Apple pilots extension of iPhone AppleCare+ sign-ups to one year from purchase

Apple may soon be extending its AppleCare+ eligibility for its hardware from 60 days to a full year from the time of purchase, a report suggests.

A select number of Apple Stores in the US and Canada are now allowing customers to purchase AppleCare+ for the iPhone beyond the original two months after date of purchase limit. The pilot program began this week.

As it stands, customers who wish to add AppleCare+ to their device must do it within 60 days of purchase. Under the current system, this can be done from directly within the iPhone, and any required diagnostic tests can be run remotely.

If Apple were to extend it up to a year, customers would likely have to book a Genius Bar appointment and have a technician fully inspect the device before signing off on the AppleCare+ plan.

According to MacRumors, the extended eligibility was rumored to be up to two years from time of purchase, but a later source has confirmed this to be only a single year.

The program will begin with the iPhone, but will likely extend to other Apple products like the iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

AppleCare+ for the iPhone covers up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage every 24 months, and is subjected to a service fee at time of repair. AppleCare+ Theft and Loss covers up to two incidents of damage, loss, or theft for those who have Find My iPhone enabled on their device at the time it is lost. AppleCare+ is paid for on a monthly basis and can be extended through the service lifetime of the device, which is roughly five years.

8 Comments

seanismorris 1624 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

So, if you waited 1 year before purchasing AppleCare+ you’d need to pay for 2 years to get one year of coverage, correct?

If so, this announcement isn’t as great as it sounds for consumers... one year of risk of accidental damage is removed from Apples costs and you pay for two.

swat671 157 comments · 9 Years

seanismorris said:

So, if you waited 1 year before purchasing AppleCare+ you’d need to pay for 2 years to get one year of coverage, correct?

If so, this announcement isn’t as great as it sounds for consumers... one year of risk of accidental damage is removed from Apples costs and you pay for two.

That's assuming you upgrade every other year. That's less and less common now. I waited three years to go from the iPhone 6+ to the 8+, and I'll probably wait until next year to upgrade the 8.

mknelson 1147 comments · 9 Years

seanismorris said:

So, if you waited 1 year before purchasing AppleCare+ you’d need to pay for 2 years to get one year of coverage, correct?

If so, this announcement isn’t as great as it sounds for consumers... one year of risk of accidental damage is removed from Apples costs and you pay for two.

That's where it gets complicated and confusing.

AppleCare + in the US can be a subscription now.

In Canada (and the rest of the world) it's a one-time purchase and the contract date starts from when you Purchase AppleCare +. I suspect buying it on day 364 won't give you the full contract length.

mknelson said:

seanismorris said:

So, if you waited 1 year before purchasing AppleCare+ you’d need to pay for 2 years to get one year of coverage, correct?

If so, this announcement isn’t as great as it sounds for consumers... one year of risk of accidental damage is removed from Apples costs and you pay for two.

That's where it gets complicated and confusing.

AppleCare + in the US can be a subscription now.

In Canada (and the rest of the world) it's a one-time purchase and the contract date starts from when you Purchase AppleCare +. I suspect buying it on day 364 won't give you the full contract length.

I went to Apple’s website to look at the details, unfortunately you need an eligible device to get pricing. For the US consumers the subscription may turn out to be a good deal (when purchasing AppleCare+ late) and the rest of the world is out of luck.

The flat price (after purchase) doesn’t seem to be good unless they do some kind of complicated prorating. Also, in many countries there’s no Apple certified repair place close, so they have no way to run the required diagnostics... so they’d fail eligibility. There’s a reason it’s a pilot program...so many questions.