Apple introduces AppleCare+ for when your warranty just isn’t good enough

If you’re the type of person that damages your iPhone frequently, then this news is for you. Apple has announced that they will be selling a new kind of AppleCare, called AppleCare+. Apple will be rolling out AppleCare+, a service that will cover your hardware repairs, including accidental damage due to handling, for $99.00.

AppleCare+ will replace the basic AppleCare for your iPhone, and now extends your coverage from one year to two, as well as including 90 days worth of telephone technical support for your device.

$99.00 affords you the luxury of paying $49.00 for coverage: AppleCare+ “adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee.” So not only are you paying for an extended warranty, but AppleCare+ then also gives you the ability to spend up to another $98.00 to replace your phone on two occasions, should you actually need it.

I’m not an AppleCare fan to begin with, and I’ve never purchased AppleCare, ever. I don’t really see the point in paying $99.00 for a warranty, then another $49.00 to replace the device. It seems a little skeezy if you ask me. Does paying the original fee of $99.00 mean you’re buying the right to pay for a replacement at a later date? Why not just roll accidental damage into the warranty to begin with?

Don’t charge me for a warranty, then concoct some situation where I’ll have to pay a second time. In the long run it’s cheaper to not buy AppleCare, and replace your devices as you need them. Five years of not buying AppleCare has saved me a lot of money. Unless you destroy iPhones faster than the average customer, you’re probably better off without it in the long run.

If you find yourself wanting AppleCare+, the service will not be available until the iPhone 4S ships on October 14, 2011.

Source: The Apple Blog

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.