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iPhone X $299 Apple care?!?

spinedoc77

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Original poster
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
Wow, Apple care is now $299! I know, this now includes loss/theft protection, but it's still ridiculous, especially since you still have a $99 deductible per incident.

Anyone else comparing other options? I checked my Mastercard and the extended benefits are so so. Squaretrade seems to have really gone downhill in a big way. The carriers protection seems to be cheaper overall, but maybe about the same if you file a claim. Verizon is $9/month for extended warranty/theft/loss/physical damage and they tout one day service. $216/2 years with a $199 deductible so I suppose close to the same, and arguably more if you file multiple claims. That's their plan for a 64gb iPhone X, maybe the carriers will end up undercutting Apple care this year, seems like it would be a good strategy.

Thoughts? Anyone else peeved about paying almost 1/3 the cost of the phone just for coverage, and more than a 3rd if you just have one claim?
 
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seezar said:
You can get it for $199 without the theft/loss protection
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Yeah that's what I'll probably end up doing. I could have purchased 2 Xmax's with the money I've wasted on insurance, never had an incident other than warranty stuff within the first year. But I guess that's what insurance is for, I'm not griping that I've never had a car or house claim either.
 
Not too bad, over 2 years it 12 bucks a month. And if you upgrade next year you can get $150 refunded. For me it’s great. I usually buy AppleCare Plus and get the carrier insurance and now I’ll just get one.
 
I’m the type of person who likes having the full coverage. I’d rather be safe than sorry but eff the $299 fee. Verizon is cheaper.
 
Freakonomics101 said:
I’m the type of person who likes having the full coverage. I’d rather be safe than sorry but eff the $299 fee. Verizon is cheaper.
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Actually T-Mobile insurance with AppleCare Plus is 15 bucks a month which would be $360 over 2 years, so I’ll go with the $299 with the $99 deductible. Guess it depends on your carrier.
 
Cyberguycpt said:
Not too bad, over 2 years it 12 bucks a month. And if you upgrade next year you can get $150 refunded. For me it’s great. I usually buy AppleCare Plus and get the carrier insurance and now I’ll just get one.
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How do you get a refund? I'm on IUP with an 8+ and upgrading to Xs Max.
 
spoa94 said:
How do you get a refund? I'm on IUP with an 8+ and upgrading to Xs Max.
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Actually you are on an installment plan so your paying monthly and have only paid for the amount of time you have used. I usually pay in full for the 2 year plan so when I upgrade I can get my money back.
 
Cyberguycpt said:
Go to the Apple Store and say you want to cancel your AppleCare you will only get the amount of time left not a full refund.
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Do you think I can do that the day I pickup my new iPhone? Or should I go a couple days before. I assumed your AppleCare needed to remain active to be on the IUP.
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Cyberguycpt said:
Actually you are on an installment plan so your paying monthly and have only paid for the amount of time you have used. I usually pay in full for the 2 year plan so when I upgrade I can get my money back.
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That makes sense. Bummer is you have to pay the tax on the plan up front. Can't get that back.
 
Wow I was just reading the fine print, the $99 deductible is only for damage. If you are using the insurance for theft/loss then the deductible for the max is $269, which places this plan as more expensive than the Verizon plan.

AppleCare
$299/ 2 years
Theft/loss deductible $269 (XsMax)

Verizon
$9/month or $216/2 years
Theft/loss deductible $199 (unknown if this will change for new models)

So if you had 1 theft loss claim with Apple it would cost $568, wow more than half the price of a new phone. With Verizon it would be $415, substantially less. Even if you are claiming damage it's still pretty close with Apple's $99 deductible and Verizon's $199, Apple $398 versus Verizon $415.

I'm definitely just going with Verizon this time around, seems like a better deal.
 
spinedoc77 said:
Wow I was just reading the fine print, the $99 deductible is only for damage. If you are using the insurance for theft/loss then the deductible for the max is $269, which places this plan as more expensive than the Verizon plan.

AppleCare
$299/ 2 years
Theft/loss deductible $269 (XsMax)

Verizon
$9/month or $216/2 years
Theft/loss deductible $199 (unknown if this will change for new models)

So if you had 1 theft loss claim with Apple it would cost $568, wow more than half the price of a new phone. With Verizon it would be $415, substantially less. Even if you are claiming damage it's still pretty close with Apple's $99 deductible and Verizon's $199, Apple $398 versus Verizon $415.

I'm definitely just going with Verizon this time around, seems like a better deal.
Click to expand...
Does Verizon have a declining deductible? I have ATT insurance and it gets lower the longer you have it
 
Freakonomics101 said:
I’m the type of person who likes having the full coverage. I’d rather be safe than sorry but eff the $299 fee. Verizon is cheaper.
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And they use Assurion right? Often then send out crappy phones. I am thrilled Apple is going to offer the theft and loss coverage!
 
What happened to Squaretrade? I just checked their website to compare options vs AppleCare and saw that SquareTrade is now monthly, which I don't like. I like paying things off and not worrying about monthly payments.
 
I purchased Square Trade last year back when prices were cheap $159/3 years, so I still have 2 years left. There's no way I'm paying over $200 for 2 year coverage. Anything over that I may as well pay the out of warranty cost (ranging rom $129 to $599 depending on damage and model) if anything happens to my phone.
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Sukach said:
What happened to Squaretrade? I just checked their website to compare options vs AppleCare and saw that SquareTrade is now monthly, which I don't like. I like paying things off and not worrying about monthly payments.
Click to expand...

They know that if they changed it to monthly they can substantially increase their prices without it actually looking like it's increased that much. Last year I believe 2 year coverage for the iPhone X was $129 which comes to $5.38/month. Now they're charging $8.99/month or $216 for 2 years.
 
Never had it. Never needed it. In the 11 years of iPhone ownership, I've saved more than enough by never purchasing AppleCare, that I can take the hit on a screen replacement or more and still be hundreds of dollars ahead.
 
Cyberguycpt said:
Actually you are on an installment plan so your paying monthly and have only paid for the amount of time you have used. I usually pay in full for the 2 year plan so when I upgrade I can get my money back.
Click to expand...
This just got back $111 today for my apple care plus I had only X since 11/2/17
#winning
 
spinedoc77 said:
Wow I was just reading the fine print, the $99 deductible is only for damage. If you are using the insurance for theft/loss then the deductible for the max is $269, which places this plan as more expensive than the Verizon plan.

AppleCare
$299/ 2 years
Theft/loss deductible $269 (XsMax)

Verizon
$9/month or $216/2 years
Theft/loss deductible $199 (unknown if this will change for new models)

So if you had 1 theft loss claim with Apple it would cost $568, wow more than half the price of a new phone. With Verizon it would be $415, substantially less. Even if you are claiming damage it's still pretty close with Apple's $99 deductible and Verizon's $199, Apple $398 versus Verizon $415.

I'm definitely just going with Verizon this time around, seems like a better deal.
Click to expand...

Verizon's coverage is $11/mo unless you have more than 3 lines, then it drops to $9/mo. Also, I've had nothing but issues with the Asurion "certified" replacements they give you. They're garbage, plain and simple. I've had to return several replacement phones because they were worse than the phone they were replacing. Severe burn in issues, physically damaged casings, scratches on the screens. Never again.
 
Check your house and contents insurance policy, a lot of them have coverage for mobile phones and it’s a damn site cheaper (free since you probably already have it).
 
Apple's repair prices and applecare have gotten out of hand. The Xs Max will cost $300 to repair (WITH AppleCare, so $200 up front), for one incident, or $329 to repair if you shatter the screen without AC, or $600 to repair if anything else goes wrong with it (including shattering the back).

Applecare not worth it if you are just worried about the screen (paying $200 to potentially save $30 is a pretty poor investment), but is worth it for other damage, but only because the OOW repair cost is absolutely insane.

The back glass should not cost more than around $30 to repair.
 
touaregv10 said:
IS THE PHONE ON iUP? Curious if they will do a credit like this before turning the phone back in?
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The cost of AC+ is built into your monthly payments with iUP, so there's nothing to refund. Refunds are only for if you bought AC+ up front at full price, which you can't do with iUP.
 
DevinNj said:
Verizon's coverage is $11/mo unless you have more than 3 lines, then it drops to $9/mo. Also, I've had nothing but issues with the Asurion "certified" replacements they give you. They're garbage, plain and simple. I've had to return several replacement phones because they were worse than the phone they were replacing. Severe burn in issues, physically damaged casings, scratches on the screens. Never again.
Click to expand...

Last I checked the "Total Equipment Coverage" including accidental damage, theft, loss was $9 / month with a $199 deductible per incident, at least on a 64gb iPhone X. https://www.phoneclaim.com/verizon/deductible/ I just called Verizon to verify as I wanted to make sure before I preorder.

I am also concerned about Asurion, I've never had good results with them but I haven't had a claim with them in years and years. I'm still not sure which way I will go, but you definitely bring up a good point. Keep in mind that Apple replaces phones with refurb units as well so YMMV and Apple has had its own issues like being caught improperly denying claims for water damage (which I was a victim of). Man I really miss square trade.
 
Jman13 said:
Apple's repair prices and applecare have gotten out of hand. The Xs Max will cost $300 to repair (WITH AppleCare, so $200 up front), for one incident, or $329 to repair if you shatter the screen without AC, or $600 to repair if anything else goes wrong with it (including shattering the back).

Applecare not worth it if you are just worried about the screen (paying $200 to potentially save $30 is a pretty poor investment), but is worth it for other damage, but only because the OOW repair cost is absolutely insane.

The back glass should not cost more than around $30 to repair.
Click to expand...

Your numbers are a bit off.

With Applecare repairs are $29 for the screen and $99 for everything else (back glass etc). The Applecare plan is $199 (not the lost/stolen coverage, just repair)

Without for the Max is $329 for the screen and $599 other damage.

So you're saving $101 on a screen repair and $301 on back glass damage taking into account the $199 and $29/99 deductibles. That's not insignificant.

And if you trade up every year you get 50% of that $199 back if you dont use it. So it cost you about $8.30/month for piece of mind for that year
 
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