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Is Applecare+ worth purchasing?

protobiont said:
So, correct me if I'm wrong here, but the most likely form of damage is the screen or back cracking after a drop or some accidental impact.

If the back breaks, you can replace it yourself for about $30 max.
If the screen breaks it costs about $80 for a 3rd party place to fix it (does Apple charge $200?)

This will be my 3rd iPhone and I've never damaged my first two. If I had bought Apple care+ (had it existed) for all three I'd be out $300 so far. I figure if something happens to this one, I've got $300 in credit saved up.

All that said, I think it really depends on how you are with phones, and how long you typically keep them.

Now where the heck is the UPS guy!??
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Exactly. Although with Applecare, I think (assuming and I could be wrong) they would cover things like water damage and whatnot, so if you drop the phone in a puddle you aren't completely screwed.

I could almost justify it with a computer as the parts are more expensive, but then again you could also just "fix" whatever's broken, if it breaks (hard drive, etc.)
 
My thoughts? If you were going to buy Applecare, definitely. It's only 30 dollars extra and if you break your phone by abuse it will only cost you 50 dollars to replace rather than 200.

But, I dunno, if you weren't going to buy Applecare, it's 100 dollars you'll never see again in hopes that you might save anywhere from who knows - 50 dollars (who knows if it is a warranty issue and you end up having several, 50 if you only drop your iphone once, though 200 if you drop it twice). It already has a standard warranty of one year and many people change the phone at least at 2 years old.

So it depends on how likely you think you will drop it, how long you think you are going to keep the phone (if just for one year I'd say no, I'd rather take the risk and have a chance of being out 0 rather than only saving 50 bux. I doubt I'd drop it badly enough to break it twice, I'm pretty good about taking care of my stuff though I do drop things and I tend to find ways to prevent that kind of dropping again if I do drop it).
 
Unless you're really horrible to your technology, these insurance deals never work out over the long term. I've kind of learned the hard way- and given up on them. It could be a bit different, I guess, if you don't have upgrades coming out of your ears to get a new subsidized phone.
 
$200 replacement policy will go by the boards

... it looks like apple are not going to be generous like the past if you don't have it ...
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Two years ago my iPhone got water damaged while out of town and I was pleasantly surprised that the local Apple Store replaced it for $200 plus a 2 year plan extension. You make a good point: Now that they offer accident insurance it's a good bet that the generous $200 replacement policy is not something that can be counted on.

Regarding the early upgrades, it's been possible to sell used previois generations of iPhones on eBay for $200 or $300 so maybe that's how they swing it without wasting too much money.
 
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pdegregorio said:
Regarding the early upgrades, it's been possible to sell used previois generations of iPhones on eBay for $200 or $300 so maybe that's how they swing it without wasting too much money.
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Do you guys know if Apple gives you a brand new phone, sealed in the box, or do they just hand you over a new iPhone as a replacement?
 
Only when you need it later. I just read this morning that 80% of the people in California have no earthquate insurance. Penny wise and pound foolish. You'll be bitching later that Apple won't just give a new phone..too bad!
 
With 81 billion....I think the $200 replacement might just carry on.

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tigress666 said:
My thoughts? If you were going to buy Applecare, definitely. It's only 30 dollars extra and if you break your phone by abuse it will only cost you 50 dollars to replace rather than 200.

But, I dunno, if you weren't going to buy Applecare, it's 100 dollars you'll never see again in hopes that you might save anywhere from who knows - 50 dollars (who knows if it is a warranty issue and you end up having several, 50 if you only drop your iphone once, though 200 if you drop it twice). It already has a standard warranty of one year and many people change the phone at least at 2 years old.

So it depends on how likely you think you will drop it, how long you think you are going to keep the phone (if just for one year I'd say no, I'd rather take the risk and have a chance of being out 0 rather than only saving 50 bux. I doubt I'd drop it badly enough to break it twice, I'm pretty good about taking care of my stuff though I do drop things and I tend to find ways to prevent that kind of dropping again if I do drop it).
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You would have paid $150 for the replacement not $50. You have to include the cost of the warranty.
 
I plan for down the road. I awalys upgrade within a year because as thus far ATT Has upgraded our mainline like clockwork and have gotten a new iphone. I sell my old iphone about a month or little or less before teh release of new iphone to get a better price. Mine always sells when I advertise that it has applecare on it over the ones that dont.

This year just get a bit extra with it the extended technical coverage ans accidental coverage. I sell the phone inside a apple store so the apple care is transfered correctly.
 
ZipZap said:
With 81 billion....I think the $200 replacement might just carry on.

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You would have paid $150 for the replacement not $50. You have to include the cost of the warranty.
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Uh, my point was if you were going to buy the applecare (not the +) anyways and were thinking about upgrading to the +. It's only that much more over the Applecare (Which you would have paid the 70 dollars on).

If you noticed, I also included the costs if you weren't going to buy Applecare in which case you are right because then you have to consider the whole cost.

Please try to read and understand what I'm trying to say before correcting me.
 
FYI all, I was going to buy AppleCare + through Apple directly but I was able to buy it through Verizon even cheaper and saved $30 because of my corporate discount. Make sure to check and see if your employer has discounts with your phone provider
 
noTe on iPhone said:
FYI all, I was going to buy AppleCare + through Apple directly but I was able to buy it through Verizon even cheaper and saved $30 because of my corporate discount. Make sure to check and see if your employer has discounts with your phone provider
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Did you buy it at a store or online? Last I checked they did not have it.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I added the AppleCare+ when activating my 4S. I kind of regret it now, does anyone know if I can cancel it?
 
ggmissmolly said:
Only when you need it later. I just read this morning that 80% of the people in California have no earthquate insurance. Penny wise and pound foolish. You'll be bitching later that Apple won't just give a new phone..too bad!
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Earthquake insurance in CA is prohibitively expensive, if you can get it.
 
applecare + vs. Verizon insurance

hi folks,

I'll be ordering a 4S through Verizon the next day or two. Verizon offers damage insurance for about $8/month. Over the cost of a 2-yr commitment, that's about $200. This insurance carries a deductible. Should I get applecare+ instead? I have applecare on my MBP, and it's been great, so I'm leaning that way. I expect that the Verizon insurance would be more a pain to work with. Any recommendations?
 
noTe on iPhone said:
Online through Verizon while I was logged into my account.
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Are you sure it was Applecare PLUS? I've seen the regular Applecare on Verizon's website (for $69 - $30 less that the "plus" costs), but couldn't find the "plus" version.
 
JimK said:
Are you sure it was Applecare PLUS? I've seen the regular Applecare on Verizon's website (for $69 - $30 less that the "plus" costs), but couldn't find the "plus" version.
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My thoughts exactly. I also searched for it and only found the regular one.
 
I was told at the Apple Store when I purchased my 4S yesterday that they will no longer replace damaged phones at $199 but rather full retail. So your options are AppleCare+ for 99 and then 49 if you damage it, OR full retail.
 
AppleCare+ can get pretty expensive.
Let's say, for example, a 64GB phone:

$399 + $99 + $50(x) where x ≤ 2 exchanges.

iPhone is great, but personally, that price starts to cross the line for me. It's even much more expensive if you buy the phone at full price.

If you know you're going to be careful with your phone, then it's not necessary. If you know that you're not going to be careful, then seriously just consider a case and save yourself a whole bunch of money. That's my advice.

Unless you are one of those people who like to swap your phone out every few months, it's probably not worth it. If you have to ask if it's "worth purchasing", then it's probably not. (atleast iMO)
 
To me it's a no brainer- I'm getting it. I've dropped my 3gs every day for the last year or so and it's never shattered... but it has some vibrate issues and its generally slower now. I anticipate that the 4S is more fragile (yep). With applecare+, I'd pay $99 now, $50 for first incident, and another $50 for a second incident. 2 new phones for the $200? That sounds reasonable to me.
 
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