iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, desktop computers, notebooks, Mac OS and System Software, Mac App Store, etc.
And many of those communities are divided into sub-communities, so it really is worth your while seeking the most appropriate community for your question.
My Products
This section lists your Apple devices, if you have registered them. Normally, the process of setting up any Apple device will include your Apple ID and that is when the device will be added to your profile.
If you find that your profile does not already include any of your Apple devices, a Time Capsule or AirPort Express perhaps, then you can add them here. You may also edit or remove them.
You can also give each device a meaningful name. For example, I have a personal iPhone and an iPhone for work, so each is given a different name. Each of your Apple products is listed with its description and serial number.
By clicking on the arrow, to the right of any of the listed Apple devices, you can explore more information about an individual device, including: Registration, telephone technical support coverage and warranty cover.
If there are any Cases (support queries) or Repair Activities these, too, can be accessed here along with support resources for that particular device.
Finally, you can telephone Apple Support or Set Up a Repair from the webpage if the device is still under Apple’s standard warranty or AppleCare warranty.
Conclusion
The Apple Support Profile demystifies some of the purpose behind your Apple ID and helps you to understand how your Apple ID is used to tie your Apple products and services together. Perhaps if this was given a little more prominence on the Apple support website (it is very hard to find) then more people would have a greater understanding of what the Apple ID is for.
Now that you know how to access your Apple Support Profile, at supportprofile.apple.com, you can log in to check that all your contact information is up to date, register your telephone numbers for VoicePass and check that all of your Apple devices are properly registered with Apple, and more.
