The extended AppleCare+ signup window will be available for all Apple devices and work with the monthly payment option. AppleCare+ is Apple’s optional extended warranty with accidental damage coverage. It should not be confused with your free 1-year AppleCare warranty.
MacRumors was able to confirm those and other details:
AppleCare+ can now be added to a device up to one year from purchase. This applies to iPhones, iPads, Macs, iPods, HomePods, Beats (minus urBeats3 and Pill+), AirPods, AirPods Pro, Apple Watches and the Pro Display XDR. Basically all devices that offer AppleCare+, with the exception of the Apple TV which already offers a one-year standard AppleCare purchase plan option.
You can buy extended AppleCare+ protection for your device up to 60 days after the date of purchase, through any of the available sales channels including the online Apple store.
After 60 days has passed (and before 365 days), AppleCare+ can be purchased by taking a device to an Apple retail location with a Genius Bar appointment for an inspection, required to get coverage after the 60 day mark. If a device has any accidental damage during the inspection, it needs to be repaired before AppleCare+ can be purchased.
The timer starts from the date of purchase of your AppleCare+ coverage.
As iDB reported, Apple recently updated the AppleCare+ policies in the United States and Canada earlier this week. Now customers have up to one year from purchase date to get AppleCare+ for their device, up from the current limit of 90 days (it was 1 year in the past).
“This gives customers another opportunity to protect their device and have access to all the AppleCare+ benefits,” Apple wrote in a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The publication added that the offer is valid if you pay for AppleCare+ in full or subscribe via installments on the Apple Card credit card.
And now MacRumors has confirmed that the extended signup window also works if you choose to pay for AppleCare+ via monthly payments versus upfront. For those wondering, paying upfront gets you 24 months of extended AppleCare+ coverage.
You can also switch from monthly plans to the subscription model, if you like. If you paid upfront, simply visit mysupport.apple.com to continue coverage on a monthly basis after your 24 months is over. When on the subscription model, your AppleCare+ plan appears as a subscription service in the Apple ID account settings on your devices.
The “Plan Term and Renewal” section of the AppleCare+ agreement describes how this works:
For Monthly Plans, your Plan Term is one (1) month. Your Plan will automatically renew each month unless cancelled as set forth in the ‘Cancellation’ Section 9 below, including in the event that Apple is no longer able to service your Covered Equipment due to the unavailability of service parts, in which case Apple will provide you with thirty (30) days’ prior written notice of cancellation or as otherwise required by law.
In other words, switching to the subscription model basically gets you an indefinite AppleCare+ coverage for as long as you continue paying the monthly subscription fee.
Thought?