I pre-ordered a new iPhone 17 Pro, I normally buy AppleCare outright for the iPhone, but I guess that is no longer an option. I can get AppleCare+ or AppleCare One, both are subscription only. I’m currently paying $8.49 a month for AppleCare+ on an iPad Pro. I guess AppleCare One is about the same or cheaper if it covers both. I also have an AppleWatch, but I usually don’t buy AppleCare for that.
It feels a bit scammy to pay a monthly fee for insurance now, but over the years, I have had to use AppleCare and I update my iPhone every 2 years. But is it worth $20 a month?
I’m leery of it after hearing others’ experiences, most notably Siracusa’s with multiple accounts, how Apple does delayed notification of issues with enrolled devices that doesn’t match the offer to switch the to AppleCare One. Summary:
It’s priced strangely. It’s a small financial optimization if you own the right three devices, and you can lose money if you enroll the wrong ones.
I noticed that this morning, too. I got my 15 Pro Max through Costco, which included 2 years of AppleCare+, and I’m bummed that (1) Costco no longer sells iPhones, and (2) you can’t get that 2-year plan anymore.
I signed up for AppleCare One with my order this morning, but I too am debating whether it’s worth it. Curious what others here think as well.
John Siracusa from ATP strongly advises against it
If Apple believe a device is no longer your (however they decide that) you get an email warning you and unless you log into that device they remove that device off your AppleCare One.
I was able to purchase the 2 year Apple care through Apple Business. I was also told that you can call Apple and ask for the former AppleCare they will sell it to you, instead of the newer options.
If I’m recalling correctly with Siracusa it got even crazier to the point where he got warnings that he wasn’t signed in - on a computer with only one user account.
The big issue from that saga though was the timing of the emails. Basically, Apple emailed and said that if the issue wasn’t resolved in 24 hours, the coverage would be removed. So there’s a non-trivial risk that, for example, somebody goes on vacation and loses coverage when they need it most because they don’t get the email.
I’m guessing that the AppleCare One isn’t worth it if those are the three devices. Add it up yourself of course, but AC for the Watch is like $3/month. I don’t think the other two add up to $17.
I have an iPhone 16 Pro, an M2 iPad Air, and an M4 MBA. And I recently switched to AppleCare One.
My method of “future proofing” is to purchase tech based on what I think I will need for the next three years, so I increased the storage to 256GB on my iPhone and iPad, and bought a base model MBA.
With the discount and refund I received my cost will be $12.30/month and my devices will be around 3 years old when I cancel AC1 in two years. If something happens after than I will just replace it.
So I finally decided that AppleCare One isn’t worth it. My M1 MacBook Pro is close to 5 years old. If something happened to it, then I would buy a new MacBook. Using One to cover an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch doesn’t make sense.
Regular AppleCare+ is nowhere to be found on the Apple website, so I called. The person was very polite but kept saying, I don’t know if we still offer that. We mysteriously got disconnected after she put me on hold to “search” for this plan.
In the end, I persisted and paid $199 plus tax for good old AppleCare+ that will cover the iPhone for 2 years. The whole thing felt kind of sleazy like they’re turning into Costco and trying to get me to pay for the Gold membership.
