Is AppleCare+ worth getting?

Deadjasper

2[H]4U
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Oct 28, 2001
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I don't usually go for extended warranties but then again, I've never paid over a grand for a phone before.
 
Like all forms of insurance, AppleCare+ isn't worth it until you need it. I have it on a month-to-month basis. Costs $6/month for my iPad Pro. I used it to replace cracked screens twice on my last iPad Pro during the 2+ years I had it.
 
My previous phone, a Nexus 6 went 7 years without any service at all and is still in pristine condition. Everything I read about AppleCare+ talks about a broken screen. I can't say I won't break mine tomorrow but I can say I'm not in the least prone to breaking screens. The cost is $269 with theft and loss protection. That's a hefty percentage of the cost of the phone plue the value of the phone goes down every day. Think I'll self insure and spend the money on something else.
 
I've had an iPhone 7 Plus for about 2.5 years, iPhone 11 Pro Max for about 2.5 years, and now my iPhone 13 Pro Max for about 6 months. I've never had an issue with any of them to warrant me getting AppleCare+. I will say my iPhone 7 Plus at the end did have some issue where I couldn't hear people, so I just sold it for parts. It was already past the 2 years regardless, so AppleCare+ wouldn't have fixed my issue anyways. Just keep a tempered glass screen protector on it, keep a back up or 2 for when you need it, keep it in a case, and you should never have an issue. I drop all my phones so many times and never have issues.
 
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Yes, if you plan on keeping the phone for two years. Otherwise, there is no reason.

Keep in mind, that you can get a refund on service not used with it. So if you sell/trade the phone at the 1 year mark and had bought applecare+, you can request a refund and basically get nearly 50% back in that case. Or just do the pay monthly option, although paying upfront is cheaper if you have student/government discounts.

That being said, I had to start paying for the Applecare+ w/ theft/loss protection for the wife, because she's a cluttz who has lost her phones multiple times now. It's already paid for itself.
 
We do iPhone repair work and I can tell you from personal experience the older phones are inexpensive to fix yourself provided you have certain tools. Since we are a business we get parts at a discount from a online source. Here is the catch, if you break a OLED screen at cost the screen is around $300 and due to Apple policy only a Apple service center can reprogram the damaged touch sensor/security BS. We can install a new home button but to get full security features Apple techs are needed. You either pay now or pay later if you decide against A care.
 
We do iPhone repair work and I can tell you from personal experience the older phones are inexpensive to fix yourself provided you have certain tools. Since we are a business we get parts at a discount from a online source. Here is the catch, if you break a OLED screen at cost the screen is around $300 and due to Apple policy only a Apple service center can reprogram the damaged touch sensor/security BS. We can install a new home button but to get full security features Apple techs are needed. You either pay now or pay later if you decide against A care.

Only if you break your screen. Not everybody does.
 
The screen is not the only failure, batt issues are common and camera fails are common too. We have repaired screens broken from stress issues not resulting from drops. Water damage is common too. Remember manufacturers love to implement planned obsolescence.
Our personal experience with Apple warranty has been excellent.
 
The screen is not the only failure, batt issues are common and camera fails are common too.
Battery replacement every 2 years is basically industry standard and expected. However Apple won't replace the battery unless it's under 80%. It's pretty unlikely for that to happen unless you're an excessive user that has to do full charges multiple times per day. The industry standard is 800 full charge cycles. Apple states 500, but they have basically under promised and over delivered. My phone (mentioned below) is over 3 years old and is at 89%.
We have repaired screens broken from stress issues not resulting from drops.
Right, and what percentage of users do you think have that as a problem? The iPhone 13 as an example sold 100 million units in a quarter. If this was a 1% issue then that would be 1 million units affected. Despite "percentage wise" the fact that 1% is 'low', the actual number of users that represents is massive.
The point?: if alternative screen damage was common up to the frequency of even 1/4 of a single percent, we'd have absolutely enormous amounts of people complaining about it. The fact that we don't tells me it's not a common problem at all.
And with Apple, there are tons of YouTube channels that more or less thrive on negative tech news. A .25% problem basically would result in every channel talking about this problem, right or wrong, if for no other reason but the clicks.
Certainly it's not anything to worry about compared to the more obvious things AC+ covers like fall damage/screen, batteries, cameras, etc.
Water damage is common too.
If your iPhone suffers water damage at this point, you've done something special. Far more than simple submersion.
Remember manufacturers love to implement planned obsolescence.
My mom is still using daily an iPhone 6S Plus. That's a 6.5 year old phone (in fairness she also owns an iPhone 11, she uses two phones. However my pastor is also still using a 6S Plus and no other phone). I'm using an iPhone XR, a 3.5 year old phone. iPhone's don't go obsolete for most people as much as people wanting to have the latest and greatest tech. Certainly any iPhone made in the last 5 years is still relevant and upgrading isn't necessary beyond 'wanting to'.
Our personal experience with Apple warranty has been excellent.
Insurance is not benevolence. Apple has run the numbers. They not only profit from AppleCare+, but I more or less guarantee that they are profiting greatly from it.
Most issues people are going to have with a phone will happen within the first year. And any repair that does come up has to be weighed up against Apple Care+ in general for it to even make sense.

The only way you come out ahead with Applecare+ is if you can reasonably 'guarantee' that you will break your screen within two years. I think getting it makes a lot of sense if your work is very physical.
If you do: construction, police, fire, military, etc where you in general have a higher chance of damaging your phone then I think it makes a lot of sense (as does getting a fat case and a good screen protector). For standard office drones it generally doesn't.

While having good insurance on things that have big repercussions for your life if things go bad is incredibly wise (health, house, car, etc) - there is drastically diminishing returns when you're paying 20-30% the cost of the item to insure it such as on a phone. Especially when that coverage only lasts for 2 years and the general propencity of most users to simply get another phone within that time frame anyway.
 
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