Skipping AppleCare+ on the iPhone Duo Is a $1,499 Gamble
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If you’re already lining up to preorder an iPhone Duo this Friday, you may want to give some serious thought to adding AppleCare+ to your shopping cart. While that coverage doesn’t come cheap, the cost to actually repair an iPhone Duo without it is far worse.
AppleCare+ for the iPhone Duo will set you back $19.99 per month, $199.99 per year, or a flat $399 for two years of coverage. That ties it with the Vision Pro as the most expensive AppleCare+ plan available, but that’s because the repair costs without it are even more astronomical.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for the base model with 256 GB of storage. By contrast, an out-of-warranty repair for an iPhone Duo could run you up to $1,499 — if you don’t have AppleCare+.
To be clear, Apple’s foldable iPhone still comes with the standard one-year warranty, but that only covers things that are considered defects in design. Should your iPhone Duo experience accidental damage of any kind — even water damage, despite its IP68 rating — you’re on your own.
While $1,499 is the maximum, that covers what Apple calls “other damage” that doesn’t fit into any other category. Glass and screen damage are slightly more reasonable — but only slightly. Here’s the rundown:
Without AppleCare+
With AppleCare+
Cover Layer Damage
$49
$19
Back Glass Damage
$199
$29
Battery Service
$229
$0
Rear Camera Damage
$229
$99
Outer Display Damage
$379
$29
Outer Display and Back Glass Damage
$509
$99
Inner Display Damage
$999
$99
Other Damage
$1,499
$99
Theft or Loss
N/A
$149
Basically, expect to pay hefty repair costs if your iPhone Duo encounters any damage beyond the “Cover Layer” — the nano-texture coating on the inner display, which can be easily peeled off and replaced if it wears down or the crease becomes more visible.
However, with AppleCare+, even that goes down to a more wallet-friendly $19. Meanwhile, the back glass and outer display can be repaired for only $29 each, while everything else is covered for a flat $99.
These fees apply no matter how often you break your iPhone Duo, as AppleCare+ now allows for unlimited incidents of accidental damage as long as you’re still paying for coverage — and the monthly and annual plans will be continually renewed until you cancel them (or until Apple eventually declares the device to be vintage and discontinues service).
What’s more, AppleCare+ in the US also includes Theft and Loss coverage, under which Apple will replace your entire device if it’s lost or stolen for a flat $149. That’s a pretty good deal for an iPhone that costs $1,999 and up. The only condition is that you have to have Find My enabled on your device at the time it was lost or stolen, and you only get two incidents of that every 12 months.
Of course, AppleCare+ basically works like any insurance plan. Apple is taking $20 a month (or $200 a year) from its iPhone Duo customers, most of whom will never make a single claim. That’s why it can afford to offer $1,499 repairs for only $99 — although we also can’t rule out the out-of-warranty repair costs being slightly inflated just to make a point.
Meanwhile, your investment in AppleCare+ is the opposite bet. While it only takes a single incident in a year for AppleCare+ to pay for itself, it’s arguably money down the drain if you never make a single claim. What you’re really paying for here is peace of mind, but in the case of the iPhone Duo and its staggering repair costs, that $20 a month gets you a lot more peace than with most other Apple products, and it’s even less painful if you roll it into an AppleCare One plan, where you can cover two other devices for the same price as the iPhone Duo alone.
