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Apple today updated its HomePod support website with out-of-warranty service pricing for the speaker, which is arriving to customers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia starting today.

homepod-siri.jpg

HomePod owners who do not purchase AppleCare+ will pay $279 in the United States, £268.44 in the United Kingdom, and $399 in Australia for Apple to repair or replace a HomePod with any damage, unless the issue is the result of a manufacturing defect covered by Apple's limited one-year warranty.

HomePod service can be obtained with an appointment at an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Apple also offers to send customers a box to ship their HomePod to its repair center for an additional fee of $19.95, £13.44, and $29.95 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia respectively.

HomePod costs $349 in the United States, £319 in the United Kingdom, and $499 in Australia, meaning Apple's replacement fee is 80 percent of the cost of a brand new one, so AppleCare+ could be worthwhile.

AppleCare+ extends a HomePod's hardware coverage to two years from its original purchase date, and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $39 in the United States, £29 in the United Kingdom, and $55 in Australia, plus the upfront cost of the plan.

Is it worth it to buy AppleCare+ for HomePod?

We've put together a chart to compare the potential costs of replacing a damaged HomePod with and without AppleCare+ in each country:

homepod-repair-fees-revised-800x306.jpg

AppleCare+ for HomePod: United States / United Kingdom / Australia

Since the HomePod is more of a stationary product placed on a desk or kitchen countertop, many customers may opt against purchasing AppleCare+ for the speaker. But if you have children or pets, or worry about splashing it in the kitchen, then it may be worth considering AppleCare+ for its potential savings.

Article Link: Apple to Charge $279 to Repair or Replace a Damaged HomePod Without AppleCare+
 
I predict the gnashing of the teeth will be start soon...

Guys, this thing has one year Apple warranty. It is a speaker, so anywhere in the EU and the future previous EU countries, it is covered by consumer protection laws which say it must last for a reasonable amount of time. Typically two years, but for speakers I would argue that a "reasonable amount of time" is longer than two years. So nobody in the USA is paying for the next year, nobody in the UK is paying for two years.

Solution: Be careful when you water your house plants, and don't water the HomePod as well. And I must say, I have never heard of anyone repairing speakers. I actually never had any speakers break. The first pair that I bought lasted forever, and I replaced them because I could afford better ones, which then lasted forever (forever meaning more than 25 years).

Speakers just don't break. Unless you break them. And if you think the amount that Apple charges is too much, then surely someone will repair them for less money if they ever need repairing.
 
I have had countless computers, speakers, all kinds of devices. Years ago I figured out that if I take care of my stuff, I can safely avoid the service plan. The only computing device I have had service plans for since then are laptops because they are simply more prone to damage and if damaged most repairs are $$$.

I would not get the service plan for HomePod unless I was moving it around like a portable device.

The other thing to remember is: This is essentially a computing device. Computing devices are typically replaced or obsolete within 5-8 years. ...Of course people have older computers! But try running newer/more advanced operating system versions or applications on them: Time to upgrade! Same thing expected here, the computing hardware will eventually be incompatible with the newer devices that talk with it.
 
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I predict the gnashing of the teeth will be start soon...

Guys, this thing has one year Apple warranty. It is a speaker, so anywhere in the EU and the future previous EU countries, it is covered by consumer protection laws which say it must last for a reasonable amount of time. Typically two years. So nobody in the USA is paying for the next year, nobody in the UK is paying for two years.

Solution: Be careful when you water your house plants, and don't water the HomePod as well. And I must say, I have never heard of anyone repairing speakers. I actually never had any speakers break. The first pair that I bought lasted forever, and I replaced them because I could afford better ones, which then lasted forever (forever meaning more than 25 years).

Speakers don't typically have logic boards to fail. The Homepod does. It remains to be seen if they fail as often as Macbook ones seem to recently.

Charging the retail cost to repair it in the UK is pretty outrageous, but sadly not surprising - I had a Macbook repair for a machine less than 18 months old that died due to a manufacturing defect in the NVRAM, and while the cost was waived by the store under EU consumer law the repair would otherwise have cost £820. At that cost it wouldn't have been worth doing anything but throwing it in the bin and buying something else. And it's all the fault of the poor design practices on recent machines meaning that any faults more or less necessitate Apple throwing out half the machine.
 
iPhone 8 and X have a huge cost of the glass back breaks. New thing in Apple. Make products disposable.
How old is your phone? My oldest phone was 3 years old. I consider 4 years+ in the disposable range for a smartphone, given the feature train moving ahead and wanting a ride.
 
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How old is your phone? My oldest phone was 3 years old. I consider 4 years+ in the disposable range for a smartphone, given the feature train moving ahead and wanting a ride.

Don’t get me started on that. I keep my phones 3-4 years as iPhones are expensive but they were built to last. I had an iPhone 6 less than 2 years old but because of the battery fiasco I was forced to buy 8 plus. I would have never bought a new phone if Apple didn’t refuse to replace the battery.
 
That is pretty pricey. If I was going to get one, I'd pay for it with my Visa which adds an extra year to the warranty.
 
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