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Applecare?

  • Yay

    Votes: 132 67.3%
  • Nay

    Votes: 61 31.1%
  • Squaretrade

    Votes: 3 1.5%

  • Total voters
    196
I say yes and I did get it for my 13 Pro Max. In 24 months, if I still have the phone I might continue on with the monthly Apple Care. Right now I purchased the extra year.
 
Just how good is Apple’s Theft & Loss protection? If I lose my device, can I walk into an Apple store and walk out with a replacement device, or do they ship one next day?
 
I have never had to use the T&L provisions but it would seem that availability of model, storage size and color would determine whether you could do so. For example, the 13 Pro Max with 512GB or 1TB might be on backorder. I pre-ordered my iPhone 13 Pro Max 512GB on pre-order day, 9/17, but did not get it until 9/30 even though Best Buy gave me the option of 256GB.
 
I thought AppleCare + TL was the highest level of coverage offered by Apple. I purchased this option when I pre-ordered my iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Or that… either way, I’m saying yes it’s worth it. I personally don’t do Theft/Loss, as it’s not a major concern for me. Dropping it or having it fall out of my uniform pocket is.

“Best case we make for your new iPhone” is something we used to say at my store back when I worked for Apple.
 
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Peace of mind is where it’s at
 
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I've only ever purchased Apple Care for my Apple Watch and I (luckily?) never had to use it. With our phones now costing in excess of 1000€, I'd like to have the peace of mind, but then I find the price a little hard to stomach. At 230€ or 290€ it's almost an iPad or an Apple Watch SE's worth in insurance payments...

I pay roughly 1,25% of my car's worth in insurance every year to get full coverage, while insuring the iPhone would cost me around 10% of the device's worth every year. The ratios just seem off to me. Maybe I'll end up insuring my iPhone 13 Pro through a standard insurance company - they seem to be a little cheaper at around 90€ / year.
 
I've only ever purchased Apple Care for my Apple Watch and I (luckily?) never had to use it. With our phones now costing in excess of 1000€, I'd like to have the peace of mind, but then I find the price a little hard to stomach. At 230€ or 290€ it's almost an iPad or an Apple Watch SE's worth in insurance payments...
Yes, and to that you need to add the cost of the deductible (the fee for claiming breakage or loss).

I have very good peace of mind keeping my declined AppleCare costs in my bank account, not Apple's.
So far I have declined nearly $2000 in Applecare costs, and have had to replace one iPad (my cost, about $400) due to smashing it on concrete. I have bought AppleCare on a few high risk items, for about $200 total, although in hindsight I wish I hadn't.
So I am ahead well over $1000 by (mostly) not getting AppleCare. Very peaceful mind.

The problem is that people irrationally perceive a loss as greater than the same gain. People like to get a gain, but HATE getting the same loss:

 
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I've only ever purchased Apple Care for my Apple Watch and I (luckily?) never had to use it. With our phones now costing in excess of 1000€, I'd like to have the peace of mind, but then I find the price a little hard to stomach. At 230€ or 290€ it's almost an iPad or an Apple Watch SE's worth in insurance payments...

I pay roughly 1,25% of my car's worth in insurance every year to get full coverage, while insuring the iPhone would cost me around 10% of the device's worth every year. The ratios just seem off to me. Maybe I'll end up insuring my iPhone 13 Pro through a standard insurance company - they seem to be a little cheaper at around 90€ / year.
Ah, but do you carry your car around with you every minute of the day with a high probability of accidentally dropping it and costing roughly 1/3 of its value to repair? Insurance is about likelihood, and relative collateral damage. I'm not saying you're wrong for questioning the high cost. It is expensive. I'm just saying it may be a bit like comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended).
 
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Ah, but do you carry your car around with you every minute of the day with a high probability of accidentally dropping it and costing roughly 1/3 of its value to repair? Insurance is about likelihood, and relative collateral damage. I'm not saying you're wrong for questioning the high cost. It is expensive. I'm just saying it may be a bit like comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended).
Well, my car is outside and exposed to wind, weather and horrible drivers in addition to the risk that is associated with operating it. I wouldn‘t say that it‘s inherently less likely to suffer damage.
 
Well, my car is outside and exposed to wind, weather and horrible drivers in addition to the risk that is associated with operating it. I wouldn‘t say that it‘s inherently less likely to suffer damage.
A car is also far more likely to cause you a catastrophic loss than a phone is.
This is the main purpose of insurance (avoiding a catastrophic monetary loss).
 
I think the problem with applecare+ is apple is aiming for simplicity. Car insurance is priced based off of your risk score so it's individualized. Applecare+ costs the same no matter your config and so you're essentially paying for higher risk people + those who are buying more expensive products.

Applecare+ is also a monopoly essentially. Becuase nobody can really repair your iphone, other insurance companies have to pay apple prices anyway.
 
I think the problem with applecare+ is apple is aiming for simplicity. Car insurance is priced based off of your risk score so it's individualized. Applecare+ costs the same no matter your config and so you're essentially paying for higher risk people + those who are buying more expensive products.
Yes and no.
From a buyer's point-of-view, the AppleCare cost for a base config is the same as a top config, so it seems unfair (or a good deal, if you have the top config).
From Apple's point-of-view, the cost to "repair" the device is nearly the same, regardless of the config. (Remember, Apple's cost is not the retail cost. There is a huge markup on the top config.)

But yes, they don't discriminate by individual. Imagine the complaining and outrage in this forum if they did.
 
Maybe not discriminate per individual, butI actually think they should discriminate based off of configuration. If I were to guess, apple's pricing for applecare+ is probably intentional. Even if the cost to repair may be similar for all configs, they probably priced it higher than necessary for cheaper configs to make it seem "worth it" to jump up to higher configs.
 
I think the problem with applecare+ is apple is aiming for simplicity. Car insurance is priced based off of your risk score so it's individualized. Applecare+ costs the same no matter your config and so you're essentially paying for higher risk people + those who are buying more expensive products.

Applecare+ is also a monopoly essentially. Becuase nobody can really repair your iphone, other insurance companies have to pay apple prices anyway.
Yea and no. I agree with your point about the monopoly and I wish there was more flexibility especially with respect to right to repair. But car is insurance is not just based on YOUR risk score. It is based on the zip code you live in, what sex and age you happen to be, even what color your car is. In this regard Applecare+ is WAY more fair because it's about the likelihood of human nature to make mistakes, not because you live here or there, how reckless your neighbors are, or if you live in the same house with young drivers.
 
So I didn't want the £10 a month as part of the Barclays finance payments every month, I figured I'd select it after purchase and have a separate payment. But lo and behold its 11.99 a month if you do it on your phone separately.

Yes yes, I know the financing deal locks you into 24x£10 just the same as paying the full £240 up front, but it's classic insurance company bait and switch. Would it have killed them to point that out at the time?
 
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So I didn't want the £10 a month as part of the Barclays finance payments every month, I figured I'd select it after purchase and have a separate payment. But lo and behold its 11.99 a month if you do it on your phone separately.

Yes yes, I know the financing deal locks you into 24x£10 just the same as paying the full £240 up front, but it's classic insurance company bait and switch. Would it have killed them to point that out at the time?
Yea, have to agree this is fairly arbitrary and it would be great if they let you know up front. This is similar to the policy where you can sign up for AppleCare+ on your iPhone at home within the first 60 days but on the 61st day you need to come down to an Apple Store for them to inspect the device. I get that they need to ensure against fraud and set limits but are people way less capable of fraud on the 59th day than the 61st?
 
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With buying AppleCare, I've invoked it on every mobile device I've had; not on a desktop device though. But with how buttoned down and sealed up the iMac is these days I'd consider getting AppleCare on that too. Mac Pro? Probably not, though I might consider it on that huge monitor they're selling for it.

Remember it isn't just warrantying things in a relatively customer friendly way; it's also the only way in consumer computing to get pro-standard tech support.
 
I've used Apple products since the early 1980s. Never had AppleCare. Never needed it. That's true for the kids as well.
I’ve always gotten it with every MacBook Pro; almost every one has needed it, and Apple’s standard “needs a motherboard” fix is expensive. I don’t buy AppleCare for any other Apple product.
 
I pay my AT&T bill with an Amex card they has cell phone insurance for damage and theft. Theoretically, this should substitute for AppleCare, but the claims process seems onerous.
 
I’ve always gotten it with every MacBook Pro; almost every one has needed it, and Apple’s standard “needs a motherboard” fix is expensive. I don’t buy AppleCare for any other Apple product.

Apple has always replaced motherboards for free for us. I think that we've had nine of them over the years.
 
I’ve seen some spend as much on cases as it would cost for Apple care or screen replacements. But to each their own.
That's why I never buy a case in-store. You can buy a good, strong case on Ebay for 20 dollars, or less.
 
As others said, it is the price of Applecare for iPhone which is holding me back. I have bought Applecare for all my iMacs, and the price is about 6%-7% of an iMac (with some extra's like larger SSD), and it is a 3 year warranty.
For my iPhone 13 Pro however, I would have to pay 18% for a 2 year warranty.
 
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