Apple Offers a Second Chance to Buy AppleCare+ — If You Get Your iPhone Repaired

Buying AppleCare+ can give you some nice peace of mind when it comes to protecting your iPhone, offering not only an extended warranty against defects but also coverage for accidental damage and battery problems and even an express replacement service for those who have to ship their iPhone to Apple for repairs.

However, the catch is that you have to buy AppleCare+ more or less upfront. Technically, you have up to 60 days after purchasing your iPhone to buy it easily, although in some cases, you may be able to add it up to a year after, provided you’re willing to take your iPhone in for inspection. Since AppleCare+ is like an insurance policy for your iPhone, Apple needs to ensure you aren’t cheating and trying to buy coverage after you’ve already broken your screen or otherwise damaged your iPhone.

Still, the easiest way by far is to buy AppleCare+ at the same time you purchase your device. That’s really easy to do if you’re buying from the Apple Store since you can add it at retail or add it to your cart for an online purchase. On the other hand, that’s not necessarily an option from third-party retailers, in which case you have up to 60 days to purchase it right from the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. In some countries, you can even sign up via monthly payments, which helps spread out the cost and lets you continue it beyond the standard two-year period.

In late 2021, Apple introduced a new “second-chance” policy for those who opted not to buy AppleCare+ at the outset or forgot to do so and later ended up with a damaged phone. Under this “AppleCare+ Enrollment Exceptions” policy, customers who brought a damaged iPhone into an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) for repairs would be given another opportunity to purchase AppleCare+ — after paying for an out-of-warranty repair.

Related: How to Check If Your iPhone Is Still Covered under AppleCare+

This wasn’t so much a “get out of high repair costs free” card as it was a way for Apple to sell more AppleCare+ coverage. After all, what better opportunity to convince somebody that AppleCare+ is worthwhile than pointing out that the $379 they’ve just paid for a screen replacement would have been only $29 had they opted for AppleCare+ in the first place?

As it was initially implemented, this program was still limited to one year from the purchase date of the iPhone. However, now an internal memo seen by the folks at MacRumors indicates that Apple will be extending this program in the U.S. to allow iPhones to be eligible for up to two years after their purchase date.

According to the memo, Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers can offer AppleCare+ to a customer under this program, but only after their iPhone has been serviced. It also has to pass a visual and mechanical inspection to qualify, and customers only have ten days to sign up, rather than the full 60 that comes when purchasing a new iPhone.

The new policy also has yet to be publicly announced, and it may not be, as the memo seems to imply that this is something that would be initiated by the technician servicing the iPhone and not requested by the customer. MacRumors says it’s confirmed this with multiple sources, but it may not always be available, and technicians may have some discretion on when to offer it to a customer.