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ejin222

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2011
564
432
Over time, I've noticed which products I need or don't need AppleCare+. The products that I handle 90% of the time don't get AppleCare+. The ones that my children use, occasionally yes. Anything my wife touches, YES (I have never met a more accident prone person in my life...)
 
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Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,396
23,901
Singapore
Could you tell us why?

In the long run, I suspect people will be better off self-insuring (eg: use the money saved from not getting Applecare to pay for repairs / replacements when necessary).

For me, my personal threshold for product insurance is if it costs about 10% of the price overall. I have been lucky overall. When my products did develop problems, it was within the first year which made them automatically covered. Otherwise, they have been pretty problem-free.
 
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Eithanius

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2005
1,556
419
Had it on my iPad 6, and claimed twice. One was a defective camera 5 months in, and another was a line on the screen, 2 months before AC+ expiry. So it's not just user error getting them damaged but on Apple's part.
 

lyngo

macrumors 6502a
Sep 10, 2007
871
1,499
I have AppleCare on my iPad Pro. I have had AppleCare on all of my iPads over the years. The main reason why is because I travel a ton and I also do a lot of presentations and speaking with it. One time, I had my propped up on a music stand and it seemed fine... until it didn’t. The iPad fell face down right on the ground. The presentation went on and I called AppleCare for a replacement unit sent to a middle-of-nowhere location in the Mid-West. My replacement was there within two days.

In my case, I am glad that I had applecare because the cost of the replacement after purchasing AppleCare in the first place was $35 for the front screen replacement.
 
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thisismyusername

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2015
476
729
I never buy AppleCare for any devices. It's just an extended warranty and those, in general, are a waste of money. The amount of money I've saved over the years easily exceeds the cost of at least a couple brand new Apple devices.
 

RevTEG

macrumors 65816
Oct 28, 2012
1,364
1,237
San Jose, Ca
Always. Learned my lesson the hard way. Example, Apple doesn’t repair iPad Pro screens. The 12.9 is $600 to buy a replacement unit. Or free/$49 with AC+. Took me accidentally scratching a 12.9 screen to learn my lesson.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
13,273
When iPads reached the point where I didn't need to upgrade every year, LTE+top storage jumped to $1K+, and warranty replacement cost $500+, yes I started getting AppleCare+.

I don't want to have to choose between spending ~$700 (with tax) to repair my old iPad or ~$1800 (with tax) to upgrade to a soon to be replaced model.
 
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itsmilo

Suspended
Sep 15, 2016
3,985
8,731
Berlin, Germany
I am getting it since keyboard and Apple pen are also covered. The Smart Keyboard broke on my old iPad Pro 10.5 and I don’t want it to happen again
 

doboy

macrumors 68040
Jul 6, 2007
3,777
2,958
I've never bought it for iPhone or iPad, but bought it for Apple Watch and AirPod Pro. However, I do get free extended warranty through credit card companies when paying with my cards. Doesn't provide the same coverage, but it's free :)
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,193
9,036
With Education prices, my iPad Air cost $919 (CDN) and the AppleCare cost $63 (CDN). Seemed worth it to me.
 

TheIntruder

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2008
1,771
1,282
Every risk assessment is different, but I will say this -- I'd be more inclined to buy AC+ if the coverage term was the same as that for Macs, three years.

Both my iMac and iPad Pro are home bound machines, but I have carried my Air, and my iPhones around the world, with no incidents.

For my $800 iPad Pro, the $129 cost nets only a single additional year of defect coverage and four accident claims.

But for the $169 cost of AC+ for my $2100 iMac, I get two additional years of defect coverage and a total of six accident claims. My card's coverage stacks on top of it, so I will have four years of coverage total, or potentially five, depending on if it extends the AC coverage period as well.

Despite the good support Apple provides for iOS devices, it's more likely that the iPad is going to be replaced before the iMac will, given computers' longer service lives.

And, should something occur, the $499 repair fee that it would cost to fix a broken Pro could be applied toward a newer, more up to date device. Granted, that's a whole lot more than $49, but that deal is only in effect for two years, and $499 is a lot easier to swallow than the $2000 to procure a replacement Mac.

My concerns are more about latent defects, long term. If Apple had still offered plain AC without accident coverage for my Mac, that's what I would have purchased that instead. My risk with regard to accidents is low.

So for me, I get more potential value out of AC+ for my Mac than I would for my iPad, so I'm still unlikely to purchase it within the 45 days I have left to decide. YMMV.
 

kristalsoldier

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2013
818
523
Every risk assessment is different, but I will say this -- I'd be more inclined to buy AC+ if the coverage term was the same as that for Macs, three years.

Both my iMac and iPad Pro are home bound machines, but I have carried my Air, and my iPhones around the world, with no incidents.

For my $800 iPad Pro, the $129 cost nets only a single additional year of defect coverage and four accident claims.

But for the $169 cost of AC+ for my $2100 iMac, I get two additional years of defect coverage and a total of six accident claims. My card's coverage stacks on top of it, so I will have four years of coverage total, or potentially five, depending on if it extends the AC coverage period as well.

Despite the good support Apple provides for iOS devices, it's more likely that the iPad is going to be replaced before the iMac will, given computers' longer service lives.

And, should something occur, the $499 repair fee that it would cost to fix a broken Pro could be applied toward a newer, more up to date device. Granted, that's a whole lot more than $49, but that deal is only in effect for two years, and $499 is a lot easier to swallow than the $2000 to procure a replacement Mac.

My concerns are more about latent defects, long term. If Apple had still offered plain AC without accident coverage for my Mac, that's what I would have purchased that instead. My risk with regard to accidents is low.

So for me, I get more potential value out of AC+ for my Mac than I would for my iPad, so I'm still unlikely to purchase it within the 45 days I have left to decide. YMMV.
Actually, depending on how one times it, the AC+ is in play for 1 year and 2 months (since you have 60 days from purchase to get it). Moreover, as I understand it, the kind of coverage AC+ gives you is different from the standard manufacturers warranty that Apple gives on their products. So, it not quite as simple a consideration like how you present it.
 

elexonica

macrumors newbie
Jul 29, 2012
16
9
Australia
I did, but the iPad's pretty much my laptop for Uni at the moment, so the peace of mind was worth it (It really was expensive for two years coverage though). Given the iPad's been one of two Apple products I've had in the last couple years that didn't give me issues in the first couple of weeks of owning, I might change my mind when I upgrade, but til then I'm happy having the coverage.
 

jambon

macrumors regular
Jul 15, 2010
191
224
London
Never. Only for iphone which have the eye-wateringly expensive screen replacement cost. I don't take my ipad far and have a folio case to dropping seems unlikely, especially with no one-handed in the street etc.
 

*~Kim~*

macrumors 65816
May 6, 2013
1,179
471
UK
I didn’t for my iPad 3 and never needed it, considered not getting it for my Mini 5 but then decided to do so as I was getting the cellular model and due to this and the size, it would leave the house far more than the iPad 3 ever did. I haven’t needed it, but I’ve had a few close shaves. I use it in bed which I didn’t do with the iPad 3 and it has fallen down the side a few times. My cousin also accidentally stood on it when I left it on the floor to the side of my chair. On all occasions it was in a case and the screen was fine, but Sod’s law one or more would have broken the screen had I not gone with AC+.

Having looked at the replacement costs of laminated screen devices, AC+ seems better value than perhaps it has been in the past, especially as it’s now 2 replacements a year rather than 2 for the coverage period. 2 per period seemed poor value, adding in that an accessory claim would count as an incident.
 

delta0

macrumors 6502
Sep 1, 2018
275
84
London
I got it with mine only because I want piece of mind in case I drop it or bend it. I do take my iPad outside and travelling (obviously not as much as I would like these days). This means my risk of damage is much higher than if I was just using it at home.
 

seadragon

macrumors 68000
Mar 10, 2009
1,872
3,151
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,921
13,273
Every risk assessment is different, but I will say this -- I'd be more inclined to buy AC+ if the coverage term was the same as that for Macs, three years.

Both my iMac and iPad Pro are home bound machines, but I have carried my Air, and my iPhones around the world, with no incidents.

For my $800 iPad Pro, the $129 cost nets only a single additional year of defect coverage and four accident claims.

But for the $169 cost of AC+ for my $2100 iMac, I get two additional years of defect coverage and a total of six accident claims. My card's coverage stacks on top of it, so I will have four years of coverage total, or potentially five, depending on if it extends the AC coverage period as well.

Despite the good support Apple provides for iOS devices, it's more likely that the iPad is going to be replaced before the iMac will, given computers' longer service lives.

And, should something occur, the $499 repair fee that it would cost to fix a broken Pro could be applied toward a newer, more up to date device. Granted, that's a whole lot more than $49, but that deal is only in effect for two years, and $499 is a lot easier to swallow than the $2000 to procure a replacement Mac.

My concerns are more about latent defects, long term. If Apple had still offered plain AC without accident coverage for my Mac, that's what I would have purchased that instead. My risk with regard to accidents is low.

So for me, I get more potential value out of AC+ for my Mac than I would for my iPad, so I'm still unlikely to purchase it within the 45 days I have left to decide. YMMV.
The iOS devices are actually the only ones I bother getting extended warranties for. I use PCs not Macs and can repair/upgrade those on my own so I've never bothered getting extended warranties.

Funnily enough, the iPads are my most expensive devices at ~$1400-1800 purchase/replacement cost. I plan on doing monthly AC+ on future iPads since I don't wish to be forced to upgrade mid-cycle. For me, it would totally suck spending $700 on a 2018 iPad Pro 1TB LTE OOW replacement or $1800 on the 2020 iPad Pro 1TB LTE non-upgrade.

Meanwhile, my latest desktop (a quad-core NUC with 32GB RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD) only cost me $700. Mind, I'm on iPad all the time and only really need the desktop for Calibre ebook management and server, Blu-ray ripping and iTunes encrypted backups.
 

paulsonj72

macrumors regular
Mar 28, 2010
223
184
I did as a measure of security. I went on the Monthly plan as that is better for me. On the regular iPad 8th generation I pay $3.49 a month for it. I also have AppleCare+ theft and loss on my iPhone SE and that goes for $7.99/month
 
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