Preorders for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus kicked off late last night and if early sales are any indication, these new models are going to be the best selling iPhones in Apple’s history. This year’s iPhone lineup is also the most expensive ever, with the iPhone 6 Plus topping out at $949 without carrier subsidies.
At minimum you should keep your iPhone in a durable case to protect it from everyday bumps and drops, but you should also consider a protection plan for more catastrophic accidents.
Keep reading to get all the facts you’ll need to choose between the two most popular iPhone protection plans…
(Update): Before we get started, keep in mind that current out of warranty iPhone screen replacements costs are as follows:
- iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5: $269
- iPhone 4s: $199
- iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, Original iPhone: $149
These values may change throughout a product’s life cycle. Keep these numbers in mind throughout this article while considering an iPhone protection plan.
AppleCare+ $99 up front and $79 per claim:
Sold and backed by Apple, AppleCare+ iPhone protection plans extend the original manufacturer’s warranty of your iPhone from one to two years. This covers any hardware or software defects. AppleCare+ also provides two-years of accidental damage coverage for your iPhone. Service is provided at any Apple retail store Genius Bar or via mail-in. Over the course of your service agreement, you are limited to two incidents and one battery replacement. You must sign up for AppleCare+ within 60 days of purchasing a new iPhone.
SquareTrade $99 for 2 yrs or $129 for 3 yrs and $75 per claim:
SquareTrade has been offering protection for mobile phones, tablets, HDTVs and tons of other gadgets since 1999. Hellbent on trying to turnaround the warranty industry, SquareTrade created protection plans that cover “breaks, spills & mishaps of everyday life.”
For iPhones, you can choose between monthly payments of $5, a two-year plan for $99 or a three-year plan for $129. Each incident will also cost you $75. Repair options include overnight mail-in service or the ability to be reimbursed for having a repair performed at a local shop or even the Genius Bar! You’re limited to four claims (including defects) and one battery replacement. You can sign up for SquareTrade within 30 days of purchasing a new iPhone or longer if you happen to be covered by a carrier’s insurance program.
Carrier plans:
Chances are that your carrier probably offers an insurance plan of its own, but these typically carry a costly monthly premium (~$7-10) and have deductibles as high as $199. Although, one of the major benefits of these plans is that they cover your device if it’s lost or stolen. Hopefully you won’t be in that situation, but if you are, Find My iPhone should help you retrieve it.
Bottom Line:
iPhone protection plans aren’t one size fits all. AppleCare+ offers quick service due to Apple’s robust service network, but SquareTrade has more flexible sign-up options, plan lengths and payment structures, and more claims. (update) Thanks to one of our readers for pointing out that defect claims under SquareTrade will have a cost associated with them. But if you’re still under your original one-year Apple warranty you can have defects serviced for free at the Genius Bar.
You should review all of the information outlined in this post and reach out to each company’s customer service departments if you have further questions before making your final decision.
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Great information, thanks! Sounds like Apple & Square are fairly similar. For me, I like the ease of dropping into my local Apple store.
Agreed! But if you need a longer plan then SquareTrade made be worth looking at as well! Enjoy your iPhone 6!
Been using SquareTrade for my iPhone 5 and iPhone 4 and have had no issues getting phones replaced at the local Apple store. All I do is submit my SquareTrade claim and email the receipt from the Apple Store, and I received refunds in less than 24 hours every time. I love the fact that you can claim up to 4 times rather than just 2 with AppleCare+.
Also, I forgot to note…SquareTrade waived the deductible every time! 🙂
I am so glad that they waived the deductible for you but it doesn’t apply to all unless they have that statement on the purchase agreement.
I think I will give SquareTrade a shot this time.
If you pay your monthly phone bills and buy the device through your carrier with a Wells Fargo credit card you are covered for two incidents per year up to $600 for the first 4 lines listed on your phone bill. Worked well for me last year.
+Dan, thanks for a well researched and quickly updated article. This is a very valuable resource and I will be sharing this with my friends who are in the upgrade cycle.
The only real advantage to Square is that you get 2 more incidents. but those are for any reason including defect. Which is covered by Apple Care during the second year (the first year is covered by their standard limited warranty). Otherwise they are really rather the same
here are some differences between applecare and square trade i would like to mention
square trade will cross ship you a new iPhone
square trade offers mail in service for all computers, and not just laptops like apple does.
applecare for computers also covers displays, keyboards, mice purchased with the computer.
i think square trade probably covers these too.
apple care on a computer will cover your apple time capsule and air port extreme base stations from 2 years before you bought apple care to 3 years you had applecare.
apple care gives you free telephone support. if you do not have applecare you need to pay $ for each call. but they are exemptions that are easy to qualify for like ” i recently installed iOS 7″
you can get square trade for 3 years where applecare is only 2 years.
applecare is a $79 deductible, square trade is $75
square trade covers full immersion in water, applecare does not
if you buy square trade their is usually a coverage limit. for example a $1299 mac book pro , square trade will not pay more then $1299 worth of repairs for your item over the coverage period. if a repair costs more then what is left in the repair fund, you are given a check. i don’t think there is a limit like that for applecare.
i called square trade about my iPhone. and asked how much funds i have left for repairs, and they said i had 3 more claims.and said there was no dollar amount. i think this was an error
if an item cannot be repaired, which is rare. you are reimbursed the original purchase price of your item in full.
square trade will charge a fee for iPhones if you leave find my iPhone on. i do not know what applecare charges.
i got one more.
square trade only charges deductibles for Phones for accidental damage from handling. other devices like iPads and laptops have no deductible
That pricing information about Apple pricing is totally wrong. That is NOT screen replacement prices. That is whole unit, which is only needed for liquid damage and drop damage that dents the enclosure.
Screen replacements on the 5 Series are $149 (4 series aren’t officially done). The 6 series are bigger screens so they might be more like $199 (and the full unit perhaps $299)
That pricing information is what Apple currently has listed for screen replacement costs. Do you have a link or another resource that has different figures?
Those prices went down. IA broke. iPhone 6 plus screen is $129
iPhone 6 $109
iPhone 5/5c/5s is $129
iPhone 4s $199 (total unit readement, screen not easily replaceable.)
*If broke
Also, if your enclosure is bent or damages that you are looking at full device replacement which is more.
Also x2, AppleCare incident cost might be lower if it is just the screen and not the whole iPhone. Before the 6 launched it was $49 if just the screen was broke on an iPhone 5s.
“Hellbent on trying to turnaround the warrantee industry…” should be “warranty industry” instead. Warrantee is the person who holds a warranty and not really something that becomes an industry.
Thanks, simple typo. Have a good weekend.
Your article is still inaccurate in some ways. Please update/correct. The screen replacement on an iPhone 5, 5c or 5s is $149, not $199. Also the AppleCare + limit of two replacements is only for accidental damage claims that have a $79 service fee. If the iPhone needs to be replaced for a manufacturing defect in two years, there is no service fee. SquareTrade and carriers charge a service fee regardless of accidental damage or defect.
Right, but if the user is still in the first year of ownership the defects will be covered by Apple. It would be a good idea for me to add that point as well though. Thanks.
It wound be handy to have some typical Apple Store prices for shattered screens, for comparison.
That’s a tough one since these prices aren’t public knowledge and aren’t provided upon request. I will add some information to the story though.
Some repair prices are published by Apple on it’s website. They publish the cost of replacing the entire phone. http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/repair/screen-damage/
Thanks, that’s a handy list to have. Adding.
I added some info to the post to help you better gauge the value of these protection plans. Thanks for reading.
AppleCare+ can be purchased up to 90 days the original purchase of the IOS device.
Hi Bryant – Thanks for reading, but you can only purchase AppleCare+ 60 days after buying an iPhone, per https://www.apple.com/support/products/iphone.html:
“Important notes
Purchase AppleCare+ with your new iPhone. Or buy it within 60 days of your iPhone purchase”
Applecare is superior for iPhone in all ways. Simply because a “manufacturer replacement” at an Apple store is actually a brand new iPhone. In fact, because its gone through a “service check” they are usually better in quality than the ones the come out of the box. Having been through the light bleed issue with iPad 2, had many services with iPhone 4, 5, 5s, its an incredible service. Additionally, my iMac GPU went down the other day, a 259 dollar part, and they replaced for free. This is the service and amazing customer experience that goes with the Apple store. I sound like a fanboy. Sorry I’m a sucker for good service.
You can bring your Iphone into the Apple store with Squaretrade as well. All you have to do is bring it to the store get it fixed and they reimburse you the cost of the replacement or repair.
So actually Squaretrade is superior in all ways.
Yep. I hit that in the story. Pretty awesome of SquareTrade.
I agree that AppleCare+ brings with it Apple’s amazing customer service, but Genius Bar replacement devices are not always brand new. They are often times ‘newly re-manufactured.’ Don’t get me wrong, I consider these ‘good as new’ but its worth noting that they may not be ‘brand spankin’ new’
-Thanks for reading
Not all service parts are a brand new phone. Some are actually ‘like new’ because they were frankensteined together from parts that were not defective in swapped phones. So say you have a phone swapped cause the FaceTime camera isn’t working and for whatever reason a full unit swap is the only recourse. They will test the vibe motor, iSight camera, speaker, microphone etc and toss them in the bins to be assembled into new swap phones.
That said, even that is better than the carriers which apparently just erase any user data and hand the phone to someone else. They get them from their trade in deals like Next and Jump. Sometimes they actually have third party parts like displays so when you go to Apple to get a repair you are given the boot cause a third party part voids all service through Apple. And since the phones are trade ins they often don’t have an Apple warranty anyway. And didn’t when it was sent to you by the insurance company.
its the first 60 days not 30
Thanks, my mistake – updating now.