iPhone AppleCare+ Worth It?

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Mehrts

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#302041 24-Oct-2022 18:58

Hi GZ,

I've never worried about any form of extra "care" with my past Apple devices (Laptops, phones, watch etc) but with the recent purchase of an iPhone 14 Pro, I'm considering going for it mainly for the peace-of-mind of the (much) cheaper repairs if the front/rear glass is broken - See pic below for price difference 😬

Avoiding the rear glass breakage potential was the reason for my previous phone being an iPhone 7.

Has anyone here got first-hand experience (good or bad) of going through an iPhone repair which was covered by AppleCare+ ?

Are there really true benefits for opting for it vs a standard contents insurance claim? Is $350 AppleCare+ worth the cost for two years of coverage?

zocster

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#2987376 24-Oct-2022 19:01

Definitely. No questions asked.

boosacnoodle

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#2987380 24-Oct-2022 19:57

The answer is always it depends. If you have home contents insurance, it may cover you for damage, loss of theft of your iPhone. With that said, you should take a look at the excess, maximums (if any) and limitations on incidents that occur at home vs out of home. You should also think about your propensity to damage the damage. I go caseless, for example, and have only ever broken a screen once (despite owning many iPhones). Incidentally it was the small drop and I was using a case at the time (go figure).

Brumfondl

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#2987382 24-Oct-2022 20:08

AC+ used to cover 2 incidents over the 2 years. Then they made it 2 incidents per year over 2 years. About a month and a half ago they made it unlimited incidents in the 2 year period (sadly you cannot extend AC+ in this country, or pay monthly, as you can in the US and a few other countries). As boosacnoodle mentions, if your contents insurance excess is cheaper than the AC+ cost plus the cost of a repair after an incident then it may not be worth it. My excess is rather high so I have always had AC+ on my devices.

alasta

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#2987394 24-Oct-2022 20:35

Yes it's worth it, simply because of the repair costs that you have quoted in your example.

Also if you are a non technical person like me then the ability to call them for general technical support is really valuable.

As an aside, I would love to know why rear glass repair is much more expensive than front glass repair.

lxsw20

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#2987451 24-Oct-2022 20:56

I have never broken my iPhone, thats since owning an iPhone 4 (cue me dropping and breaking my phone tomorrow). So for me it wouldn't have made sense. You need to have an idea how careful you are with your devices.

It does mean you don't really need a case/screen protector which is nice.

At one place i worked we used to buy AC+ for all our MacBooks, but the failure rate was so low it made more sense to skip it and just buy the odd one that died outright. YMMV.

Brumfondl

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#2987453 24-Oct-2022 20:59

alasta:

Also if you are a non technical person like me then the ability to call them for general technical support is really valuable.

FYI - you don't need AC+ to be able to call Apple Care and get help with a device or software.

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Mehrts

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#2987459 24-Oct-2022 21:13

Thanks for the replies everyone. FYI, my contents insurance excess is $500 and covers the phone and electronics etc for full value.

I think for the ease of service - especially the express replacement option and the unlimited "oopsies" over those two years makes AC+ worthwhile.

I'm always very careful with my gear, and have never broken anything due to my wrongdoing, however this is substantially the biggest purchase of a device I'll have with me at all times when in all sorts of situations.

@alasta the reason for the back glass being so much more expensive is due to the fact that all phones (with the exception of the standard 14/14 Plus) open up from the front, so in order to get access to the rear part of the phone, everything inside has to be removed first (big job!) and typically that means that Apple will just replace the phone at that point.

There are methods now where lasers can be used to removed the adhesive holding the rear glass on, and that makes repair so much quicker. This is typically done by third-party repair places.

Insanekiwi

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#2987463 24-Oct-2022 21:29

For me, express replacement alone is the reason why I would get AC+. You get a replacement and send your old one back. No down time.

alasta

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#2987555 25-Oct-2022 08:41

Brumfondl:

alasta:

Also if you are a non technical person like me then the ability to call them for general technical support is really valuable.

FYI - you don't need AC+ to be able to call Apple Care and get help with a device or software.

They used to offer 30 days (or was it 60 days?) of free tech support with all new devices, and Applecare would extend that to two or three years. Is that no longer the case?

Handsomedan

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#2987562 25-Oct-2022 09:15

I've had AC+ on just about every device I have ever owned.

The two incidents I claimed on made up for the cost over the years.

Totally worth it for me

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Mehrts

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#2987906 25-Oct-2022 17:03

alasta:

They used to offer 30 days (or was it 60 days?) of free tech support with all new devices, and Applecare would extend that to two or three years. Is that no longer the case?

Yes that's the case now.

You get two years of extra support which can be purchased within 60 days from the device purchase date.

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Brumfondl

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#2987959 25-Oct-2022 17:37

Mehrts:

alasta:

They used to offer 30 days (or was it 60 days?) of free tech support with all new devices, and Applecare would extend that to two or three years. Is that no longer the case?

Yes that's the case now.

You get two years of extra support which can be purchased within 60 days from the device purchase date.

This is incorrect in NZ/Aus for tech support and has been for years. It is correct for places like the US though. AC+ is useful merely as an insurance policy for accidental damage. For everything else there is Consumer Law. AppleCare Protection plan is what they used to sell to extend the warranty to three years for a mac and two years for everything else but was ditched in NZ/Aus a number of years ago.

eracode

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#2988122 26-Oct-2022 03:37

alasta:

They used to offer 30 days (or was it 60 days?) of free tech support with all new devices, and Applecare would extend that to two or three years. Is that no longer the case?

We have many Apple consumer devices and have never had AppleCare. Over the past seven years I have called their 0800 tech support many times and have mostly received excellent service - irrespective of the age of the device. This is one of the things I value and like about Apple - it sorta helps justify the high prices of their products.

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