Is Apple Care necessary?

[Fusionskies]

Maybe not for the iMac, although I believe AppleCare + covers the accessories bundled with the device too, so if you spill coffee all over the keyboard you can claim.

For the MacBook, personally I'd say its worth it, but thats just my thoughts.

 

[294307]

Maybe not for the iMac, although I believe AppleCare + covers the accessories bundled with the device too, so if you spill coffee all over the keyboard you can claim.

For the MacBook, personally I'd say its worth it, but thats just my thoughts.

With a $299 USD excess. Their reduced $99 USD excess only applies to "screen damage or external enclosure damage". You might be better off just replacing the keyboard yourself ;-).

 

[brofkand]

3 bad displays is hardly a reason to drop support for apple and the iMac. My last iMac required a full replacement which applecare covered. Which has been my point. I recommend apple care for all things apple.

I suppose my point is irrespective of an extended warranty purchase, if I had three bad experiences with a product line I'd move on. It only took me one bad Samsung stove to write off their entire appliance product line. To each their own. We are both just sharing our experiences.

 

[Solomani]

Lol remember when I said I wouldnt need apple care^^

Well, a couple months ago my little brother knocked into my desk and the computer fell flat on its face. $1100 in damages ended up only costing $99 thanks to Apple Care. Talk about ****ing BLESSED.

AppleCare for iMacs/Macs tend to actually be affordable (roughly 10% to 15% of the cost of the machine)…. compared to iPhone AppleCare, which is ***** expensive, roughly 20-30% of the iPhone's cost.

 

[Raist3001]

I suppose my point is irrespective of an extended warranty purchase, if I had three bad experiences with a product line I'd move on. It only took me one bad Samsung stove to write off their entire appliance product line. To each their own. We are both just sharing our experiences.

In retrospect, I would agree with you dropping support for Samsung appliances. However, with the iMac, I am a MacOS person. I accept that I will experience issues with the Apple products I buy. I may not believe them as reliable as they once were, but I just can't go out and purchase another PC with MacOS installed. (No desire for a hackintosh). If I don't like Dell, I can purchase HP, if I don't like HP I can purchase Lenovo or Microsoft's own brand. Only one choice with Apple

 

[brofkand]

In retrospect, I would agree with you dropping support for Samsung appliances. However, with the iMac, I am a MacOS person. I accept that I will experience issues with the Apple products I buy. I may not believe them as reliable as they once were, but I just can't go out and purchase another PC with MacOS installed. (No desire for a hackintosh). If I don't like Dell, I can purchase HP, if I don't like HP I can purchase Lenovo or Microsoft's own brand. Only one choice with Apple

That is really the only bad thing about macOS and iOS - you're stuck with Apple hardware. They typically make great hardware, so historically that hasn't been an issue for me. However, of late I've had trouble justifying their pricing. The iPhone X series and the new MacBook Pros are just too expensive for me to justify. iMacs are still a good value I think, but for how much longer?

Not a concern for me today, my 2015 iMac, iPhone SE, and iPad Air 2 more than meet my needs - but in a few years as these devices age I'll be stuck with a choice I hoped to have never had to make.

 

[SaSaSushi]

As I wrote in this thread over a year ago, I've gotten AppleCare over the past 12 years for four iMacs and was very glad to have it and used it every time. I had a few LCD panels replaced, a HDD and once the entire iMac case when Apple's courier dented it en route returning from repairs.

Three months ago I had the LCD panel on my current iMac replaced after an insect had somehow worked it's way between the panel and the backlight. Not exactly what I'd call a defect but I was very glad to have AppleCare since it was just over the one year limited warranty line.

 

[imac2017mm]

I think it is necessary for the simple fact that you will be spending 2k on a product. You can do what i did, buy and wait almost a year to add Apple Care, just in time before the 1-year warranty expires

 

[294307]

AppleCare for iMacs/Macs tend to actually be affordable (roughly 10% to 15% of the cost of the machine)…. compared to iPhone AppleCare, which is ***** expensive, roughly 20-30% of the iPhone's cost.

Probably because more users need their iPhones repaired than Macs.

We're fortunate here in England because we don't need to buy AppleCare to force Apple to repair or replace our Macs after the one year warranty period. We can make claims up to six years after the purchase date and Apple has limited grounds to refuse (and their rights to refuse become even more limited if a recent repair fails to fix a problem), but I can understand elsewhere it might be necessary to buy AppleCare.

Obviously accidental damage isn't covered by law and AppleCare+ for Mac isn't available in England right now, so if Apple changed their AppleCare Protection Plan to include accidental damage cover (or instead just replaced it with AppleCare+ for Mac), it would make it far more worthwhile buying. I still wouldn't buy it for a desktop but if I had a Mac notebook, I'd probably give it serious thought.

 

[meanmean]

I haven't purchased apple care for my last 3 MacBook Pro's. The last mac I purchased Apple Care for was my MacPro in 2006. I am fortunate enough that buying a new mac wouldn't cause much financial burden, therefore I don't pay for Apple Care. Ultimately the choice of apple care should largely be determined by a person's ability to replace the mac out-of-pocket.

If you can't or of it replacing the mac would be burdensome, get Apple Care. Otherwise, save the money.

Caveat, If you work in an area that electronics are at a higher than normal risk of breaking, you also may want to buy Apple Care.