Is AppleCare worth it?
When you ‘re plopping down a handful of Benjamins for a new phone, the last thing you want to do is incur any more expenses – even worse is the thought of spending more money on a warranty.
And why should you? After all, a $300-or-more device should function properly, right?
In a perfect world, yes. But here on planet earth, you-know-what happens. Electronics, from time to time, break down and need to be repaired. Luckily for us Apple fans, their products come with one year of technical coverage and 90 days of phone support. For iPhone owners, you can extend both two two full years for $69.
But is it worth it? The JAiB team provided their thoughts on how well their phones have held up and on Apple ‘s warranty program.
Brandon S.
I’ve owned all three models of the iPhone. My first gen iPhone was only with me for a few months before I upgraded to the 3G when it came out, so I can’t say I ever had to return it, but the design was so much better than the 3G or 3GS that I doubt I would have had to return it for the same reasons I’ve returned four iPhones for. Yes, four. Not quite Brandon K’s five, and definitely not all in the past year.
To be fair, not one of them I have returned was for screen failure, or component failure (knock on wood), but all four have been for failures of the plastic casing on the back. Each of them has suffered from cracking. I plan on taking my current 3GS back in a week or two for the exact same issue. I have cracks by the headphone jack, silence switch, and hairline cracks (20 plus) down by the dock port. Some might say I’m being too rough or whatever. I say no way. I treat my iPhone like gold. This is a known defect that many an Apple Genius has said they’ve seen a ton of times.
Patrick
I’ve had very good luck in this area. Still have all three iPhone models – 3GS that I use, 3G that my wife uses, and the V1 (with phone service turned off) that was used by my daughter until recently (she swapped to a Touch). Have never had cracks or any cause for return.
Oh, and the 3G survived some water damage and only its camera failed – and was replaced by a superb local guy who did it at his office in under ten minutes for around $40.
Frank
I guess I’m one of the lucky ones? Both my original 3G and 3GS both work fine. I never had to bring one back yet… knock on wood.
Brandon K
I ‘m not sure why I ‘ve had such bad luck with my 3GS, but I have. I owned the original 2G phone and had no issues with it. But for some reason, I ‘ve gone through a bunch of 3GS models. I ‘ve had issues with the battery, vibrate rocker, and a few cases of it not turning on or taking a charge. I ‘ve lost count of how many I ‘ve been through, but I am on at least my fifth 3GS.
But I will give Apple credit in that they have never questioned me when I ‘ve gone in to have my phone serviced. I ‘ve never been in the store more than 30 minutes, and I ‘ve always walked out with a new phone. I remember one time specifically where the new phone they gave me had something wrong with it, so they gave me another one right then and there.
If for some reason I can ‘t get the new phone in June, then I will probably spring for Apple Care. The price tag is a bit high, but, at least in my case, it would probably be worth it.
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So what do you guys think? Did you purchase AppleCare for your iPhone? Do you think it’s worth it?
Between myself and my wife we have been through 6 iphones with dodgy buttons/switchers and not taking charge. It might have been more but they refused to fix one because they said it had water damage. It had never been near water and was a replacement for another broken phone which makes me wonder what we were given.
Should I have to pay more to fix a phone that is failing well before it's useful life time?
On another note we have had a lot of home button failures so this double press to multitask is asking for trouble in my opinion. A swipe across the screen as an alternative gesture would be useful.
My 3GS needs to be replaced for cracks but I am waiting until all the jailbreak wrinkles are ironed out.
I have Apple Care for all my Apple products (two iPhones, and an iPad). Now sure I would get an Apple product without it…
I have a 3gs. I would say purchase the AppleCare for it. First, it covers battery and screen most importantly among others. So that alone can cost you over hundreds of dollars for repair. My iPHone had screen pigmentation. Now I have a new screen and the whole deal took under fifteen minutes. I was happy. If you can squeeze it into budget, DO IT.
fG
Here is my thought. Get SquareTrade instead.
It will cover everything Apple Care will, plus accidental protection (what happens when you baby your phone and you get water in it from exercising–voided Apple Care, not so with SquareTrade), plus it does more for resale value. Best part is when there is a problem they give you the cash you originally "insured for". Here is an example… I have a 3GS I got it at launch with contract. Outside of contract I think it's like 600 before tax. Now say that it falls out of my pocket and shatters when the HD iPhone comes out in July. I get 600 plus tax sent to me less a deductible (depends on the reason for returning, but in the scheme of things is quite small) and I send in my damaged phone, with AppleCare I am most likely buying new anyway, at the least, I am buying a hefty amount. This drastically improves resale value (which is what I'll do instead of "having an accident" with my old phone when the new iPhone comes).
Another example, I bought a 5.5 30gb video iPod on eBay. About 8 months later it was acting really slow, and would randomly shut down. SquareTrade asked for my unit and give me the money, which was exactly what a new 60gb iPod classic costed… I couldn't have got AppleCare on that, but if I could have, they would have probably given me a refurb or swapped it f with another 30gb HD.
Thanks for your input, everyone. Like most warranties, the opinions are pretty divided. It can be frustrating to spend extra money to "protect" your product, but I think it is worth it in some cases.