I think there are several issues here.
Firstly I have mentioned in several posts that imho, anyone having purchased a high value Apple laptop in recent years without ApplCare+ were taking on a fairly-high risk. Why? Simply because the way they are designed is complex, and with complexity comes the higher risk of problems, especially when these devices since the late 2012 'unibodies', have become thinner and thinner, whilst maintaining relatively simple cooling systems, which struggle to keep the internals sufficiently cool after a year or two, when the CPU/GPU thermal paste is nearing or passed it's prime.
A recent classic example is the MacBook Air8,1 (introduced in 2018) with an abysmal, virtually non-cooling configuration, where the heatsink as far as I can see doesn't appear to even reach the cooling fan. One doesn't need to ask why there are so many failures being reported.......! New owners if they're "lucky" - and I use that term lightly, may have problems within the first year which would normally be rectified under warranty. Outside that time period the repair for parts and labour will be high, indeed extremely high unless one has opted for AppleCare+. The MBAir is just one example.
I'll rapidly skirt over the MBPro touchbar, and butterfly keyboard issues, suffice to say these are other complexities which when defective and out of warranty, repairs will be costly.
On other recent laptops, Apple have decided to hide some replaceable items such as M.2 MVMe SSD's below the logic-board, making replacement a timely process, and expensive outside of warranty unless one is into DIY like myself. Another downside with recent laptops, although many will probably disagree, is that soldering RAM memory onto the logic board was a huge step backwards, although it's fairly obvious why it was done. It assists in keeping the laptop profile slimmer, albeit significantly increasing eventual repair costs, probable replacement of logic board immediately comes to mind. Ouch! Expensive!
Another issue. In the urgency to get new and complex models into production and into the stores, the hardware beta testing is limited, resulting in problems often occuring once the product is released and exposed to the rigors of in-service use.
I reckon that the OP is doing himself an injustice in believing, "Apple Care is a scam", and so are others who believe the same.
I sincerely believe AppleCare+ is a MUST when purchasing a high-end expensive Apple product. It should be viewed as an insurance policy. If a claim is required, you're covered. If not you've paid for something equally important, i.e. peace of mind.
And just for the record, in terms of repairability, most of the Apple laptops from the 2012/13 and onwards Retina era' score poorly, the 'best' of the poor being 4 out of 10, whilst most of the others score a disgraceful 1/10. Imho anyone purchasing a recent Apple laptop to use for 3 years or more without AppleCare plus, either enjoy a gamble, don't care, or are uninformed about the high complexity of their product with potentially very high repair charges.
Apple are not alone here. Fwiw the MS Surface laptop score in 2017 was 0/10. Enough said about the worth and common-sense of purchasing extended warranties with complex high-tech products.
