Honestly in a way, i believe if you can't afford to fix a product, or have it fixed if its out of warranty,then you shouldn't be getting this product in the first place. How often do people go in and ask a Apple Store person how much will it cost to fix once warranty has run out ?? Hardly ever. But i have heard of and know people that buy cars on the Servicing Schedule and the price of said Servicing.
And i myself have gone to dealerships and asked, how much will the initial service cost and then the other services cost when I'm looking at buying a car. If they are too much, or out of my budget, i have bought a lesser car, solely on that reasoning. Granted i have had a list of cars, most wanted to least wanted, i started at the top, and was lucky enough, that the 2nd car i wanted was in my price range and the servicing was well priced too.
I can't understand why people don't look into this more and then either buy Extended Warranty or run the gauntlet . . .
So i don't see Apple as a global con, as you call it. I see that they make a superior product, with better hardware than other PC makers, hence Apple charging more for the "Fix". Its not a money grabbing exercise, even though i think some of there charges are excessive, so when it comes down to the bottom line, they are a business and there to make money. When its all broken down, i saw on a friends Apple Repaired Mac that 60% of the price came down to Labour so that says something.
Bottom line. If you can't afford to get your Mac fixed, buy something you can afford to get fixed when needed. I own Macs and can and will afford anything i need to get fixed, Touch Wood lol
