MacBook Air with Apple Care+ or not

[ced89]

I just purchased a MacBook Air M1, I know I should have waited the new model and that it was better asking here before purchasing , but here it is, my usage is gonna be the following:

1. Just office stuff, the main reason for purchase was boost in productivity, meanwhile getting more security compared to the garbage Windows ecosystem. (yes, I'm gonna convert all my documents in MacOS friendly softwares, especially spreadsheets)

2. I've taken the model with 256GB of disk and 16GB of Ram, I was a bit scared about the RAM and the swap usage, so I've spent 300 pounds more , considering that I wish to keep it for more than 5 years, I think I made the good choice here.
The internal disk shouldn't be an issue, I don't have crazy space requirements, just documents and other little files.

3. 1TB disk for Time Machine, I think it's more than enough, I have other disks for file backups and the cloud too.

4. Any other recommendation?

5. Apple care+ yes or no? I already own an iPhone 12 and Apple Watch 7, both with Apple care+, the breakdown is the following:
- iPhone - 180 one off payment
- Watch - 4 pounds monthly
- MacBook Air - not sure, I need to check what's the plan available, still waiting my device, so I don't know until I don't get it. I assume it will cost me 189 pounds.

So, if I assume the Apple care+ for the Watch of about 4y, it's gonna be 192+180+189=561 pounds.
I wonder..... Is it not better to hope for the best of luck and don't pay the Apple care+ for the MacBook Air??? In the end, I take my devices with a lot of care, the MacBook Air does also less travels than my iPhone and Watch , my laptop is gonna stay always at home, but it's true that I'll be moving it to different rooms, so for me the risk seems equal.

Or, I can consider that amount a single big expense for repairing the MacBook Air, which makes tons of sense, plus I get the protection for other devices too (considering the whole price, I know that they are different contracts)

For some reason, I prefer the second option, but let's see if some other ideas come up from you guys.

To complete this post, I can say that I intend to have the devices for this timeline:
1. iPhone for 5y

2. Watch even 5y if it doesn't break but I'll stop the payment of the Apple Care+ at 4, I'm pretty sure there will be a new model with a new fundamental functionality and I'll switch

3. MacBook Air even 7y, if it doesn't go out of support (especially with security updates), and excluding broken parts .

 

[IWT]

I have never purchased an Apple Device without AppleCare+.

It's not just the insurance cover for accidental damage or theft nor the replacement of faulty parts - it's also about the telephone & Genius Bar support when you're in difficulty, can't figure out how to do something, and more.

I've phoned Apple Support in the past just to have them talk me through a complicated process that I couldn't handle myself.

Costly? Sure. But with all insurance, when something goes haywire, there's help and it's "free",

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

I'll comment in order.

1. You may not want to rush to convert to the Apple products. Microsoft Office, over time, has become the standard. Like it or not, the Apple products don't have the same acceptance. So, if you think you will be sharing documents, spreadsheets, etc., with friends, you may want to keep them in the Office formats and even get a copy of Office for the Mac.

2. I think the jury is still out on how to best configure the new Apple Silicon Macs. It used to be best to have a lot of RAM, and a small-ish storage drive was OK because you could always upgrade it if you needed more. But Apple Silicon is kind of the other way. The storage is so tightly integrated to the system now the penalty for "swapping" is practically nil. That said, I also got a 16GB system myself, but I'm finding I rarely push any swapping at all. The new system optimizes memory usage amazingly well. There is no way to upgrade the storage capacity because of that same tight integration. Basically, what you buy is all you are going to have. Not that your, or my, decision was wrong, but just that some of the old assumptions are getting turned on their heads. In your case, even if the 256GB "drive" gets to be too small, a good high speed external drive using the TB4 interface will probably not introduce a lot of lag.

3. For a 256GB drive, 1TB is probably double what you need. I have a 1TB internal storage on my MBP, using about 490 GB of it. My TM backup is 1TB, and with 24 backups on it, has consumed 511 GB. The first backup was the most, then each incremental only adds what changed, so that is small, unless I import 1,000's of pictures, or edit a large video. The new TM snapshotting process seems much more efficient than it was before Monterey. That 1TB will last you a very long time.

4. Yes.

5. Get AC+. The new M1 Macs are basically not repairable by the user, and will be very expensive to have anyone other than Apple repair, so AC+ is more vital now than before. Consider--if you have a "drive" problem, you have to replace the entire logic board. If you have a CPU glitch, or GPU issue, same thing. The Apple approach is "System-on-a-chip" and so just about any and all failures are going to be fatal to the machine. AC+ makes that palatable. It is a small price to pay for the insurance and support.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Extended warranties/insurance is one of those things that if you don't buy it and wind up having a need for it, you'll be kicking yourself for not having gotten it. But you have to look at the grand scheme.... what's the likelihood you will need it for a given item? Also, what's the cost of buying AppleCare for every single item vs the potential return on that "investment" in terms of repair or support costs you avoided? To provide a counterpoint to Ian's preference... I've purchased AppleCare exactly once: for my 2019 iMac. It's highly unlikely I'll ever have need of it before it expires. I've been using Apple products for almost 20 years now, and if I had been buying AppleCare all these years for every Mac and device, it all would have been money down the drain. Every last cent. A couple grand in total, I'm guessing. Maybe more. So tomorrow, if my out-of-warranty 2020 MacBook Air dies, I can replace it and pay much less than I would have spent if I had been buying AppleCare all these years to cover a situation that happened only once to one device after all this time.

I don't buy extended warranties on anything, ever. Well except for a new car (because THAT is pretty trivial in comparison to what a car, and potential repairs, cost). And the one time I decided to cave for my 2019 iMac because it's virtually unserviceable. And I regret it. It's widely accepted that extended warranties mostly benefit the insurer in the grand scheme. They are popular to offer because they make a LOT of money from them. If I had bought extended warranties on every item I've ever purchased that had one available, I'd be out thousands of dollars with zero return on that "investment".

 

[MacInWin]

Since we are going anecdotal here, this is my story. I bought the MBP in my specs to the left. Brand new MBP 16" M1 Pro system, ordered on the day they first were available for order. Got AC+ because the hardware was new and it's a small investment for protection, IMHO.

Fast forward two months and a line developed in the display, one pixel wide, top to bottom, just to the right of center. Clearly a failed display screen. Scheduled an appointment with a Genius at the Apple store, he diagnosed it, confirmed it and sent it for repair. Got it shipped back three days later, new top case, no line, no cost. The invoice with it said that before AC+ paid for it, it was an $800 repair. Yes, it was in the first year so the guarantee covered it, but if it had been in the 13th month instead of the 1st, that's on me.

But then, that's why they race horses, right?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Since we are going anecdotal here, this is my story. I bought the MBP in my specs to the left. Brand new MBP 16" M1 Pro system, ordered on the day they first were available for order. Got AC+ because the hardware was new and it's a small investment for protection, IMHO.

Fast forward two months and a line developed in the display, one pixel wide, top to bottom, just to the right of center. Clearly a failed display screen. Scheduled an appointment with a Genius at the Apple store, he diagnosed it, confirmed it and sent it for repair. Got it shipped back three days later, new top case, no line, no cost. The invoice with it said that before AC+ paid for it, it was an $800 repair. Yes, it was in the first year so the guarantee covered it, but if it had been in the 13th month instead of the 1st, that's on me.

But then, that's why they race horses, right?

So over the years, how much have you spent on AppleCare? Or could have, if you didn't buy it for everything? Have you avoided any other repair costs? Well, actually you didn't in this case either, so have you EVER? Look, I'm not knocking people for wanting that "peace of mind", but again look at the grand scheme... that peace of mind isn't free, isn't cheap, and let's be perfectly honest: rarely taken actual advantage of. It's easy to find cases here and there where it did pay off for someone. You can also find cases of people winning the lottery. Buying extended warranties is basically a gamble. And the house ALWAYS has the advantage. Financially, long term, it doesn't make any fiscal sense.

 

[MacInWin]

So over the years, how much have you spent on AppleCare? Or could have, if you didn't buy it for everything? Have you avoided any other repair costs? Well, actually you didn't in this case either, so have you EVER? Look, I'm not knocking people for wanting that "peace of mind", but again look at the grand scheme... that peace of mind isn't free, isn't cheap, and let's be perfectly honest: rarely taken actual advantage of. It's easy to find cases here and there where it did pay off for someone. You can also find cases of people winning the lottery. Buying extended warranties is basically a gamble. And the house ALWAYS has the advantage. Financially, long term, it doesn't make any fiscal sense.

I normally don't buy AC+ for everything, but with some technology where the price to repair is high, it makes sense. To me, anyway. I've had two MBPs repaired (both for screens, as it happened) under AppleCare over 15 years or so, plus one iPhone that I had repaired in London when I was on a vacation there. So, for me, it's paid off.

I do realize that Apple isn't altruistic about this, they price the service so that they make money on it. It's like life insurance. You are betting you will die, the insurance provider is betting you won't. You "win" in the long run, hopefully before you pay in more than they pay out. In the case of Apple hardware, you are betting it will need repair, they are betting it won't. If you "win" you don't have to pay out for repair. If they "win" you don't have any problems, which is to me another win for me.

One reason I opted in for the new MBP is the newness of the entire M1 system and associated hardware. My old MBP was experiencing some minor issues, but I waited until the new systems came out and jumped on day one. Given there was no history of the new systems, the cost seemed reasonable. And it's already paid off for me.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I normally don't buy AC+ for everything, but with some technology where the price to repair is high, it makes sense. To me, anyway. I've had two MBPs repaired (both for screens, as it happened) under AppleCare over 15 years or so, plus one iPhone that I had repaired in London when I was on a vacation there. So, for me, it's paid off.

I do realize that Apple isn't altruistic about this, they price the service so that they make money on it. It's like life insurance. You are betting you will die, the insurance provider is betting you won't. You "win" in the long run, hopefully before you pay in more than they pay out. In the case of Apple hardware, you are betting it will need repair, they are betting it won't. If you "win" you don't have to pay out for repair. If they "win" you don't have any problems, which is to me another win for me.

One reason I opted in for the new MBP is the newness of the entire M1 system and associated hardware. My old MBP was experiencing some minor issues, but I waited until the new systems came out and jumped on day one. Given there was no history of the new systems, the cost seemed reasonable. And it's already paid off for me.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

I had actually planned on buying AppleCare for my M1 MBA for the same concerns, but missed the deadline. In retrospect, quite frankly I think the concerns are overblown. It may be new CPU architecture, but really there's nothing new otherwise about building them. Heck, just the fact that they run so cool is a huge asset for longevity. The SSD life is another overblown one. My iMac, for example, has an SSD that has seen a lot of use converting videos since I bought it. If DriveDx' life span assessment is accurate, it is at 99% life left after nearly 3 years of periodic heavy use. Anecdotal, I know, but I did read a good article several months ago where they are finding that SSDs are simply much hardier than what was long feared they'd be. Here's one from 2017 I just dug up... might even be the one I saw before.

SSD Lifespan: How Long Does an SSD Last?

They'll probably outlast your regular hard disk drives.

www.howtogeek.com

 

[MacInWin]

It is not just the storage, it's the entire system. There really is no CPU, no GPU, no SSD, no RAM in the M1 systems. All of that is on one soldered-in, custom chip. If any of that has an issue, then the entire machine is dead. And given that it's all proprietary to Apple, there is only one "repair" available--replacement, either of the logic board or the entire machine. And with the new security features, it's unlikely that any other third party repair places will be coming along anytime soon, either. Right now, owners of the M! systems are pretty dependent on Apple for repair, and they aren't cheap. Maybe 4-5 years from now there will be lots of options, but today, not so much.

And for that reason, I paid the price.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

It is not just the storage, it's the entire system. There really is no CPU, no GPU, no SSD, no RAM in the M1 systems. All of that is on one soldered-in, custom chip. If any of that has an issue, then the entire machine is dead. And given that it's all proprietary to Apple, there is only one "repair" available--replacement, either of the logic board or the entire machine. And with the new security features, it's unlikely that any other third party repair places will be coming along anytime soon, either. Right now, owners of the M! systems are pretty dependent on Apple for repair, and they aren't cheap. Maybe 4-5 years from now there will be lots of options, but today, not so much.

And for that reason, I paid the price.

Yah. Just like the iPads/iPhones. Just bigger. Apple has a lot of experience with this. Again, not trying to sound judgmental, I did buy AC once and had intended to do it again for the same reasons you did. But hindsight is 20/20 and these concerns really do seem overblown when thought about critically. There are always gonna be one-offs and lemons do slip through. It's a gamble. But I get it. It's hard to see that when it's all so new and uncertain.

 

[MacInWin]

thought about critically.

Not sure what that means. My critical thought was that if there was a failure of this new hardware, the cost would be prohibitive to repair. Once there is a history of failure rates, the risk goes down because we learn about the system more. My next one I probably won't get AC+, if the reputation of the hardware is good, but I will have a regular monthly fund to which I will donate as the "repair/replace" fund. It's insurance, one way or the other.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Not sure what that means. My critical thought was that if there was a failure of this new hardware, the cost would be prohibitive to repair. Once there is a history of failure rates, the risk goes down because we learn about the system more. My next one I probably won't get AC+, if the reputation of the hardware is good, but I will have a regular monthly fund to which I will donate as the "repair/replace" fund. It's insurance, one way or the other.

I was about to try to explain, but honestly we're just going to go round and round. Just wake me up when there are reports of widespread failures of the Apple Silicon hardware so I can reconsider my stance.

 

[MacInWin]

Heh! I'll take that as a "let's agree to disagree." Works for me!

They still race horses because of such disagreements....

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Heh! I'll take that as a "let's agree to disagree." Works for me!

They still race horses because of such disagreements....

Yep. It's ok to have different priorities/preferences.

 

[ced89]

Still sh.... myself if to buy it or not, come on guys, give me some unquestionable reason

One thing, if I sell the laptop, will Apple Care+ remain there? As far as I see, it's tight with the device ID.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Apple Care+ goes with the device, so it's an added bonus if you do sell it to someone else within 3 years of purchase. But generally I purchase it to avoid any issues for the first 3 years of ownership of any of these expensive devices.

 

[ced89]

Apple Care+ goes with the device, so it's an added bonus if you do sell it to someone else within 3 years of purchase. But generally I purchase it to avoid any issues for the first 3 years of ownership of any of these expensive devices.

This is what I was thinking, and maybe I'll get a new MacBook Air very soon if they come up with some crazy upgrade again, especially on minimum RAM and disk, the performance of CPU and CPU is almost of a low level gaming machine .