Everything you need to know about AppleCare+

Susie Ochs reveals what AppleCare+ costs, what it covers, and answers all your other questions

Your Apple gear wasn’t cheap. And if you drop your iPhone, your iPad stops turning on one day, or your Mac’s hard drive just ups and dies on you, getting it repaired probably won’t be cheap either.

Apple includes a one-year limited warranty with all hardware so if there’s a manufacturing defect, you’ll be covered. To also protect against accidental damage, plus extend the original warranty for longer

and enjoy free tech support, you can opt to purchase AppleCare+. Here’s what it is, what it covers, and what you can expect to pay. Is AppleCare+ worth it? Only you can decide for your own situation, but this should be everything you need to know to make a smart choice.

What is AppleCare+?

AppleCare+ is Apple’s term for its warranty programmes. Every Apple device comes with a certain stretch of AppleCare+ warranty service and phone/chat support for free, typically one year for the warranty and 90 days of phone support. You can pay to extend that protection for longer, which is called AppleCare+.

Do I have to buy AppleCare+ at the same time as the product?

No. If you know you want it, buying AppleCare+ with the product is a good idea,. When you’re shopping at the Apple store or apple.com/uk, you’ll be offered AppleCare+ at checkout, and authorized Apple resellers can offer AppleCare+ too.

But you have some time. Generally you get 60 days from the purchase date to buy AppleCare+ (only 30 days if you’re in Japan), and Apple has a page where you can check your exact device’s eligibility.

Still, to buy AppleCare+ after the fact you generally have to run a diagnostic test on the device in question, so Apple knows it’s in good working order. And no matter when you buy your AppleCare+ plan, the coverage starts from the day you bought your device. So you don’t get an ‘extra’ two months of coverage if you wait two months to buy the plan.