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To Apple Care or Not to Apple Care?

Dr. Stealth said:
I have a life rule. Never buy insurance (Warranties / Apple Care, etc.) unless you are forced to. That's just me.
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I live in a country with good consumer protection, so I would never ever pay for warranty alone: If a machine has held up for a year of regular use, it will probably keep working for the rest of its useful life.
As for damage, I don't know how it works in other regions, but here, physical damage to computers and peripherals is covered to a good degree by regular home insurance: Show some proof of ownership and you'll get back a percentage based on the age of the product (100% during the first year, decreasing in steps of 20% per year, if I recall correctly), unless there's cause to believe you're trying to game the system.

For iDevices, however, I currently do pay for AppleCare: Regular insurance policies don't cover handheld devices consisting mostly of a screen, and with a five-year-old at home I know things will break more than I've traditionally been used to over the next few years, so that's not even a gamble on my part.
 
Dr. Stealth said:
They have already done the statistics and they KNOW they will come out ahead. Exactly like now i see it said, Just like Las Vegas.
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I wouldn't make a blanket statement about it (or bet on it, if you like) but I wouldn't be surprised if Apple overall makes more money in AppleCare fees than it spends on providing AppleCare services.

The thing is though, comparing insurance to betting (gambling) shows a profound misunderstanding of the purpose of either insurance or betting, or both.

The phrase "the house always wins" relates to a single player because most people will keep gambling even after they win, and statistically they'll end up paying out more than they ever win. While some people say that gambling is 'entertainment' for them (not kidding, I spent a week on-site for a casino client, weirdest week of my life) the majority want to win the money - that's the draw of it.

The phrase "the house always wins" relates to the aggregate of players because even if a few happen to win, and stop (or at least stop soon enough that they walk away with more than they paid out), the losses of the other players covers what that player walked away with.

The phrase doesn't really work for extended warranty on the individual level, because your goal is not to make a profit, it's to reduce your losses in the event of a problem, and because it isn't a fee each time there is a fault - it's a fixed fee for the life of the policy, regardless of how many faults there are. Yes, the 'accident' coverage works a little different, but that isn't what most extended warranty policies are about.

As I said, it's quite possibly true that "the house" (Apple) "wins" (is overall in profit) on the aggregate of AppleCare income vs costs. But that's kind of irrelevant, because your concern is reducing your own personal costs, not how it's achieved.

Yes, you could pay for it, and not need to use it once. But, if you don't pay for it, and something is faulty, it's almost certainly going to cost you more than AppleCare for the repair, unless it's the most basic of problems, like faulty RAM.
 
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comptr said:
I would disagree, I have bought Apple Care on all of my mac book pros I have owned and thanks to buying apple care, I have had 5 Laptops replaced via Applecare and this was not repairs, They took my laptop and gave me a brand new current model.
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I would disagree too, but once again with buying AppleCare.

Whilst not as many as you, I have had two computers replaced by Apple....and neither had AppleCare.

I have said it in another thread, I sort of understand why people get it on the their iPhones and iPads (I don't buy it as I don't drop my stuff), but it makes no sense to me on a desktop device. Even considering that some may take it off their desk on use it on location. But in that situation they should really have standard insurance as I'm sure more than the Mac mini will be making the trip out of the office e.g. a monitor.
 
I have it ordered with AppleCare. It may be a waste if it’s voided by changing the ram.
 
I never get any extended warranties, on anything. As such, i've saved enough, by not buying them, where if something were to go wrong, i'm still ahead.
 
Does the normal Apple Care works for the new Mac Mini or do I have to buy Apple Care+ (in case I'll buy one)?
 
It appears that AppleCare+ for the 2018 Mac mini is US$20 cheaper than for the 2014 mini: https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/produ...db3362753e6cd39a79bfde8d06b0a4a6b269abe35aab5
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Ottonaldo said:
Does the normal Apple Care works for the new Mac Mini or do I have to buy Apple Care+ (in case I'll buy one)?
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AppleCare is the standard one year warranty. AppleCare+ adds coverage against physical damage during that year, plus coverage for physical damage or component failure for an additional 24-26 months.
 
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Anyone knows if it‘s possible to register an old „Apple Care Protection Plan“ with the new MacMini ?
Because this Plan is sold with heavy discount in germany right now at half the cost of the new AppleCare+ Plan for MacMini.

Ok, the old Protection Plan only offers 3 Years extended warranty without the damage cases , for me it would be fine with only the warranty.
 
I purchased a Mac mini today. If you're going to stick it in one place, leave it there and know that you'll stay clear of the power cord and cables, the physical damage risk is very low. If you're going to move it around, which I intend to do, it's like an iPad - an accident waiting to happen. I'm really surprised at how small, and kinda slippery, it is :)

I gave Apple the $100 for AppleCare+.
 
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If I recall correctly, the Mini has proven to be one of the more reliable Apple products.
Not to say that nothing ever goes wrong with any of them, but the failure rate seems to be quite low.

For that reason, I won't buy AppleCare.
I'll get the Mini with the RAM I need (16gb) at "buy-in", and just leave it alone.

It should do fine.
 
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Whether to purchase insurance or not depends on an individuals situation. If they have the means to repair / replace something that has failed then it might be wise to forego the insurance. If doing so would be a hardship then a warranty might be the way to go.

I've purchased enough things where an extended warranty was made available at time of purchase. I've declined them all. My rational is had I purchase all of these extended warranties I would have spent money for which, even if I used it once or twice, would never have paid for itself. Individually the warranty may have paid for itself but in aggregate would have been a losing proposition.

Accidental might be a better value on something mobile which could be easily damaged. I wouldn't pay for accidental damage on a desktop computer. The likelihood of it being damaged is minimal (unless it's being constantly moved around like a mobile device) and if it is it's likely due to some other event which might be such where renters / homeowners insurance is appropriate.
 
The other aspect about AppleCare which I've accessed (more than for hardware) is software support. It's a great thing to have direct support with a quick chat or phone call when I'm having trouble with macOS or other Apple software. Of course, user forums are a big help as well but sometimes it's nice to just be able to contact the manufacturer and get the help directly. At $100 for three years, that's worth it to me.
 
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I get AppleCare for the devices that are the most mobile (laptops, iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches) but not on my desktops (though I haven’t owned a desktop in a while).

One of the other other perks of AppleCare on mobile devices is that it covers the cord (free replacements). And we all know the ones that come with devices don’t last.
 
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cwosigns said:
One of the other other perks of AppleCare on mobile devices is that it covers the cord (free replacements). And we all know the ones that come with devices don’t last.
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That's interesting, didn't know that. The cord that comes with the Mac mini is not heavy duty. I welcome it, because I think that its flexibility makes the mini easier to transport in a carry bag or backpack, but longevity may not be its strong suit.
 
I am the opposite of most people. I have stopped buying AppleCare on iOS devices and have always bought AppleCare for the computers. I have had good luck with iOS that I have only had 2 cracked screens and nothing else go wrong. Plus, most of them get replaced so quickly that it really makes the AppleCare value questionable.

However, I have owned 1 iMac, 3 MacBook Pros, and a MacBook Air since 2006 and all of them have had AppleCare repairs. I have not found Apple's computer hardware to be very reliable. Having said that, the mini actually feels more like an iOS device (no moving parts and in this case no screen), so I don't know that I would purchase AppleCare with it. An iMac? Yes, every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Mini? Not sure.
 
In the olden days, you had a 90 day warranty without or 3 years with AppleCare. It was more expensive back then and phone support without was paid unless certain conditions were met..

Later, it changed to one year warranty with 90 days phone support without or three years including phone support with AppleCare. Price unchanged as was phone support terms.

Nowadays, phone support is free with no time limit. Hardware is covered a year and it's called AppleCare or three with what's now called AppleCare+. The price is a lot less.

I was neutral in the old days regarding my clients but always bought it for myself. It came in handy a few times over the 33 years but never added up to what I had paid. Still, I enjoyed the convenience.

Now that the price has come down, I always buy it for myself recommend it to others...

Except iOS. I think it's pretty expensive for the one extra year so, what, you can get a battery replaced that would cost you $99 without? I have 11 1/2 months to decide if I need it for my XS and am already paying for phone company insurance that covers breakage and theft with a sliding deductible.
 
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Cashmonee said:
Good point. LOL!

I guess I was thinking hard drive and CD drive. But I should know better because I have had fan assemblies die on MBPs.
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In the last 13 months or so I've had 3 fans die in the same 2011 MBP17" (left, then ~12 months later right, then a month later the replacement left again.. or maybe it was right left right. I forget).

I've given up ordering stuff from the likes of iFixit and waiting for shipping from the US, I've found a decent spares dealer in Hong Kong who ships stuff here in a few days. It's a 7 year old laptop now, but until the recent double-fan whammy was my daily workhorse. I'll replace the long-dead optical drive with an SSD caddy for the original SSD and put a new one in the normal slot to give it some more life for non-essential stuff, family use and what-not. Might be a good candidate to run iTunes for AppleTVs.
 
Meanwhile, AppleCare+ for a Mac mini for three years, in my case a computer for which I paid US$1500 plus $134 in tax, for a total of $1634, costs 9 cents per day :)
 
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