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Comment by traceroute66 | Hacker News Reader

> to get you to either pay for Apple Care

The problem with many self-repair people is they effectively value their time at zero.

I value my time realistically, i.e. above zero and above minimum wage. It is therefore a no brainer for me to buy AppleCare every ... single ..time. It means I can just drop it off and let someone else deal with messing around.

I also know how much hassle it is. Like many techies, I spent part of my early career repairing people's PCs. Even in big PC tower cases with easy accessibility to all parts its still a fucking horrific waste of time. Hence these days I'm very happy to let some junior at Apple do it for the cost of an AppleCare contract.

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> The problem with many self-repair people is they effectively value their time at zero.

Back in 2010 Apple quoted me €700 for a topcase replacement because of shattered display glass. Instead I paid €50 for a third party replacement pane and did 15 minutes of work with a heat gun.

What's more, they fold most of the cost of the repair into the price of parts. So you can either get a replacement screen for €499 and install it yourself, or have it officially repaired for €559. This effectively subsidizes official repairs and makes DIY repairs more expensive.

Apple does extreme gouging with repairs, its hogwash to claim anything else.

That is not why I didn’t buy Apple Care.

My hope is that the machine will work for a long while, like most of them do. In my case it’s a ~$1200 machine so I prefer to self-insure. I’m taking the chance that if it goes bad, I’ll pay to fix or replace it.

This makes sense, for me, when I do it on everything that I buy.

A big problem with Apple Care is here in Thailand anyway you need to give them your computer for a few weeks. You have to wait a week for them to look at it. They won't even allow you to use it and then bring it back in a week.

How often do you actually need a repair from Apple? I used to buy AppleCare but stopped in the last few years and have yet to need any repairs done except a battery replacement on a 14 Pro that I was giving to family.

Insurance is always a gamble. Up to you to do your own math on the risks..

There are three kinds of people

1. people who arguably fall under the definition of careless, or have small children, need repair plans

2. people who are fastidious and nothing ever breaks, don't need repair plans

3. people who are fastidious, have small children, need repair plans

I was a #2 and I'm slowly transitioning into a #3 for specific purchases.

Even with small children, I haven’t really found a need for AppleCare. They don’t touch my devices, and their devices are older iPads that aren’t worth that much to begin with, sheathed with big chonky cases that have survived a few trips down stairs unscathed.

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