iPhone Extra Year Warranty

[jdod]

My daughters Pre met an untimely death a couple days before Christmas, so I upgraded her to an iPhone 4 for Christmas.

I am not a member on that other forum, so thought someone here might have experience with this. We have a couple days left to purchase the additional 1 year Apple Care extending the warranty to 2 years.

Is it worth it?

I never has warranties on any of our 5 Pre's, they were just to easily purchase for $100 and I only had to get a couple of replacements, so we saved a lot of cash.

But iPhone 4s are not that easy to come by, especially on Sprint.

We have a OtterBox Defender case on the way (rubber all around, with screen protector) so it should be well protected.

Any thoughts?

[finngirl]

I've always gotten the extended but for a very specific reason. Apple is pretty liberal with swapping it out if you complain about something. And ATT is pretty flexible with upgrading early. So I get a brand spanking new looking handset before i resell, sell my old handset at 15-18 months and include Apple Care (which goes w the phone). Pays for itself in resale.

[jdod]

Thanks, interesting plan, I don't know how Sprint would handle an early upgrade request but seems they all let you upgrade a little early.

What percent of cost do you think you got on resale at 15 to 18 months?

[finngirl]

Originally Posted by jdod

Thanks, interesting plan, I don't know how Sprint would handle an early upgrade request but seems they all let you upgrade a little early.

What percent of cost do you think you got on resale at 15 to 18 months?

Remember, I am buying a $600 phone for $200 (the 16BG) on contract, but then selling it OFF contract.

I generally have always been able to sell my iPhone (3G, 3GS and 4) for somewhere between $300 and $350, usually 4-6 months before my contract is up. And in two of the three cases, it went overseas.

[jdod]

The phone I got her was the 8GB 4, which she will have for 2 years, paid $99 on contract as an upgrade. When the next iPhone comes out (I heard one place predict that would be a 4GS, not a 5, sigh if true), would send the 4 to free on contract and the 4S to $99, while the next gen, whatever it is, would be $199. Since I am working with a phone already 1 model behind when the contract begins, I should expect that I might only get $100 to $200, and using your plan, that would be with Apple Care, having cost me $99.

Does my logic add up?

I think your plan works best if you are scooping latest technology at the time of purchase.

[ggendel]

Apple had a liberal "one-time" replacement policy for cracked screens and such. However, corporate just changed that and will no longer warranty replace a unit from physical damage like dropping or getting wet. So that just leaves things like worn-out switches and jacks since batteries were never covered.

If your daughter is like mine and tends to drop things, then the old policy was a blessing. I'm not sure it is worth it anymore.

[finngirl]

Jdod, if I understand you correctly, you are talking about selling it what will amount to 3 years after it came out (IOW, you buy the old model to begin with, and then upgrade what will be the NEW "old" model). You should still double your money.

My friend just sold his 3GS -which is now two versions away - for $200. I think if he sold it last year he would have gotten closer to $300. But at any rate, it still paid - on contract price - for his 4S.

[pogeypre]

One thing you can do with Apple is even if your wife leaves the iPhone outside and the sprinklers give it a bath, you can get a replacement for a reduced price. I believe a replacement costs 150 bucks without insurance, or at least it did when that happened to me.................................

[donm527]

wife went to apple store and just got her iphone 4 replaced with a refurb for $150 too with about 6-7 months left on contract. not sure why it died... she said not sure if it got wet

Originally Posted by pogeypre

One thing you can do with Apple is even if your wife leaves the iPhone outside and the sprinklers give it a bath, you can get a replacement for a reduced price. I believe a replacement costs 150 bucks without insurance, or at least it did when that happened to me.................................

[jdod]

I opted not to get the Apple care, we shall see how this goes. We put the best Otterbox case on it, full silicone case, with plastic screen front, all on top of the hard plastic core. This did not make it impervious to damage, but does make me feel a little better.

Thank you everyone that responded!

[verwon]

I have AppleCare+ on my iPhone 4S, but not my 3rd gen iPad, since I don't carry it around as much.

And the out of warranty Apple replacements without it... $150 for prior model phone, $199 for current model.

[jdod]

Coming up on 4 months since deciding against Apple Care and I am happy with my decision. The case is great, it is well protected.