Only if you have an apple store near you which is not incompetent... Or a good authorized repair shop.
I have had a terrible experience over the summer with an iMac, and will never buy AppleCare again.
long story short, took an iMac in for repair (had purchased additional apple care), they damage it. Couldn't fix it, after a fee lies from managers and geniuses they refused to fix it after complaining and kicked me out of the store. after many calls and emails to apple head quarters I got the computer replaced over a month later.
So I can not recommend AppleCare to anyone ever again.
Opposite experience for me.
I took in a 2009 CTO 24" iMac for a loose monitor hinge. I was told the monitor hinge itself wasn't covered under warranty. Explanation being that it isn't an item that can fail. However, the labor to replace it would be covered.
$34.95 wasn't a bad price to me -- even if I thought it should be covered. But, I asked for the manager and he decided to cover it. So awesome. So +1 internets to AppleCare.
Took 2 days for the part to arrive. They called back and I expected them to say it was ready to pick up, but stated they damaged a mainboard connector in the process of disassembly. I asked, what does that mean for me?
This was July 2012. They said, come on in and they'd replace it with a new 27" on the spot (the current, at the time, 2011 model).
The CTO 24" iMac that I bought in 2009, cost me $1,499. They gave me $1,700 for it -- cost of the base model 27" iMac -- and let me purchase the $1,999 upgraded model. So, +1,700 internets to AppleCare.
Where else could I get $1,700 for a (nearly) 3 year old Mac?
I suppose my case could have been different had I taken the repair work to a different Apple store. However, in my case, I highly recommend AppleCare -- at least for their PC/Laptops.
(i've not purchased it for my iPhone, iPad, or AppleTV. They've been entirely reliable.)