> It was around $900 and had a lead time of a few weeks, so I said I couldn't afford to wait that long. Even though my Apple Care was out of date, they gave me

> It was around $900 and had a lead time of a few weeks, so I said I couldn't afford to wait that long. Even though my Apple Care was out of date, they gave me around a 25% discount on a brand new MacBook Pro 15". I was shocked because that's more than I ever paid on Apple Care. The discount is part of the procedure, and in fact it's part of your premium, too. Of course not 100% of apple pay customers execute their coverage due to a loss, so it's entirely normal that you'd get a payout that's higher than your premium, it's the point of insurance, and not shocking. > had I walked away at that point, the Apple Care team would have spent 2 hours diagnosing my 3.5 year old broken MacBook for free just because it had Apple Care at some stage. These costs, too, are being paid out by your premium. It's not free. The whole insurance package is modelled on probabilities of certain costs, including diagnosis. > Apple Care is a user experience, not necessarily just an insurance plan It really is just an insurance. The 'experience' you described is twofold: giving you a discount + diagnosing a problem. Those are both part of your insurance package, for which you paid. You're not getting any favours here. The fact Apple isn't shady is a user experience, which is great, but you're definitely paying for it through your premiums.