Apple Care: Good Value or Ripoff?

[Jeff Lebowski]

I am going to buy new iPhones next week for my son and DIL (b-day presents). I am debating whether or not to tack on Apple Care. Extra $100 and it extends the one-year warranty to two years and includes damage replacement. However, the damage replacement is limited to two incidents and there is a $50 fee each time. So it would seem that one would be out $150 prior to the first damage incident. How many repairs are going to be north of that amount? I would like them to have peace of mind during the two-year ownership period, but I am leaning towards ripoff at the moment.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

[Indy Coug]

I am going to buy new iPhones next week for my son and DIL (b-day presents). I am debating whether or not to tack on Apple Care. Extra $100 and it extends the one-year warranty to two years and includes damage replacement. However, the damage replacement is limited to two incidents and there is a $50 fee each time. So it would seem that one would be out $150 prior to the first damage incident. How many repairs are going to be north of that amount? I would like them to have peace of mind during the two-year ownership period, but I am leaning towards ripoff at the moment.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

Unless they volunteer with the UN to remove mines in a Vietnamese farm, odds are the cost just isn't worth it.

[Moliere]

Unless they volunteer with the UN to remove mines in a Vietnamese farm, odds are the cost just isn't worth it.

I agree. I assume most "damage" is a cracked screen when the phone is dropped. I have a place downtown that fixes that stuff for $75 on a 4S.

[old_gregg]

You can put purchase AppleCare cheaper at places other than apple. eBay, for example, from a reputed seller has good deals. I do prefer squaretrade though. They frequently have 30% off sales so you can insure for less than $100 for 2 years.

[UteStar]

I have never purchased it from Apple in the past. With that said, I had my phone end up having voice issues. Nobody could hear me when people called. I was out 15 months and ended up having to buy another phone for $150 replacement cost.

My wife's phone had a similar issue where she could not hear anyone. It was like it was always on mute from their end. We ended up having to replace the entire phone as well. Hers was out 16 months.

So, I doubt that I will get the AppleCare, but it would have been nice for our phones recently. Never had an iphone problem on our previous phones...just bad luck with 2 phones in a row.

[LA Ute]

My wife knows I am very hard on cell phones so she bought Apple Care when she got my iPhone for me last Xmas. Two weeks later, despite a very nice hard-shell case, I managed to drop my phone in precisely the way I needed to in order to shatter the screen. I raced to the Apple Store late on a Saturday night and for $50 they gave me a new phone, no questions asked. I was very pleased. Now I have one more shot on this phone, and I'm trying to save it up. So for me, for one phone, it has worked our great.

[Moliere]

I have never purchased it from Apple in the past. With that said, I had my phone end up having voice issues. Nobody could hear me when people called. I was out 15 months and ended up having to buy another phone for $150 replacement cost.

My wife's phone had a similar issue where she could not hear anyone. It was like it was always on mute from their end. We ended up having to replace the entire phone as well. Hers was out 16 months.

So, I doubt that I will get the AppleCare, but it would have been nice for our phones recently. Never had an iphone problem on our previous phones...just bad luck with 2 phones in a row.

So you spent $150 on a replacement phone? Wouldn't AppleCare run you $100 plus the $50 per incident fee? I don't see the benefit.

I bought AppleCare for my iMac, but the AppleCare was pretty cheap relative to the computer, which was kind of spendy.

[UteStar]

So you spent $150 on a replacement phone? Wouldn't AppleCare run you $100 plus the $50 per incident fee? I don't see the benefit.

I bought AppleCare for my iMac, but the AppleCare was pretty cheap relative to the computer, which was kind of spendy.

I think AppleCare for the iphone is only $79? So, I guess it would not have saved me much money. $20 or so. But if it happened twice to the same phone, I would be bathing in all of the money that I saved.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I think AppleCare for the iphone is only $79? So, I guess it would not have saved me much money. $20 or so. But if it happened twice to the same phone, I would be bathing in all of the money that I saved.

$99 now that they added the damaged phone option.

[old_gregg]

Apple care doesn't cover water damage, right?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Apple care doesn't cover water damage, right?

I don't think so. Here is an entire webpage devoted to fooling Apple on water damaged phones:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3191026AAPGjva

[TripletDaddy]

I have never purchased it from Apple in the past. With that said, I had my phone end up having voice issues. Nobody could hear me when people called. I was out 15 months and ended up having to buy another phone for $150 replacement cost.

lol. People couldn't hear you. Sure.

uteStar: blah blah blah blah
Other person:
UteStar: blah blah blah :confused2:
Other person: uh....I can't hear you. Sorry, guess I have to hang up now.
uteStar: blah blah blah :chatterbox:

[old_gregg]

I don't think so. Here is an entire webpage devoted to fooling Apple on water damaged phones:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3191026AAPGjva

would be a dealbreaker for me.

[UteStar]

So you spent $150 on a replacement phone? Wouldn't AppleCare run you $100 plus the $50 per incident fee? I don't see the benefit.

I bought AppleCare for my iMac, but the AppleCare was pretty cheap relative to the computer, which was kind of spendy.

I think AppleCare is more worth it now if you have slippery fingers and regularly break phones. AppleCare is $100 and it costs $50 to replace the phone now. You get two incidents during those 2 years. So, if it happens twice to you, it is well worth the cost of AppleCare.

On my old phone, I spent $150 to get it replaced. And that was because of internal problems (wiring, etc.). If I had damaged the phone, I don't know what the cost would have been. With the new phones, I don't know what the cost is to replace mechanical issues with the phone either.

[SeattleUte]

I am going to buy new iPhones next week for my son and DIL (b-day presents). I am debating whether or not to tack on Apple Care. Extra $100 and it extends the one-year warranty to two years and includes damage replacement. However, the damage replacement is limited to two incidents and there is a $50 fee each time. So it would seem that one would be out $150 prior to the first damage incident. How many repairs are going to be north of that amount? I would like them to have peace of mind during the two-year ownership period, but I am leaning towards ripoff at the moment.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

YES. Apples are very fragile.