I think I have used Apple care before. I had a problem with the camera on my iPhone 6 Plus, looked like some small blotch or something on some photos I took when on holiday. I’m not sure there was one of those repair program things for this, if not it was done under Apple Care and I’m pretty sure I paid nothing for the fix.
I did cancel the Apple Care monthly plan that was on my son’s iPad, as he’s not been using it that much recently, plus he’s had it for a few years. Obviously got because I knew he’d probably drop it or something, and even in an otterbox case I was sure he could cause some kind of damage (he did, think he lightly sat on it and slightly bent it!)
Interesting point about just getting a new phone every year and thus free year of apple care. You could offset the cost of the new phone with a trade in, but not of the offset between that and the full price of the new device.
I went from a 3GS , to a 5S, then a 6 Plus, and waited a bit, got an 11 Pro Max, then onto my current iPhone 15 Pro Max. The reasons for the gaps were simply because there didn’t seem to be anything overly new in the new phones, or at least nothing that really appealed to me. A bigger better camera isn’t that much of a draw for me, and AI stuff (yeah, what a foul up that’s been for them!) doesn’t overly appeal either.
Only a few months to see what the 17 (or maybe the 26? who knows!) and maybe that will have something that makes me want to get a new one.