Apple Statutory Warranty increases according to Australian Law

Just a FYI for anyone interested. Australian consumer law dictates that any expensive electronic item can be covered for a "reasonable time" after purchase. Apple Australia have now extended their compulsory statutory warranty from 12 months to 24 months. However, they have been rather quiet about it - even allegedly circulating the new policy to store managers on the condition they don't explicitly publicise it.

New source: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/te...rranty-switch-under-wraps-20130318-2gahc.html

EDIT: the link to the original article. Credit to Mactalk.com.au - http://www.mactalk.com.au/content/apple-australia-quietly-extends-warranties-24-months-2966/

Well as I see it, Apple Care has suddenly become way more expensive. Essentially paying the same price for 1 additional year of coverage.

Apple could do 2 things:

- halve or drastically reduce Apple Care to a suitable pricing bracket to match the 1 additional year of coverage only, or

- keep Apple Care the same price and maintain 2 years of coverage in addition to the statutory 24 months. Giving a total of 4 years coverage.

Out of the 2 options, the former would possibly be more desirable because extending coverage to 4 years after product purchase may well result in a higher number of warranty claims due to the longer period of coverage.

I guess it comes down to what Apple's warranty data tells them in regards to number of claims or repairs made in relation to age of device.