When I bought the iPad Pro, I signed up for the monthly AppleCare+ plan. This is the first time I’ve tried it, I usually pay upfront for the 2 year plan. Since I replace my iPad about every 3 years, I was thinking that I would cancel the monthly plan after 1 year, since even the 2 year plan won’t cover the entire time I plan to keep the iPad. Not sure this makes sense though. Does it make more economic sense to buy the monthly or 2 year plan?
I’m unclear what you’re trying to achieve with Applecare. It doesn’t make sense to me why (if you plan to keep the device for 3 years) you would do the monthly plan for a year. The standard warranty covers the first year. I know Applecare+ offers more, but is it enough to pay the extra amount for?
- if you want the device covered for 2 years, you can do either. I believe that the 2 year plan would be cheaper, worth checking.
- If you want the device covered for 3 years, your only option is the monthly plan.
I should be more specific in my thinking. The main reason I buy AppleCare+ is for accidental screen damage repair. Luckily I’ve never cracked my iPad screen, but I have done that a couple of times with my iPhone. I have dropped the iPad in its case a few times and (knock on wood) the screen didn’t crack.
If you have AppleCare+ the screen repair is $29, without it is around $500 I believe. So if I crack my screen after 2 years, I would just buy a new iPad at that point.
So it is definitely cheaper to buy the 2 years up front than to pay monthly. If I pay monthly for 18 months it would still be cheaper, but after that more expensive. So, the more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense to buy the 2 year coverage now. I don’t think I’d want to buy a new iPad after only 1 year.
You can purchase the two year plan up front and at the end of the two years continue on a monthly basis. I’ve done this for a few Apple devices since it became an option a few years ago in Canada & the U.S.
YMMV in other countries.
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That’s interesting, I didn’t know that they’d made that change.
I also didn’t know it’s possible, and got committed to the monthly because of that.