AppleCare+ May Be Going Subscription-Only

AppleCare Plus for MacBook Air Credit: Jesse Hollington
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In what may be a sign of things to come, Apple is reportedly dropping the one-time purchase option for AppleCare+ plans at its retail stores. Instead, customers will be forced to sign up for monthly subscription plans if they want coverage for their new devices.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared the news in a post on X yesterday, noting that Apple will switch to offering “monthly and annual subscriptions.” The online store will continue selling prepaid multi-year plans — for now, at least.

It’s unclear how this will be implemented at retail stores, but it could mean they simply won’t be selling AppleCare+ plans directly at all. Until now, you could pay up front for a multi-year AppleCare+ plan when purchasing a new product like an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook (at one time, Apple even sold AppleCare+ boxes containing all the paperwork, although those were phased out years ago for obvious environmental and cost reasons).

The length of the prepaid AppleCare+ plans depends on the device you’re purchasing. Macs, Apple TVs, and the Apple Studio Display get three years, while most other products get two, including iPhones, iPads, the Apple Watch, the Vision Pro, AirPods, and HomePods get two years.

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Several years ago, Apple added a subscription version of AppleCare+ for most of its mainstream products. This began with the iPhone and iPad, where customers could sign up for a monthly plan. Like most such options, the monthly price works out to more over the two years than paying for two years upfront, but it has the advantage of letting you cancel at any time, so you’re not stuck with unused AppleCare+ coverage if you sell or trade-in your device before two years (it is possible to cancel a prepaid AppleCare+ plan early, but it’s much more of a hassle, and you can only do so if you’ve never made a claim for accidental damage).

Following the introduction of monthly AppleCare+ subscriptions for mobile devices, Apple also moved to annual subscriptions for Macs and Apple Displays, letting customers sign up and pay a year at a time instead of shouldering the cost of three full years in advance. Like the iPhone and iPad, customers could cancel a year or two early or continue paying beyond the usual three-year term.

These subscription plans aren’t sold in Apple retail stores — at least not directly. Apple customer service reps can certainly help customers set them up, but they’re purchased through your Apple Account and billed alongside other in-app subscriptions and Apple Services like Apple Music (this also makes a monthly AppleCare+ almost trivially easy to cancel, as you can do it right from the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac).

New customers also have 60 days to sign up for AppleCare+, which can be done directly from your device.

There’s no word on how non-subscription AppleCare+ plans will be affected by this change. AppleCare+ for Headphones, Apple TV, and HomePod are only available as upfront purchases for two years of coverage. These can also be purchased online, so store reps may direct customers to do this through the Apple website or Apple’s Support app.

We’re not sure how widely this change is rolling out. Gurman presumably refers to Apple Stores in the United States, but there’s no word on whether the new policy is rolling out globally. Nevertheless, even if it’s US-only, it’s unlikely to remain that way; Apple is likely planning to shift it everywhere, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually also comes to the online store. The only countries that may be able to avoid it are places where consumer protection laws mandate that extended warranties and protection plans must be available as one-time, upfront purchases.



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