If a friend advised you to drop Apple Care, and you did, and the next day you dropped your phone and smashed the screen, you may be pissed at your friend for suggesting that you drop Apple Care. If your friend suggest that you keep Apple Care, so you do, and never need it, you may be annoyed at your friend for encouraging you to pay all that money for something you never needed. It's a decision you must make yourself. That being said, I have never taken out insurance on my phones, as we are very careful with them, use good protective cases, and have been lucky to have avoided any damage. At this point, we have saved over the years many times the cost of a new phone by not buying insurance. Should we damage or lose a phone at this point, I won't regret forking out the money to buy a new one. YMMV.

AppleCare+ is not worth it unless you live in a high-theft area or if you lose or break your devices very regularly.

I'd not buy AppleCare+, because I've never broken or lost a phone (in ~10 years of phone ownership). I'd estimate I lose/break my phone every >10 years.

How does this math work? Let me break it down:

AppleCare+ for losing/destroying a phone:

If I remember the prices correctly, it's $150/year, and then you pay $150 for theft or damage. Let's say you have a $1200 iPhone Pro Max, and to be generous to Apple, let's assume you would lose or irreparably damage the device. (So, we're looking at a $1200 replacement cost.)

This means paying $150 yearly for AppleCare would save you $1050 in replacement costs. Put another way, this only makes sense if $150 <= $1050 * p, where p is the probability you break your phone. This comes out to exactly p = 1/7.

This means AppleCare+ only makes sense if you expect there's a 14% chance to lose or break your phone. Put another way, this would only make sense if you lose or break your phone once every seven years.

AppleCare+ for breaking a screen:

If I remember correctly, AppleCare+ also covers screen repairs, bringing them to $50 down from $300. By similar math, this makes sense only if you break your screen once every two years.

Note I don't have the exact numbers for your specific iPhone, so YMMV, but these numbers should be ballpark.

A note on insurance

The cost-benefit analysis of health insurance is a little different.

I buy health-insurance, even though the math loses out in my favor if we look at dollar costs.

For example, say my estimated health costs are $150, but I pay $200 in insurance monthly. Why?

Because the $400 costs more than $400, because I do not have $100K. If I needed $100K treatment, I would not be able to afford it, so I would die. (I'm in the USA.) My life costs more than $100K.

But for a phone? If I lost a $1200 phone, I can pay for that since I have $1200 in my bank account. So the $1200 only costs $1200.

Even if you can't afford $1200, you can still get a cheaper phone (~$50 for a very cheap Android or $450 for the cheapest iPhone), so you are not locked entirely out of modern life. This also factors into the cost benefit analysis: Are you willing to go down for a cheaper phone if you destroy or lose this one?

A note on repair costs

These are also using Apple's quotes for repair costs. These numbers don't factor in cheaper repair costs from third-party repair shops. These make AppleCare+ less necessary.

TLDR:

Unlike "real insurance", this is a straight cost-benefit analysis, assuming you have ~$2000 'free money' to your name.

AppleCare+ only makes sense if you lose/destroy your phones ~every 7 years, or shatter your screen once ~every 2 years. (These numbers may vary.)

So,

I will probably get apple care, screens get broken… I do use a zagg protector but still want the piece of mind with apple care.

You consider it expensive but a full phone replacement can be costly as well.

Ex Apple Man here. Return the case if its a genuine apple one. They are shit quality, will tear and you won’t get any replacements as official guidelines don’t allow.

You can take a quick search, they’re horrible.

I just got my 14 PM delivered last night. I use a case, no screen protector. I am likely signing up for AppleCare+ this evening. I’ve never had to use. Hope I don’t. But knowing if I drop my expensive phone and destroy the front or back glass, I can just pay $29 and have it fixed is a peace of mind worth having. I use it instead of carrier insurance also.

I pay for AppleCare+ for my iPad Air and my Apple Watch on a monthly basis. Like all insurance, it’s worth it only if you ever need it. Chris Rock once made a joke saying that they should call insurance “in case shit” because it’s only good in case shit happens. The only Apple product I’ve needed to use AC+ on was my Series 3. I ended up getting a new/refurbished watch, no damage and new battery. That was in June of 2020, 2 years after getting my watch. And then I traded in the Series 3 last year for a Series 6 and got a full value trade-in. Which I obviously wouldn’t have gotten if I didn’t have a working watch to trade in.

I don't personally think it's worth it. I've not as yet broken a phone. If I break this one, I'll either repair it or buy a new one (if this were to happen 2 years down the line). The amount I have saved not paying for Applecare/Samsung care over the years pretty much matches the value of my phone.

I bought apple care+ but that because I live in west London where everyones phone gets stolen.

I always go naked and AC+ is cheap and the service is always great.

I did get it on a monthly. Fixing a screen and back fo example right now is super expensive without it. Once the prices for the new phones go down I'll probably cancel it.

I never like paying for Applecare, but I never regret it either. The 14PM is an expensive bit of kit (I have exactly the same as you, including the case - best phone I’ve ever had tbh) so I’d be getting the cover.

Take it from someone who works at an Apple service provider: The amount of people I see every day who regret NOT getting Apple care is extremely large.

Accidents happen. And if they do you'll be happy to have it. Paying $29 instead of $329 for a screen repair is not a small difference imo.

I always get apple care + and so far have never used it once. But i will be very annoyed if i stop paying apple care + and then drop or misplace my iphone 14 pro max.

AppleCare+ is so worth it and paying monthly for it makes it quite affordable. Also if you live in an area of high theft, AppleCare with Theft + Loss protection is amazing. I just had my month old 14 Pro Max stolen out of my pocket last week and they processed my claim (after $150 deductible) and sent me a new one in just a few days.

Aside from that, even regular AppleCare+ is worth it just for the damage protection. You get unlimited front or back glass repairs for only $29. That’s a great deal.

I live in a capital city in the US and theft is drastically rising. Apple care + theft and loss is almost a no brainer for me because with my economic status, I cannot afford to replace a $1,300 device if it was stolen or if I destroyed it somehow. I would then be completely without a phone and left paying monthly payments for a device I cannot use anymore (I financed the phone thru Verizon).

It’s VASTLY better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

That said, if you get it, you also get a much lower price for battery replacement. Say you keep your iPhone for the three years Apple Care+ covers you, and at by that time your battery health is at ~85%. You can just go and get it replaced for much less than what it would cost regularly.

Why not 14 pro? Too small?

Yes. I dropped my 13 Pro in January and scratched the screen. Apple had a new one in my hands in two days.

I don’t want to be that person walking around with a cracked screen so I think i rather pay for the AppleCare. It costs less than a subway sandwich would cost me if I ate one every month so whatever.

I never bothered with apple care and have never needed it either.

If you are going to get AppleCare (which I highly suggest), get the theft loss and protection one seeing as its only £50 more and you get top priority and theft is covered.

It’s insurance and like all insurance it depends on the user. Obviously you can take out insurance and nothing happens and that’s the most common case, that’s how they make money. If you can afford an iPhone 14 promax, depending on the price of AppleCare where you live it might be silly to not insure something so expensive to replace. But ultimately it’s up to you, how likely is it that you’ll break or lose it ?

pay for it if you’re prone to breaking iphones, don’t if you have a great track record.

or do. shit happens. i know it saved me twice with my 13 mini in the past 12 months.

Since it’s an insurance, treat it like one. Do you usually insure stuff like this?

I only buy insurance to cover damages that I could not cover myself. Statistically, this is the cheapest way. Because in the end, the insurance company makes money, so customers pay more than they get out.

So as long as you don’t have a reason why you have a significantly higher risk of damage than the average guy, I wouldn’t recommend it.

But that’s just my mindest about insurance. Others like the warm and fuzzy feeling of being protected, and are willing to pay for it. Also a valid way to go.

Canadian working between Canada and US using Cricket. Which iPhone is best for me and gives me applecare. The Canadian or the US version.

It’s insurance. It is, by definition, a losing proposition on average. So it’s a personal choice. For me, I’d rather spend a few dollars a month is worth it! Especially with kids who love to take my phone. (Side note, why do I have 200+ photos closeup on my son’s noise???)

It’s honestly the best investment you can make if you want and plan to use your phone for a very long time. If you drop it it’s WAY cheaper with apple care i think its something like 25 bucks instead of 250 to fix the screen. And it’s like 600 to fix the back without AC.

If you get apple care, I would recommend paying the extra 3 bucks and get theft and loss protection. It’s a very expensive device and it’s a great investment IMO.

I have a 14 pro with AC LOSS AND THEFT and it makes me feel so much more comfortable about using it in public because if it gets stolen it’s only 109 bucks to replace.

Not worth it. Unless you are clumsy.

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It’s really all on the person. I didn’t buy apple cover and I still have my phone in mint ever since the 11 came out. It’s all on how you are and careful or whatever right. If you think eh maybe I’m not that careful then go ahead cause Atleast once the warranty expires it gives you more value for your buck at the end of the day.

Imo, get a good case (Eg. Mous Limitless) and a good tempered glass screen protector and be careful with your phone.

Take the money you would have spent on insurance and keep it in an account. Over time you’ll have enough money in that account to cover any issues you have and won’t need to waste any on insurance.

That aside, insurance only really makes sense if you can’t outright afford to replace or repair your device. You’re gonna be out that initial $200 regardless if you use the insurance or not.

Apple care is good because of express replacements if u need warranty

1000% worth it. I was going into the Apple Store one day to get my watch fixed and I tripped over a curb and totally shattered my phone and watched. Walked out with replacements 30 minutes later.

I pay for insurance, instead of apple care. Works out cheaper and there are no extra fees that I need to pay if I break my screen or whatever

My iPhone 11 was stolen in Paris in June. Despite having insurance for expensive gadgets I came out with about £250 towards a new phone…..for the loss of a phone that cost me £700+.

Ended up forking out around £800 for an iPhone 13.

I now pay £9.95 a month for AppleCare + Loss & Theft and think it’s an absolute bargain.

P.S. Sainsburys travel insurance (Operated by Taurus) is absolute BS. Not a new for old policy provider so you’ll end up offered a second hand phone or the cost of a second hand phone (minus your excess obvs)

You have 60 days to decide on Applecare and will find a daily countdown timer in your settings menu- Considering if you leave your phone behind, or are a active outdoorsman, or are in a high crime area where theft is a good possibility, or you carry naked, or you drop it even once in a while, then yes absolutely. Back glass is a little over $500 to replace.. The great part is, if you use Applecare in a store, 99.9% of the time they will just hand you a new device if it's not fixable or lost/stolen. There's no investigation,or crazy paperwork. I've had that insurance through that weird company the android makers use, starts with a A or something . That's awful. This is nothing like that. This is Apple directly. Not a third party. For me, peace of mind these days is worth it's weight in gold. I have enough to worry about besides the $1200 in my pocket everywhere I go....

Good case and tempered glass screen protector. Never had a need for Apple care.

I recently had my iPhone stolen and didn’t have Apple care + and I wish I had, I now have it with my new iPhone, trust me, you don’t think you need it and till it’s to late. Pay for it, it’s the best advise I can give.

How many phones have you broken over the years? If none, then it’s unlikely that you’ll break your current phone. If you’re on the clumsy side, then you’ll have to go almost 3 years without an incident to make NOT having AppleCare worth it.

So you have an expensive phone but you’re balking at 15 dollars a month to have peace of mind if anything adverse happens to it? Anyway, to answer your question, YES. AppleCare is definitely worth it.

I install a good screen protector and a case the second I take the phone out of the box. Never bought apple care before and never regretted, my phones have been pristine for their entire lifetimes. Also, If you are concerned about money, then perhaps you shouldn’t have bought an apple leather case, Amazon 25 dollar silicone cases hold up their looks far better than leather