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Falcon80

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
537
172
Just bought my Apple Watch Series 3 few days ago but yet to get the Apple Care+. I usually get Apple Care+ for all my Apple products including iPhone and iMac but not sure if I should get one for the watch. Any advice will be appreciated.
 

KrisLord

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2008
1,748
1,880
Northumberland, UK
Which country?

For me it’s too expensive if you’ve got an aluminium watch. (It’s the same price for aluminium or stainless steel).

If the cost was more in proportion to the cost of the model you picked I’d consider it. I’m in the UK and it’s £59 here and £49 if you claim.
 

Brookzy

macrumors 601
May 30, 2010
4,985
5,577
UK
It's tied to your wrist. You can't drop it and smash it like you can a phone. So personally I don't bother.
 

Resqu2

macrumors 6502a
Apr 23, 2011
869
305
Broke my screen running a weed eater. Threw a rock, AC saved me that day. I will get it on my new SBSS if it ever arrives. $49 is cheap insurance.
 

broadbean

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2007
782
333
I usually get Apple Care+ for all my Apple products including iPhone and iMac but not sure if I should get one for the watch. Any advice will be appreciated.

AppleCare+ is not AppleCare as it includes an extra, albeit limited form of, coverage for accidental damage not available for your iMac.

I'd suggest it for the iPad Pro where Apple does not offer cheaper glass replacement (eg here in Australia), and I'll be getting it for the Watch this time round for peace of mind. Despite being "swim proof", Apple might still not cover it under certain circumstances.

AC+ is very expense for iPhone X, but I'd be considering that too...

Meanwhile, Macs not so much.
 

naturalstar

macrumors demi-goddess
Mar 9, 2012
2,858
5,836
I’d rather have it than not. For $49, it’s worth it to me. All it takes is one time. I didn’t like that Verizon didn’t offer it at checkout, so I’m on my way to the Apple Store in the morning.
 

naturalstar

macrumors demi-goddess
Mar 9, 2012
2,858
5,836
It is interesting - for the same price as a second Watch Band, which would I choose?

[For new Watch buyers as I already have plenty of those.]

If it came down to it, I’d get Apple Care+ before a band. Bands aren’t going anywhere. So if I was at the limit of my budget, I’d forego the band until next pay period or whatever timeframe. Accidents have no set period and they always occur at the worse possible moment.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,154
3,047
East of Eden
Just bought my Apple Watch Series 3 few days ago but yet to get the Apple Care+. I usually get Apple Care+ for all my Apple products including iPhone and iMac but not sure if I should get one for the watch. Any advice will be appreciated.

I usually DON'T buy AC for my Apple devices, but in this case the watch is so easy to knock into something, drop or scratch - and AC+ is so cheap and provides such a significant economic benefit - that I figured it was really a no-brainer.
 

Ant2369

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2011
190
180
Connecticut
I’ve gotten it on my last two watches and it definitely makes it an easier resell for the yearly upgraders. Now instead of selling a One year old watch with no warranty, you’re selling a one-year-old watch that still has a year warranty
 

jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,928
3,086
Upstate NY
Unfortunately, I have not found AppleCare plus to increase re-sale value on the watch in any significant manner as Apple Watch resale value is already horrid.

The biggest plus of AppleCare Plus on the watch is Advanced Exchange. When you have a problem with the watch that the store can't fix (which is just about any hardware problem) the watch is sent to Apple for repair. That means no watch for almost a week. If your problem is intermittent, the tech could send it back without doing any repair at all.

With AppleCare Plus, you call AppleCare and give them a CC number. They place a hold on that card and send you another watch and then you send yours back. This way, you are never without the watch and you never have to worry about the tech saying 'no problem found.'
 

Gutwrench

Suspended
Jan 2, 2011
4,603
10,550
Unfortunately, I have not found AppleCare plus to increase re-sale value on the watch in any significant manner as Apple Watch resale value is already horrid.

The biggest plus of AppleCare Plus on the watch is Advanced Exchange. When you have a problem with the watch that the store can't fix (which is just about any hardware problem) the watch is sent to Apple for repair. That means no watch for almost a week. If your problem is intermittent, the tech could send it back without doing any repair at all.

With AppleCare Plus, you call AppleCare and give them a CC number. They place a hold on that card and send you another watch and then you send yours back. This way, you are never without the watch and you never have to worry about the tech saying 'no problem found.'


Thank you. I will add Apple Care based on your post.
 

Falcon80

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
537
172
Which country?

For me it’s too expensive if you’ve got an aluminium watch. (It’s the same price for aluminium or stainless steel).

If the cost was more in proportion to the cost of the model you picked I’d consider it. I’m in the UK and it’s £59 here and £49 if you claim.

It is about 20% of the cost what I pay for my watch.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,494
It's tied to your wrist. You can't drop it and smash it like you can a phone. So personally I don't bother.

Of course this is my opinion, but your post has rather poor reasoning. Watches worn on the wrist are Easily subjected to damage because We are constantly moving and it only takes one time for contact to cause damage.

I Understand you have not had any incidents, but it takes is one incident to realize that you wish you would have had it. So I'm not believing just because you can't drop something and smash it like a phone is reason enough to not have AppleCare for the Watch, when other situations that are applicable in different ways can impact the Watch with damage.
 
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broadbean

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2007
782
333
If the cost was more in proportion to the cost of the model you picked I’d consider it. I’m in the UK and it’s £59 here and £49 if you claim.

So in the UK, Apple Watch Series 3 starts from £329 GPS Only for the 38mm, and £399 for LTE. AppleCare+ is £59 or at most 18% of the initial cost - for the cheapest Series 3 GPS Only; just under 15% for the LTE. This does not include the "Service Fee" of £49 per incident, max 2. If you made one claim, it'd be at least £108.

But, where it's not covered by standard warranty, how much would "out of warranty" service fee cost?
£226.44 for GPS Only; £282.44 for LTE.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/watch/repair/service/pricing

It's true AppleCare+ costs the same for aluminium and stainless steel, but the out-of-warranty replacement cost for the SS is even higher, so I suppose there's even more incentive to go AppleCare+ there.

But like insurance, you need to weigh up your own risks.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,154
3,047
East of Eden
Unfortunately, I have not found AppleCare plus to increase re-sale value on the watch in any significant manner as Apple Watch resale value is already horrid.

The biggest plus of AppleCare Plus on the watch is Advanced Exchange. When you have a problem with the watch that the store can't fix (which is just about any hardware problem) the watch is sent to Apple for repair. That means no watch for almost a week. If your problem is intermittent, the tech could send it back without doing any repair at all.

With AppleCare Plus, you call AppleCare and give them a CC number. They place a hold on that card and send you another watch and then you send yours back. This way, you are never without the watch and you never have to worry about the tech saying 'no problem found.'

I'm not surprised that AC+ doesn't increase the value of the watch, but if you think about the value of being able to get a display replacement before you resell the watch, even if you haven't gotten the screen replaced while you were wearing the watch, I think there's a lot of value in AC+. And, honestly, it's just not that much money.
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It's tied to your wrist. You can't drop it and smash it like you can a phone. So personally I don't bother.

Wrong - it's on your wrist, where it's easy to bang into hard surfaces. And if you drop it while taking it off to charge, the damage to the display could be considerable.
 

Brookzy

macrumors 601
May 30, 2010
4,985
5,577
UK
Wrong - it's on your wrist, where it's easy to bang into hard surfaces. And if you drop it while taking it off to charge, the damage to the display could be considerable.
"Wrong"... Typical obnoxious MacRumors poster writing style. "I disagree" does not equal "wrong".

But anyway, people don't break their Watches by banging them into hard surfaces like you and so many others seem to believe. If Watches broke that easily, people wouldn't wear them.

You handle your iPhone in your hands dozens of times a day suspended several feet above hard surfaces. Meanwhile the Watch is tied to your wrist and gets handled maybe twice a day when you put it on and take it off. Fundamental difference.
 

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,883
2,155
Colorado Springs, CO
... people don't break their Watches by banging them into hard surfaces like you and so many others seem to believe. If Watches broke that easily, people wouldn't wear them.

You handle your iPhone in your hands dozens of times a day suspended several feet above hard surfaces. Meanwhile the Watch is tied to your wrist and gets handled maybe twice a day when you put it on and take it off. Fundamental difference.
My phone is in my pocket most of the time. My watch is on a constantly moving thing. I sometimes smack my arm into chairs or the counter (wrist height). It happens to people more than you realize. People don’t normally break the faces because even cheap watches use quartz but they still sustain abuse. I don’t trust the IonX glass to not crack. If mine was sapphire I probably wouldn’t have bought AC+ but I wasn’t willing to pay for the upgrade in material.
 
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TechnologyRocks

Suspended
Oct 21, 2017
5
3
Just bought my Apple Watch Series 3 few days ago but yet to get the Apple Care+. I usually get Apple Care+ for all my Apple products including iPhone and iMac but not sure if I should get one for the watch. Any advice will be appreciated.

For just $49 I would. It was worth it for that price. Can't say the same any more for the iPhones at $149/$199.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,154
3,047
East of Eden
"Wrong"... Typical obnoxious MacRumors poster writing style. "I disagree" does not equal "wrong".

But anyway, people don't break their Watches by banging them into hard surfaces like you and so many others seem to believe. If Watches broke that easily, people wouldn't wear them.

You handle your iPhone in your hands dozens of times a day suspended several feet above hard surfaces. Meanwhile the Watch is tied to your wrist and gets handled maybe twice a day when you put it on and take it off. Fundamental difference.

Did you have enough self-awareness to read your original post? :rolleyes: Typical, arrogant, obnoxious poster.
 

Bryan Bowler

macrumors 601
Sep 27, 2008
4,067
4,442
Ok, so everyone’s exposure and tolerance for risk is different. As for me and my particular situation, I look at it like this:

AppleCare is $49. My Watch costs $429.

Although hardware can malfunction after 1 year, with Apple it is fairly uncommon. I am pretty certain I will upgrade in approximately 2 years, so I’m only exposed to a hardware malfunction during the 12 months in my second year of ownership. The risk is low.

There is a much higher likelihood of accidental damage during my 2 years of ownership. Although, I am pretty aware of my surroundings so I rate that risk as a moderately low risk, perhaps 1-2 notches higher than a hardware malfunction. But here’s what really makes the decision for me: it is a $49 for the initial outlay of AppleCare and then an additional $69 if you have to replace it due to accidental damage. That brings the total to $129 for an accidental damage replacement. That is 30% of the cost if you were to buy a new Watch outright. And when it comes down to it, I don’t give myself a 1 in 3 (or even a 1 in 4) chance of accidentally damaging my Watch. If I do accidentally break it, I’ll buy a new one. And if I accidentally break it during year two of ownership, I’ll likely get a newer model or even get the same model I had for a lower cost.

In this case, AppleCare doesn’t make sense for me.
 
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