Exactly this. It's easy to call out Apple but I'm yet to have an experience with other brands where I don't have to ship my product somewhere and wait for weeks on end to see if anything can even be done. Samsung is the biggest offender from my perspective. Everything they make has broken on me. Phones, entertainment devices, and most recently appliances that don't even last 6 months. The good news is when the appliances broke, they sent dish network to my house who also had no clue why it was broken and left.
Thankfully New Jersey (I'm in California) consumer fraud laws kicked in and I was able to get a full refund for my refrigerator.
Depending on the countries traveled to, Apple stuff can make a lot of sense for traveling because they have stores all over the place. If something happens to the MacBook I bought in the US while I’m abroad in Tokyo it’s no problem, I can drop by the store in Shibuya or Ginza and get it repaired, probably same day in many cases.
Phones: I gave my Samsungs and Sonys to shops close to home and got them back after a couple of days.
Laptops: I either pay for HP's next business day support (they come to my home) or, for old unsupported models, I replace parts myself. As I wrote in another commend, I replaced this keyboard less than half an hour ago.
Thankfully New Jersey (I'm in California) consumer fraud laws kicked in and I was able to get a full refund for my refrigerator.
https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases09/20090804-Samsung-Ameri...