Posts: 10,330
Threads: 1,363
Joined: May 2025
Reputation:
0
for nearly every repair done out of warranty, you will spend more $$ than it would cost to buy applecare, especially at the prices you can find on ebay.
I had a power supply go out on my wife's imac. Pretty simple part and repair, but it would have cost well over what I paid for applecare.
It's a cheap insurance policy. I get it for every new mac that passes through my hands. Also helps with resale value (if you're the type to get rid of machines in a 3 year window).
Posts: 1,605
Threads: 156
Joined: Jul 2017
My grand daughter's iMac is sitting on my desk with the monitor showing only colored lines and when I checked, the applecare has expired. :cursin:
I'm going to see if I can start it in target mode and save her files for another computer.
BTW, this is the first Mac computer to go bad in all my years of owning macs.
Posts: 10,000
Threads: 626
Joined: Jul 2020
Reputation:
0
The pre-intel rule of thumb was to buy AppleCare for all Apple laptops and consumer desktops.
Given the failure rate of modern Macs, the new rule is ALWAYS budget for AppleCare.
Posts: 2,418
Threads: 122
Joined: Dec 2015
Instead of Apple Care, I use a credit card that doubles the 1-year warranty to 2 years. I sell my laptop every two years and get a new one. Overall cost of ownership is the same, I think, than keeping it longer, buying AC and then getting a lower price upon eventual sale.
Posts: 3,960
Threads: 397
Joined: May 2025
Both of my flat panel iMacs have had repairs done under Applecare - little known fact is that if you don't live close to an Apple store, they must send you an on site repairman - and we qualify, as we are 2 hours drive from the nearest store.
Money well spent.
Posts: 1,702
Threads: 126
Joined: Nov 2011
Reputation:
0
Only buy Applecare for laptops. That is my policy and has served me well for many, many years.
Posts: 37,952
Threads: 4,157
Joined: May 2025
Reputation:
3
I never EVER buy applecare - I always make sure my machines are less than a year old or were purchased with applecare applied.
Posts: 4,090
Threads: 1,161
Joined: Mar 2021
Reputation:
0
I recently had to have the motherboard replaced in my 20" imac, a $1,000 repair, free because I ponied up for applecare. I also had the motherboard replace in my macbookpro (one of the very first ones) at no cost.
