AppleCare+ for M2 Mac mini Pro?

[Zephar77]

Have 2 more days to decide to purchase AppleCare+ for my new M2 Mac mini Pro 1Tb SSD. If this is a worthwhile coverage for a unit that will not likely move from its current location until it stops working. Use my setup for DAW using LogicPro with Apogee Quartet and Roland GI-20 MIDI interface for a Godin MultiAc Guitar for recording MIDI events into LogicPro.
Still have a 2011 iMac and 2014 iMac, both functioning perfectly. Each time thought to replace; but, there are uses for older Macs running older macOS. Still using the 2014 for DAW until get use to macOS Ventura and the new Mac mini Pro. Still get occasional macOS tiny updates for the High Sierra 2011 iMac, surprisingly.
Any thoughts or recommendation would be appreciated.
Best, Seth

 

[Fishrrman]

I can't see why one would need AC+ for a Mini.
All it does is "sit there on the desk". Usually towards the back.
And... historically, the Minis seem to be the most reliable of all Macs in the lineup.

 

[Zephar77]

That was my conclusion. Although my 2011 iMac, the internal hard drive crashed. Apple actually sent somebody from 100 miles away the next day and replaced the hard drive in my home in about 10 minutes. From watching him do that, placing an internal SSD in the optical drive bay was quite easy and fastened with Velcro since Ifixit hadn't come up with a kit to do that in 2011.
However, It was a known problem with that particular iMac and probably would've been covered anyway. Yes, I think I'll save my $99 plus tax for a pair of iPods GEN 3 for work.
Thanks for your input. Seth

 

[LeeW]

It's the least likely Mac to need AC+ but I still took it. 3 years for £99 is not much for a £1,400 device (in my case). I take a reverse view of Apple product reliability. If it is going to have issues it will be sooner than later. These days the only likely solution to a faulty M1/2 device is a new motherboard which is not going to be cheap. I would rather pay £99 a couple of times in the first 6 years vs the cost of the motherboard.

 

[okkibs]

If it's 10% or less of the total device cost I usually get AC+, it isn't about the insurance, you also get the additional years of warranty if anything fails. Obviously it doesn't make sense to get AC+ for the M2 Mini base model as that would be another 17% of the device cost on top.

For your config I'd probably spend the 99 bucks, it's about 7% extra.

For my 4.5k Mac I got AC+ because the extra 6% or so warranty cost didn't increase the sum much. And I am more worried about an expensive Mac becoming a paperweight, an entry level device I can just replace with another entry level device in the worst case.

Keep in mind that on this Mini pretty much nothing is repairable anymore. If the SSD or the memory fails that's an entire logic board swap at around 800 bucks, for every single such issue. Sure you can swap minor things, like the fan, but compared to older Intel Minis it is much less serviceable.

Overall it's mostly about peace of mind for me, I've rarely needed support at all and obviously Apple is making a profit with this. And as with every insurance it's always best if the money for it was wasted and you never needed it.

 

[Zephar77]

Well folks, there are some excellent arguments here both ways. Since this is not an entry level, but pretty close to the studio Mac in price at $1499.99 plus tax, perhaps the $99/3yrs or $34.99/year might be the best investment since it's a small percentage of the total amount. And you're right, there's not much anyone can do to fix the new Mac minis. Even dusting them out might be a problem. My 2011 was easy enough. The 2014 iMac was problematic. All I could do was vacuum out the exiting ports and other various holes and vents I could find. I found too many warnings about using compressed air on any of the vents or ports.
Actually using TG pro and maxing out the fan blew out quite a bit of dust from the back exit vent on the 2014 iMac.
I'll go for the $34.99 per year, which is about 2% of the cost including tax.
Appreciate all the replies, Seth

 

[Zephar77]

Daggumit!

Just realized that the Mac mini doesn't come with a Display - not an iMac. I only have insurance on the lesser of probability of problems. The apple display is $169. That makes the package $269, a bit more than $169 for an iMac.
Been out for a while, the Apple display. Any significant hardware problems. I noticed there was an update for the Apple display recently. Not sure what that was about though.
Any pros and cons for ensuring the Apple display? Seth

 

[watakoola]

With 3 days to go on AC+, my Intel mini cooked itself. Apple had the mini for over a week and then replaced it with a new base-model M2 Pro.

You can be sure I purchased AC+ for my new mini! In my case it was well worth the cost and peace of mind.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The best thing to do is self-insure. If you can't afford to replace it should it suddenly die, that means you shouldn't have bought it to begin with. If you have the money to flip for a repair should it be needed, there is no need to spend on AC+.

 

[Zephar77]

Purchased AC+ plus today!
Thanks for all the input folks, and the final analysis was to purchase. If it was just the base model, maybe. But I got pretty close to a studio in cost.
Best, Seth