Is it Worth Buying AppleCare+ for iPhone X?

[thadoggfather]

All I know is if I lived in U.K. Or EU parts I wouldn't get an x

999 gbp or 1149 euro for base

You're talking 1300 USD for the 64gb :O

 

[Zaned303]

I did the bestbuy Apple care monthly plan and after 12 x 10 dollar payments when I sell my X I can cancel it. Pretty sweet deal

 

[Juan007]

I don't understand the hate here, it's obvious that a more expensive device will cost more to fix. Apple is pricing AppleCare accordingly.

 

[IJ Reilly]

My house has four children in it. Three of them are two years old.

Of course you're talking about Apple being "the house", but in my case, the chance of accidental damage to the iPhone are probably higher than yours. No matter how much I plan to treat my expensive phone gently there are going to be times when it is vulnerable. If one child reaches for a hot stove, or falls into a pool, or picks up a screw driver with an eye on the electrical socket, or any number of immediate hazards, I won't take time to secure my expensive phone before rescuing the even more precious child. That leaves three children watching for the phone to become available.

The rule about the "always winning" with insurance is based on both time and a large number of people who purchase the insurance. Apple doesn't charge me more for AppleCare +, even though I live in a two story house with tile flooring and multiple high-energy children. I pay the same $199 as someone who is single, keeps the phone in an Otterbox, and always walks on the grass just in case.

From a financial point of view, it depends on your situation, which is something you know about better than I do (just as I know more about mine than you do).

Your point is taken, but with a big however: you still don't have any actual knowledge of the probability that you will make a claim on your policy. Apple may not know for your particular situation either, or anybody else's for that matter, but they do know it in the aggregate, down to the dollar. So you are still betting that your risk is greater than Apple knows it to be.

I am not trying to make anybody's decision for them, but I strongly suspect that the impulse to insure (especially for items you could easily afford to repair or replace if needed) comes from the same place in our brains that convince us it's a good idea to buy lottery tickets or play slot machines. Win a little jackpot on either and suddenly we believe that the odds are no longer tilted heavily in favor of the house.

 

[maka344]

It's worth it o. The iUP as you only pay for 12 months at half price as long as you upgrade yearly as when you upgrade they pay the balance off. Same with the pho e payment. You only pay about 55% of the device cost.

 

[Wowereit]

Extended warranties are NEVER worth it.

Businesses don't sell products that lose money.

It depends.
On average? Sure.

I know some people that manage to break every smartphone they own about 1 or 2 times. For them it's a no-brainer.

Glad I'm not one of them. I would've lost money with AppleCare.

 

[rek89]

Apple just hit a new low as far as I'm concerned, I always thought AppleCare + was a no questions and No cost replacement after you bought it. ...

Where would you have gotten this idea? To my knowledge this has never been the case whatsoever.

 

[Plutonius]

After many poor experiences with AppleCare, I no longer get it on any Apple products.

 

[vooke]

AC+ is otional insurance so it's value depends on how careless you imagine you are.

 

[BigDO]

My household insurance works out much cheaper, and covers theft/loss as well as breakages.

 

[icewolf247]

It's cheaper to pay for mobile phone insurance that covers loss/theft and damage. Why would anyone pay for Applecare?

 

[yanbellium]

No, I don't agree. The top-end iPhone (max capacity) cost $850 in 2013, $950 in 2014, $970 in 2016, and $1150 in 2017. And those same models, with minimum capacity, were $650/$750/$770/$1000.

Is the X a "more luxurious" phone in 2017 than the other top-end models were in their respective years? I guess that's a matter of opinion, but I think not. Why exactly should the price have increased by that much in 4 years? Apple has been inching the price higher and higher, and like frogs in slowly heating water, it hasn't alarmed us as much as it should - but we're at something of a boiling point now, IMO. $1150 for a phone is insanity.

You’re answering your own question. Technology has advanced therefore the cost has advanced. Nowadays people are running businesses right from there iPhones, not to mention technology is a very competitive industry. If one doesn’t do it, another company will. If one company does something poorly, another company will do it better. Point is, it costs money to stay up to date. Apple is not the only company inching their prices. The automotive industry does it. The health industry does it. The child care industry does. Why is Apple any different? People complain about Apple’s prices because they want the newest iPhone with the old iPhone prices. If the consumer is not satisfied with Apple’s prices...they should buy another phone at a price point they are comfortable with. It really isn’t a debate when the option lies in the consumers hands.

 

[pjny]

Hi,

I buy apple care on every product for the peace of mind because my work takes me to some extreme conditions where the gear is subjected to extreme elements. I had a water damaged 5s replaced for $80 or $90 IIRC at an apple store in baltimore in early 2015. that was a life saver as the situation was dangerous and i needed a working phone. i cracked my watch face in august in houston and replacement was about $79.

My 6s+ video image stabilization had a jitteer problem 6 months ago and they fixed that for free, and they replaced it 4 months ago because of bad battery, all under applecare. I saved a lot as i got the 6s+ in oct 2015. so now, i have a 6s+ with new battery that i can hand down to family members when i get X.

Only time i cracked a screen on apple product was with iPad mini. The apple magnetic cover was horrible as it snapped off and i had a crack on the top right of the ipad mini. got a proper case after that incident.

 

[protobiont]

This article would be better if it mentioned that the SECOND breakage of screen/body means you’d be saving a lot of money with AppleCare+.

You would also want to factor in the cost of buying Apple care for each of the iPhones you’ve ever owned and how many times you’ve damaged any of those iPhones.

 

[JSB1540]

My household insurance works out much cheaper, and covers theft/loss as well as breakages.

What about the deductible, usually fairly high on homeowner's policies?

 

[Wowereit]

And it was $29 to replace the back glass only. Now mind you, the iPhone 4 and 4s were great devices in 2010 and 2011. We are in 2017 and technology has advanced. We have wireless charging and facial recognition. If you owned a company such as Apple, would you charge $29 to replace the back glass on an iPhone X. Before you answer, make sure you have knowledge of how much it costs to develop a device and maintain production for millions of customers around the world. Also keep in mind you have thousands of employees to pay for their work.

There is a lot of middle ground between $29 and $549.

No one says Apple shouldn't make any money, but at some point it's getting ridiculous.

 

[Roller]

Apple Care is never worth it. Just use an Amex card whenever you buy Apple hardware.

Amex covers accidental loss or damage for only 90 days and doubles the warranty to two years in the U.S. That doesn't mean that AppleCare is always the wisest choice, but people in the IUP have no choice. However, the cost of AppleCare is spread over the 24 months of the loan, which comes to about $8.30/month for an iPhone X.

 

[MH01]

I don't understand the hate here, it's obvious that a more expensive device will cost more to fix. Apple is pricing AppleCare accordingly.

It's cause in the past the X would have taken the iPhone 8 price point . This is pure greed, Cook has effectively given us an iPhone "pro" price and to really take the piss has decided to increase AppleCare.

Your theory is flawed given the price of AppleCare for a £4K laptop v iPhone AppleCare, Cook knows he will sell less units so is just raising the prices, like he has across the range, price hikes to compensate drop in units sold.

 

[kironin]

No, not worth it.

 

[tl01]

I will still apt for apple care plus. I don't like to worry about being uber careful with my phones. I want to take them everywhere including the water park in a waterproof bag...so I can take pics... so I don't assume I can do no damage to my phone. I take my phone in my pool and spa to control music etcand I don't do that with a case. I don't indent for it to get wet but it could happen.

 

[gugy]

I use to think the same thing until a few years ago I broke the screen on my phone twice (because I didn't have Apple Care the 2 screen replacements cost me as much as a new phone) in the span of a month. Last week, I some how cracked the screen on my watch and if I didn't have Apple it would have cost me $268 which is almost the cost of a new watch. I think it is worth the cost especially now that the iPhone 8 & X have glass fronts and backs.

I am very careful with my phone and iPad. For me on the computer side you can have failure on the hardware front. I had some huge problems with my MacPro but not so much with my laptops.
That said it always help having AppleCare when you resell it.

 

[MH01]

This article would be better if it mentioned that the SECOND breakage of screen/body means you’d be saving a lot of money with AppleCare+.

or .... save £200 by not dropping it...

Or ... save £170 by putting a case on it.

Truth is , you can get a really good case and save money.

What about the 3rd breakage ? Ahhh problem here eh.... good case is better than AppleCare plus if you tend to drop your phone

 

[mm1250]

I currently have the AT&T $8.99/mo insurance and looked up the iPhone X and it falls under Tier E, which is $299 deductible! vs. older models which are $225 deductible.

not sure which is better to go with. The only downside for applecare is it doesn't cover lost/theft which is a big gap vs. the ATT insurance .

 

[imola.zhp]

Doesn’t cover theft or loss... worthless.

 

[MH01]

If you shatter your iPhone X's back glass, having AppleCare+ is even more worthwhile. Apple's flat rate is $549 for this type of damage


And that is because why? Apple decided to solder the black glass panel to the whole frame of the phone just so they can charge that kind of money, like they did on iPhone 8?

I totally understand screen replacement price, since its OLED, but back glass? For that amount of money you can get brand new Galaxy S8. This really is amazing how stupid Apple is becoming with that kind of pricing.

Just greedy..... super greedy. Thank Cook, he is Apple Steve balmer, wonder who will get the job of cleaning up his mess!