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AppleCare or no AppleCare: that is the question

R

rwh63

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2010
547
291
New England
never bought applecare. but, with laptops becoming almost impossible for most to home repair, i am considering it for my upcoming M4
purchase. on sale, it would add over $200 to the cost and provide 3 years coverage. what's the real math on this? i believe basic warranty is 1 year parts and labor for defects, but not self-damage. but i believe you still have to pay for self-damage repairs, but maybe at a discount. if i purchase on credit card, the warranty will double up to 1 year. and, i believe applecare 3 year includes the first year anyway.

i've never had an accident with my computers. it is used mostly at home. if i were buying a $3k laptop, i would spring for the coverage, but mine will be half that. and, most defects appear during the first year anyway, so would be covered. and the credit card would cover the second year.

thoughts?
 
1) Will the laptop to be used primarily stationary? If not, consider there is an inherent (albeit very small) risk of accidentally dropping or banging the Mac against an object.
2) With such an expensive device, there is a risk (albeit small) for hardware failure to occur at any point of ownership.
3) Should you have an accident with your Mac or it have hardware failure after the initial warranty, can you easily afford to pay for the full cost of repair?
 
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I think it boils down to your personal risk tolerance and whether it'll be a financial burden to replace/repair the device. I don't buy AC and I've come out well ahead, but some people feel the peace of mind is worth the cost - even if you don't end up using it - and there's nothing wrong with that either.
 
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I have used AppleCare once in the 10 different devices I have owned from Apple. That one time was for my first iPad that was damaged in an automobile accident. The at fault parties insurance company refused to pay for the damage so I used the AppleCare. (I did get the money back in a court ruling that forced the at fault person to personally pay, not his insurance).

I sub at the local high school and I see kids with phones that many times have damaged screens or backs. These kids are hard on their devices, probably because they did not have to pay for them.

If you are relatively careful, not prone to accidents, then AppleCare, in my opinion, is probably not worth the money. I have packed a Surface Pro laptop for 5 years, traveled to Europe a couple of times, many domestic trips, carried in a laptop bag, and I have suffered no damage.

Other than having AppleCare for the iPad (my first Apple product), I have only purchased AppleCare for the watch as that device is more exposed to being hit on something. The AppleCare has expired and the watch has never been damaged. So AppleCare provided no benefit.
 
The value of AppleCare can't be determined until the plan is over. Did you break the Mac? If so, it was a good value. If not, it was not a good value. There's literally NO other way to know.

The only thing you can decide ahead of time, is if the prospect of having to pay for a repair is offset by the peace of mind of knowing you're covered. That's a very personal metric, my opinion & everyone else's is irrelevant.
 
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I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands on AC+ over the years on a variety of devices, but only used it once (battery replacement on an iPhone 11). While it would be nice to have that money back or repurposed into something more essential, the peace of mind knowing I wouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of unexpected damage or failures was worth it. As mentioned before, it’s your personal tolerance for risk.
 
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Bought AppleCare for my iMac, of all things, and used it twice in the first three years:
  1. Liquid damage: Replaced my Magic Keyboard which had Touch ID and Numeric keypad
  2. Faulty display: Two days after AppleCare had expired, I got the hotizontal lines: Apple graciously replaced it.
Replacing the keyboard alone covered the cost of AC.

Moved into the ecosystem since they build great products and Apple takes care of me when I need them: I pay them to handle the hassle. Plus, if anyone in the family messes up their device, I don't get aggravated.
 
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rwh63 said:
never bought applecare. but, with laptops becoming almost impossible for most to home repair, i am considering it for my upcoming M4
purchase. on sale, it would add over $200 to the cost and provide 3 years coverage. what's the real math on this? i believe basic warranty is 1 year parts and labor for defects, but not self-damage. but i believe you still have to pay for self-damage repairs, but maybe at a discount. if i purchase on credit card, the warranty will double up to 1 year. and, i believe applecare 3 year includes the first year anyway.

i've never had an accident with my computers. it is used mostly at home. if i were buying a $3k laptop, i would spring for the coverage, but mine will be half that. and, most defects appear during the first year anyway, so would be covered. and the credit card would cover the second year.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

For me, AppleCare+ is a no brainer.

I've not claimed before, but screens are expensive, and you're covered for accidental damage at a lower fee. I use this machine for work and its piece of mind that if I damage/break it, I'm not screwed. In line with the above post - it's less stress. If something goes wrong with the machine, whether or not it's my fault, I'm covered.

I don't bother with Applecare+ on less expensive devices, but on the MacBook line - definitely.
 
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rwh63 said:
never bought applecare. but, with laptops becoming almost impossible for most to home repair, i am considering it for my upcoming M4
purchase. on sale, it would add over $200 to the cost and provide 3 years coverage. what's the real math on this? i believe basic warranty is 1 year parts and labor for defects, but not self-damage. but i believe you still have to pay for self-damage repairs, but maybe at a discount. if i purchase on credit card, the warranty will double up to 1 year. and, i believe applecare 3 year includes the first year anyway.

i've never had an accident with my computers. it is used mostly at home. if i were buying a $3k laptop, i would spring for the coverage, but mine will be half that. and, most defects appear during the first year anyway, so would be covered. and the credit card would cover the second year.

thoughts?
Click to expand...
You could invest that $200 in a Turkish steel mill and come out ahead.
 
As others point out, it comes out to risk tolerance. If you break it or it fails OOW, can you afford teh fix vs the cost of AC+ and the deductible for damage?

If you are just worried about damage, you can add a personal electronics rider to many insurance policies that covers it and many other devices. You can set a deductable you can afford and all you give up is warranty service and tech support.

There is no right answer, it depends on your needs.
 
Unless you purposely throw your laptop down the stairs then there is no need for apple care
 
When Intel Macbooks had crappy GPUs that would self destruct over time, then yes AC+ was definitely worth it every time as almost every single Intel MBP that I had, had to have its logic board replaced at least once. (I use them heavily for video and photo editing with some gaming) Apple Silicon seems to have negated that failure rate significantly. Now if you travel a lot, it's still worth it. I also use my macbooks/ipads while in my pool/spa (yes, I'm crazy) so AC+ for sure lol.
 
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I definitely wouldn't buy an expensive Mac without Apple Care. When you think about the cost for three years of warranty, it makes total sense, especially when you consider how expensive repairs could be otherwise.
 
Check with your renters or homeowners if you can get a computer rider on your policy. I pay a few bucks extra monthly for mine, and with a $250 deductible, I get replacement cost for any reason, including theft, which AppleCare does not cover.
 
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glindon said:
Check with your renters or homeowners if you can get a computer rider on your policy. I pay a few bucks extra monthly for mine, and with a $250 deductible, I get replacement cost for any reason, including theft, which AppleCare does not cover.
Click to expand...

Bear in mind if it's a rider/endorsement on a residential policy that it may still be subject to your home deductible (larger than AppleCare might be prohibitive), usually doesn't cover physical damage not related to covered peril/loss type (fire, storm, etc...), and counts as a ratable claim on your policy (generally 5 years with most insurers). Check into companies with a standalone policy (such as State Farm) that will alleviate some of those issues.

-Licensed Insurance Dude
 
Amazon currently has applecare+ add-on for $220. doesn't best buy sometimes have a free add on for members?
 
Unless you purpose throw your MacBook down the stairs or sit on it, I wouldn't bother with AC.
 
mathiasinthe314 said:
I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands on AC+ over the years on a variety of devices, but only used it once (battery replacement on an iPhone 11). While it would be nice to have that money back or repurposed into something more essential, the peace of mind knowing I wouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of unexpected damage or failures was worth it. As mentioned before, it’s your personal tolerance for risk.
Click to expand...
I have done the opposite. About a year ago I added up how much I have “saved” over the years by not getting AppleCare, and it came to about $2500. By now it is probably approaching $3000. I had one instance where I could have used it, which was to replace an old ipad mini that I smashed, which cost me $350.
$2500 is a lot of money to have banked for a possible future repair or replacement. The nice thing about doing it this way is that I would replace a broken machine with the newest model, not a refurb older model that would be what I would get via an AppleCare claim.
I have occasionally bought Applecare and in all cases have regretted doing so.
I am, however, very comfortable with taking risk provided I do the numbers on the risk. Works in the stock market, too… There is also the opportunity cost lost by giving that $2500 to Apple instead of investing it to grow further
 
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wilberforce said:
I have done the opposite. About a year ago I added up how much I have “saved” over the years by not getting AppleCare, and it came to about $2500. By now it is probably approaching $3000. I had one instance where I could have used it, which was to replace an old ipad mini that I smashed, which cost me $350.
$2500 is a lot of money to have banked for a possible future repair or replacement. The nice thing about doing it this way is that I would replace a broken machine with the newest model, not a refurb older model that would be what I would get via an AppleCare claim.
I have occasionally bought Applecare and in all cases have regretted doing so.
I am, however, very comfortable with taking risk provided I do the numbers on the risk. Works in the stock market, too… There is also the opportunity cost lost by giving that $2500 to Apple instead of investing it to grow further
Click to expand...
i had one laptop that I didn't get Applecare, and it was cursed. It had so many problems just after one year until the board died. But instead of being angry and buying another brand, I was angry and went back to Apple and bought another one :p
 
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