apple care cost $149 / yr

It is an extension to your warranty. It provides repair coverage for an extended period of time and reduces the costs or repair in certain circumstances to a lower service fee.

Link-> AppleCare Products - Mac - Apple

You can cancel it at any time and get a prorated refund: link-> Cancel or change the payment method for your AppleCare plan - Apple Support

If you break the screen in that Mac, it could cost you around US$ 600

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If you made the decision to NOT pay for the extended warranty, you made a decision to bear the cost of repairs during the extended warranty period yourself.

When facing a problem later, the correct cost calculation is:

Example Total retail cost of repair: US$600

less Example amount you saved US$150

by NOT purchasing a service agreement

Effective incremental cost: US$450

PLUS the amount you saved by not buying the Service contract, which now must be spent as well.