Apple Care

[daniel1948]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the SE will be my first smartphone. What do people think of the value of the Apple Care or Apple Care Plus insurance/extended warranty? I think Apple Care Plus is $99 for the SE. It extends the manufacturer's warranty for an extra year, it includes free customer service phone support, and if you destroy your phone through stupidity they'll replace it (only once, I think) for $79 IIRC.

In my experience, their customer support is excellent. Never having had a smartphone before I'm not sure how likely it is that I'll damage it (as compared to a tablet, e.g.) Extended warranties are usually not a good value, since the issuer makes money from them.

Opinions? Are folks here getting Apple Care for their phones? Do you wish you had it, or didn't have it?

 

[mildocjr]

In my opinion AppleCare is only necessary for computers. I don't put it on my iPads because my iPads never leave the house and I don't put it on my iPhones mostly because I didn't have enough money when the first one came out. But even now I've never had issues with any iPhone (1 gen, 2x 3G, 2x 4, 2x 4S, 2x 5S, 2x 6S+) or iPad (3 Gen, 2x iPad Air) and AppleCare doesn't protect against water and fall damage which are the two most common reasons for replacing a phone.

I've only actually used AppleCare on 1 device and that was for my 2010 15" MacBook Pro and I'm glad that I bought it because there was an issue with the display and the cost of AppleCare (250 or 350 can't remember) was way cheaper than what it cost Apple to fix it for free ($1300 to replace the clamshell).

So iDevices, I'd say Nah, most people will probably destroy the device themselves before a hardware failure.
Computers, I'd say Yah because you might see a hardware failure in an iMac before you drop it.

The deciding factor in this should be based on three things. Cost of the Device, how long you plan on keeping it, how much you trust yourself to keep the device in near mint condition at the end of 3 years.

 

[Newtons Apple]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the SE will be my first smartphone. What do people think of the value of the Apple Care or Apple Care Plus insurance/extended warranty? I think Apple Care Plus is $99 for the SE. It extends the manufacturer's warranty for an extra year, it includes free customer service phone support, and if you destroy your phone through stupidity they'll replace it (only once, I think) for $79 IIRC.

In my experience, their customer support is excellent. Never having had a smartphone before I'm not sure how likely it is that I'll damage it (as compared to a tablet, e.g.) Extended warranties are usually not a good value, since the issuer makes money from them.

Opinions? Are folks here getting Apple Care for their phones? Do you wish you had it, or didn't have it?

If you are the type that drops stuff all the time AC+ might be a good option. Another option is if you do not live close to an Apple Store, AC+ will get a replacement phone over night to you.

I have not had AC+ on anything except my Apple Watch because it was it's first year out. Have not had to use it.

 

[mildocjr]

Have not had an issue with my Apple Watch that a software reset didn't fix.

 

[Qbnkelt]

I always get Apple Care +.

 

[mildocjr]

Summary:
If you have the money get Apple Care, if money doesn't come easy for you then do a risk assessment for each device.

 

[daniel1948]

... and AppleCare doesn't protect against water and fall damage which are the two most common reasons for replacing a phone....

Actually, Apple Care Plus does protect against those things. One incident per contract, $79 to replace an iPhone SE that you ruined by dropping it in water or other negligence. If you are going to ruin one phone out of every three you buy, by negligence, the AC+ is worth it.

But it gets a little more complicated, because it also gives you unlimited customer support by phone for the full two years. Without the contract you only get 30 days (IIRC) of support by phone.

 

[Qbnkelt]

Actually, Apple Care Plus does protect against those things. One incident per contract, $79 to replace an iPhone SE that you ruined by dropping it in water or other negligence. If you are going to ruin one phone out of every three you buy, by negligence, the AC+ is worth it.

But it gets a little more complicated, because it also gives you unlimited customer support by phone for the full two years. Without the contract you only get 30 days (IIRC) of support by phone.

Water damage is not covered.
Edit....I was wrong. It is covered.

 

[mildocjr]

Actually, Apple Care Plus does protect against those things. One incident per contract, $79 to replace an iPhone SE that you ruined by dropping it in water or other negligence. If you are going to ruin one phone out of every three you buy, by negligence, the AC+ is worth it.

But it gets a little more complicated, because it also gives you unlimited customer support by phone for the full two years. Without the contract you only get 30 days (IIRC) of support by phone.

Yea reading from the AppleCare website (direct copy paste)

• Coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage,2 each subject to a fee of $79 for iPhone SE, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, or $99 for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, plus applicable tax

It does take care of two accidental damages but not for free, when I made my statement I was referring to free replacements. Albeit it is cheaper to use Apple Care if you are prone to damaging your phone, I still think it's not necessary for those who replace their phone in less than 3 years.

 

[laudern]

Never purchased it and I've never needed it. Would have been a complete waste of money for however many years I've been buying apple products.

The past doesn't predict the future, but I'll take my chances......

 

[HEK]

Have alway gotten AppleCare+ on iPhones. They do so much traveling, easy to drop. With that said never had to replace a phone yet. Something to note, twice I got a new phone in one year when next one came out. You can transfer the remaining year of AppleCare+ to next owner if you sell the phone. Makes for good selling feature. Or Apple will re-emburse you the balance of original AppleCare+ price if you have not used it.

Other thing I have found is that when I returned three iPhone charger cable because ends were coming loose, undone from plug. They replace all three when they saw I had applecare+ on the phone. Now maybe they would have done so anyway. But my perception was got $90 in cables free without a second word as they did note the applecare+.

 

[2298754]

With the recent price increase of AC+, I think I'd prefer to go SquareTrade or Upsie. They are cheaper with lower deductibles.

 

[Max(IT)]

I alway buy AppleCare, for any product.
I consider it as part of the price for the new device.

 

[daniel1948]

With the recent price increase of AC+, I think I'd prefer to go SquareTrade or Upsie. They are cheaper with lower deductibles.

Those would be cheaper because they do not include the free tech support by phone. It's that support that I'm more likely to need than the insurance. I had an issue with my tablets the other day. The fix turned out to be easy, but I'd never have figured it out myself.

 

[Q-Dog]

I never buy Applecare. Have never had a situation where it would have covered anything either. If I had bought it for all the Apple stuff I've ever owned, Apple would have a lot more of my money and I would have nothing to show for it.

 

[rigormortis]

i would go with square trade. they recently raised their prices. its now like $109 for 2 years or $139 for 3 years?

they have a new option where it automatically renews.

square trade projects your apple device from 4 incidents

the big deal with square trade, that no one seems to know, is they have a $0 deductible specifically for iPhone repairs at the genius bar (as long as its a screen ), you break your screen,you turn in a claim, you get it fixed at the genius bar and send them the invoice
and they pay you back for the entire repair with $0 deducible.

this happened to me last month. i dropped my 6s+ , turned a $162 into square trade, the website specially said no deductible as long as the genius bar fix it, and i got back $162

i called them recently about the plan on my mac book pro. they recently told me they stopped reimbursing via paypal because of fraud. now they only offer amazon gift cards or checks

the only thing apple gives you with apple care or apple care + is phone support which is SUPERIOR to the genius bar
and coverage for any apple wireless routers, like time capsules and airport extremes

i wouldnt ' only get square trade for computers ', i square trade anything, hey if they have a plan that covers ADH and its better then apple , then go for it.


apple doesn't cover ADH on a $1800 mac book pro!! apple doesn't offer mail in support on a MAC MINI!! heck applecare would charge you a deducible if you break your IPAD, but you can accidently smash your ipad on square trade and they have a $0 deductible plan for all iPads.

the fine print with square trade is if yu have an ipad that costs $999 and each time you turn in a claim like $329, the $329 is deducted from the $999 and whatever is left is what they will spend on repairs.

but i don't know man, they got this new renewal plan for $89 each year after 3 years, so i have no idea what the deal is
[doublepost=1458957150][/doublepost]make sure you get a case for your iPhone. the 5 series's sides scratch easily.

 

[Max(IT)]

I never buy Applecare. Have never had a situation where it would have covered anything either. If I had bought it for all the Apple stuff I've ever owned, Apple would have a lot more of my money and I would have nothing to show for it.

Tell me again when your Mac fails outside the warranty timeframe and you have to replace the motherboard... For instance.

I used AppleCare on several occasions: one MacBook 13" (defective battery), time capsule (multiple replacements over three years), an iPod, one iPhone 4 (failed home button after 15 months) and one MacBook Air (defective power brick after 2 years and half).
They always mailed me the replacement or booked an appointment at the Apple Store, and solved the issue within minutes.

For me AppleCare is a must.

 

[John Mcgregor]

Tell me again when your Mac fails outside the warranty timeframe and you have to replace the motherboard... For instance.

I used AppleCare on several occasions: one MacBook 13" (defective battery), time capsule (multiple replacements over three years), an iPod, one iPhone 4 (failed home button after 15 months) and one MacBook Air (defective power brick after 2 years and half).
They always mailed me the replacement or booked an appointment at the Apple Store, and solved the issue within minutes.

For me AppleCare is a must.

I would say you had a really bad luck so far

 

[Max(IT)]

i would go with square trade. they recently raised their prices. its now like $109 for 2 years or $139 for 3 years?

they have a new option where it automatically renews.

square trade projects your apple device from 4 incidents

the big deal with square trade, that no one seems to know, is they have a $0 deductible specifically for iPhone repairs at the genius bar (as long as its a screen ), you break your screen,you turn in a claim, you get it fixed at the genius bar and send them the invoice
and they pay you back for the entire repair with $0 deducible.

this happened to me last month. i dropped my 6s+ , turned a $162 into square trade, the website specially said no deductible as long as the genius bar fix it, and i got back $162

i called them recently about the plan on my mac book pro. they recently told me they stopped reimbursing via paypal because of fraud. now they only offer amazon gift cards or checks

the only thing apple gives you with apple care or apple care + is phone support which is SUPERIOR to the genius bar
and coverage for any apple wireless routers, like time capsules and airport extremes

i wouldnt ' only get square trade for computers ', i square trade anything, hey if they have a plan that covers ADH and its better then apple , then go for it.


apple doesn't cover ADH on a $1800 mac book pro!! apple doesn't offer mail in support on a MAC MINI!! heck applecare would charge you a deducible if you break your IPAD, but you can accidently smash your ipad on square trade and they have a $0 deductible plan for all iPads.

the fine print with square trade is if yu have an ipad that costs $999 and each time you turn in a claim like $329, the $329 is deducted from the $999 and whatever is left is what they will spend on repairs.

but i don't know man, they got this new renewal plan for $89 each year after 3 years, so i have no idea what the deal is
[doublepost=1458957150][/doublepost]make sure you get a case for your iPhone. the 5 series's sides scratch easily.

Square trade isn't available worldwide (I think it's only for US and UK, and in UK the service is limited)
[doublepost=1458983558][/doublepost]

I would say you had a really bad luck so far

Actually not, if you consider the huge number of Apple devices I owned over the last 26 years.
Those were only minor issues (the only real flawed product was the first generation time capsule).

Each year I'm having several Apple products active in my house (just to give you an idea right now I have what you see in my signature plus an AirPort Extreme, an airport express, an Apple TV, two iPod, a battery case....).

 

[John Mcgregor]

Square trade isn't available worldwide (I think it's only for US and UK, and in UK the service is limited)
[doublepost=1458983558][/doublepost]
Actually not, if you consider the huge number of Apple devices I owned over the last 26 years.
Those were only minor issues (the only real flawed product was the first generation time capsule).

Actually yes my friend. I only had bad wifi out of the box in a 2007 iMac and once used Apple program to fix plastic Macbook shell. That's it. Almost 20 years of Apple stuff. Insurance or things like Apple care generally do not work out to your advantage and just end up as wasted money.

For some people in some cases it's nothing short of a miracle, but more often than not it is wasted money.

 

[maflynn]

Have not had an issue with my Apple Watch that a software reset didn't fix.

for the Apple watch,I think it makes sense, given the new product type and possible issues that we are unaware of. I have AC on my Apple watch.

With the recent price increase of AC+

I agree, given the price of the SE, the deductible, and the cost of AC+, I don't see this as a good use of my money. I may change my mind, but at the moment, I'm not getting it. In the past, I didn't buy it for the iPhone, only the plus, because of its size and thinness, I was worried that it would be more prone to damage.

 

[Max(IT)]

Actually yes my friend. I only had bad wifi out of the box in a 2007 iMac and once used Apple program to fix plastic Macbook shell. That's it. Almost 20 years of Apple stuff. Insurance or things like Apple care generally do not work out to your advantage and just end up as wasted money.

For some people in some cases it's nothing short of a miracle, but more often than not it is wasted money.

better worry than sorry .... I know I gave Apple a lot of money in the past years, but I'm playing very safe with my electronic devices.
In the events of the iPhone 4 and multiple Time Capsule failures it worths all the money for the hassle free experience.

 

[mattopotamus]

The 6s was the first time I did not get AppleCare+ because of the new pricing model. It didn't make financial sense.

I plan to keep the SE until a new 4" phone comes out, which could very well be two years. For that reason, I will probably get AC+ this time around. I never use a case.

 

[Q-Dog]

Tell me again when your Mac fails outside the warranty timeframe and you have to replace the motherboard... For instance.

I used AppleCare on several occasions: one MacBook 13" (defective battery), time capsule (multiple replacements over three years), an iPod, one iPhone 4 (failed home button after 15 months) and one MacBook Air (defective power brick after 2 years and half).
They always mailed me the replacement or booked an appointment at the Apple Store, and solved the issue within minutes.

For me AppleCare is a must.

I guess you could say we "self-insure" our devices. The money we have saved over the years by not buying Apple Care can pay for several more Apple devices.

 

[daniel1948]

Thanks to everyone who posted for your experiences and thoughts. Still not sure which way I'll go, but I now have plenty of food for thought. Thanks again.