100% get AppleCare+. My M1 16“ MBP suddenly died last night and they offered me a brand new M3. Ignore the cheapskates and get the full service Apple has to offer!
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apple care worth it?
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On average, Ceteris Paribus, AppleCare of any type is not worth it. If AppleCare did not make Apple money (meaning it is a bad deal, on average) they would not offer it.
Every extended warranty that costs money operates on this principle. Either the manufacturer knows, or thinks it knows, that it will make a profit. The deck is stacked against you; Apple has all the data and you have only personal or anecdotal data from other people, neither of which are statistically significant, valid, or reliable, unless you purchase hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of units (depending on the statistical power you need) of identically specified units.
Simply put, if you value peace of mind more than money, purchase AppleCare. If you value money over peace of mind, do not purchase AppleCare.
If anyone tells you anything different, they are wrong.
Joe
Every extended warranty that costs money operates on this principle. Either the manufacturer knows, or thinks it knows, that it will make a profit. The deck is stacked against you; Apple has all the data and you have only personal or anecdotal data from other people, neither of which are statistically significant, valid, or reliable, unless you purchase hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of units (depending on the statistical power you need) of identically specified units.
Simply put, if you value peace of mind more than money, purchase AppleCare. If you value money over peace of mind, do not purchase AppleCare.
If anyone tells you anything different, they are wrong.
Joe
This is the same argument as not bothering to insure your home because it's unlikely to burn down so you might as well save the money. All insurance including AppleCare works on the basis that you bet something will go wrong while the insurance company (Apple in this case) bets it won't. If you don't claim you lose your stake but if you do need to claim then you will be very glad that you were insured.
I buy Applecare for iPhone even though I have it in a case with screen protector. I did purchase Applecare for my last Apple Watch 7 and my wife's Apple Watch 8. My 7 has now expired and I did not renew. If it has an issue, it's inexpensive enough to buy a new, latest version one. I did not buy Applecare for my two year old Ipad Pro which is in a case with screen protection. I also did not buy Applecare for my early 2020 Macbook Air. The Air is just used at home.
Having said all that, I have never had to use Applecare insurance to this point.
I am very careful with a devices and probably should not buy insurance, but you can be super careful and still have an internal device failure that has nothing to do with care.
The bottom line is, if you can afford to replace or repair the item without too much financial pain, then save your money, but if you can't then buy the insurance.
Having said all that, I have never had to use Applecare insurance to this point.
I am very careful with a devices and probably should not buy insurance, but you can be super careful and still have an internal device failure that has nothing to do with care.
The bottom line is, if you can afford to replace or repair the item without too much financial pain, then save your money, but if you can't then buy the insurance.
Homes are a significantly larger investment than an apple device, and cars can kill people; insurance (in my opinion) is mandatory unless you are extremely wealthy. Car insurance is, on average, a losing proposition for the buyer, as is home insurance. The companies need to make a profit to stay in business, and this automatically means, on average, that buyers are paying more money than insurance pays out. This said, if you finance a home or a car, insurance is mandatory, but this does not change the dynamics. Insurance is a losing proposition for buyers; sometimes we have a choice not to purchase insurance, and sometimes we do not have a choice. Again, if you value money over security, do not purchase AppleCare. If you value peace of mind more than money, purchase it.
For a mac? Every time. These machines are not repairable anymore unless you work for an Apple authorized repair center, and if you're paying out of pocket, well at that point let's just say it makes more sense to buy a new Macbook.
No relevance to AC+ but my 3rd party insurer just sacked me and my 2009 MBP. Apparently I'm no longer financially viable after €1700 (I paid € 770 insurance premium total) worth of repairs in eight years lol
Yes, the old adage around insurance (for things that aren't mandatory) is that if you can afford a claim (eg. it won't seriously hurt), it will be worth it "in the long run" to not buy insurance and self-insure. With a Mac, I would imagine most people buying one *could* afford it if it broke and they had to pay a big repair bill (or pay for a replacement device), but it would still *hurt*. The extent to how much it hurts depends on personal financial factors.
The other angles I've often told friends about the decision to get AppleCare+ or not:
- Will it be traveled with a lot (eg. iPhone, or laptop you'll be taking with you out of the home frequently?)
- How careful are you in taking care of items? Do you have young kids, pets, etc. where accidents are more likely?
- For Macs, are you getting the base model or a more expensive CTO version? The price of AppleCare+ is the same, regardless of configuration. So if you're getting a more expensive version (eg. higher ram or storage config), the % cost of AppleCare+ is lower, while the cost of repair (or a new device) goes up. So all things equal, AppleCare+ makes increasing sense the higher-spec you have
- Compared to other companies' insurance / extended warranties, I think Apple and AppleCare+ is the best. Other companies do everything they can to DENY your claims. It's an open secret. So the headache factor of submitting a claim, and the risk you might get denied, should play a factor (to the downside) when betting an optional warranty from another company. Apple on the other hand, I think treats their AppleCare+ customers like royalty - they do everything they can to APPROVE your claim. As long as one has a friendly, non-entitled attitude, I find that Apple reps do what they can to help, and is the model "warranty" that consumers really should have. It's what makes it easy(er) to recommend AppleCare+ to family and friends, should the other factors make it make sense.
Personally, I have AppleCare+ on my 2021 14" M1 Pro MBP, and my iPhone 15 PM. Both are on the annual / monthly plans, so I can continue for as long (or as short) as I feel makes sense for me. It's slightly more expensive than buying the 3-yr / 2-yr at-time-of-purchase, but the optionality is worth it for me.
The other angles I've often told friends about the decision to get AppleCare+ or not:
- Will it be traveled with a lot (eg. iPhone, or laptop you'll be taking with you out of the home frequently?)
- How careful are you in taking care of items? Do you have young kids, pets, etc. where accidents are more likely?
- For Macs, are you getting the base model or a more expensive CTO version? The price of AppleCare+ is the same, regardless of configuration. So if you're getting a more expensive version (eg. higher ram or storage config), the % cost of AppleCare+ is lower, while the cost of repair (or a new device) goes up. So all things equal, AppleCare+ makes increasing sense the higher-spec you have
- Compared to other companies' insurance / extended warranties, I think Apple and AppleCare+ is the best. Other companies do everything they can to DENY your claims. It's an open secret. So the headache factor of submitting a claim, and the risk you might get denied, should play a factor (to the downside) when betting an optional warranty from another company. Apple on the other hand, I think treats their AppleCare+ customers like royalty - they do everything they can to APPROVE your claim. As long as one has a friendly, non-entitled attitude, I find that Apple reps do what they can to help, and is the model "warranty" that consumers really should have. It's what makes it easy(er) to recommend AppleCare+ to family and friends, should the other factors make it make sense.
Personally, I have AppleCare+ on my 2021 14" M1 Pro MBP, and my iPhone 15 PM. Both are on the annual / monthly plans, so I can continue for as long (or as short) as I feel makes sense for me. It's slightly more expensive than buying the 3-yr / 2-yr at-time-of-purchase, but the optionality is worth it for me.
AppleCare+ is yet another example of "it's expensive to be poor in capitalism."
The expected return of an insurance policy designed by a for-profit entity is always negative unless it is mispriced, i.e., you will lose money on average unless the insurer is an idiot. AppleCare+ is no exception, and Apple isn't an idiot.
The benefit of buying such a negatively yielding policy is that it may lower the variance of your net worth by eliminating or mitigating a large unexpected liability. Homes, car accidents, etc. are very expensive to many, so insurances covering these usually make financial sense.
Now, whether AppleCare+ is worth it or not depends on whether losing/damaging your apple product is too expensive or not. If you don't mind buying a new one when something happens to your mac or whatever, then AppleCare+ is unnecessary. If it's an expensive purchase for you, it may make sense.
As always, the poor needs to hand their money to the rich not to become poorer.
The expected return of an insurance policy designed by a for-profit entity is always negative unless it is mispriced, i.e., you will lose money on average unless the insurer is an idiot. AppleCare+ is no exception, and Apple isn't an idiot.
The benefit of buying such a negatively yielding policy is that it may lower the variance of your net worth by eliminating or mitigating a large unexpected liability. Homes, car accidents, etc. are very expensive to many, so insurances covering these usually make financial sense.
Now, whether AppleCare+ is worth it or not depends on whether losing/damaging your apple product is too expensive or not. If you don't mind buying a new one when something happens to your mac or whatever, then AppleCare+ is unnecessary. If it's an expensive purchase for you, it may make sense.
As always, the poor needs to hand their money to the rich not to become poorer.
Not the same analogy. Home insurance also includes other coverages such as liability which substantially raises your self insurance calculations. It may also be required by mortgage holders and for umbrella coverage.
No, you can renew after the year. No problem. You can keep on renewing indefinitely.
Yes, that’s a nice thing about the annual plan. It auto-renews each year unless you cancel it, but you can have it for as long as you want, more than first 3 yrs if you wish. I think technically if you bought the fully prepaid plan (3yrs at time of purchase), you can switch to the annual plan thereafter by calling in, but it’s not seamless where you can just do on your laptop / device.
My view is if electronics get past that first 12 months without issues- they are good for years. Accidents for mobile people & mobile devices of course are different.
I find it a no brainer esp on the higher end Macbook pros since the cost is the same. Honestly I never purchased it on a Mac but since I dropped serious bank on my 14" MBP M3Max I decided to go for it. Doing the 99 a year plan.
I don’t have AC. I own my own home and have home contents insurance so it seems a bit pointless taking a separate policy out that is 3/4 the cost of insuring my home just for a phone.
My iPhone is in a case and I’ve never smashed one so there you have it. My wife hasn’t had it on any of her Mac’s over the years as any faults have been accepted by Apple.
My iPhone is in a case and I’ve never smashed one so there you have it. My wife hasn’t had it on any of her Mac’s over the years as any faults have been accepted by Apple.
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I've never purchased AppleCare on any Apple devices and I've used them from the 1980s. Absolutely no regret though I have been very lucky with my devices. If I had purchased 2016-2020 MacBook Pros, then my opinion might be different right now.
I’ve thought about this as well, but if something were to happen to my phone, I think I would hesitate to file a claim with my home insurance for something “so small”. Rightly or wrongly, wouldn’t want to use a claim (with risk that home insurance premiums go up in the future) over a broken screen (or even a broken back glass)… whereas of course no issue filing an AppleCare claim. What are your thoughts on that?
I still don’t buy extra insurance policies for items I own. For the past 20 years we’ve been told by consumer watchdogs that companies are pushing insurance and scaring us into buying policies we don’t need. I know with AC it covers accidental damage, but I think we should just be more careful, so a screen protector and a case is a darn sight cheaper than a policy I am unlikely to ever need on an iPhone. A Mac shouldn’t be put in a position where it’s going to get dropped and Apple will cover hardware failures for a few years under consumer laws anyway.
I wouldn’t tell anybody how to spend their money though and if buying it makes you feel better and you don’t mind throwing that money away should you not need to claim, go for it. They say it’s a life line if you need it and a rip off if you don’t.
AC? I thought it was 2 years?
Beyond that hardware failures are covered under consumer law in certain regions, probably not the US as its dire there for that sort of thing. If a Mac breaks within 3 years where I live, Apple will usually repair, and certainly have in my wife’s experience. She had a screen failure on a 2018 MBP and Apple repaired it for free despite not having AC.
There is either the Apple limited warranty that is 12 years for most Apple devices or AC+ that is 3 years for Macs and 2 years for most other Apple devices.
Is that guaranteed by consumer protection laws? Unfortunately the most that's usually guaranteed is a single year which is no better than the Apple limited warranty duration. Even in the EU the proposal to extend from 12 to 24 months was shot down due to retailer lobbying. Nobody wants to guarantee modern tech to last even 2 years.
My MacPro Cheesegrater never had Applecare. Man that is built like a tank. Aging now but went through loads of troubleshooting issues but still nothing breaks down. My M1 MacBook Air I am more concerned with ... notebooks having their motherboard under the keyboard is worrying. And the keyboard itself, if it malfunctions, it is a sensitive piece of equipment. And finally the screen ... more potential issues.... the thing is they are all combined into one, like a desktop AIO. For a Mac notebook, I would spend the extra at least for one extension (2 years) and decide after that whether to extend further based on how well you feel the condition of your machine is running. In the end, it is your decision and if you take the risk, it is kind of like Russian Roulette.