Apple Lowers Out-of-Warranty Repair Price for Apple Watch Sport to $199

Friday March 25, 2016 9:11 AM PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Following the announcement of the $50 price drop for the Apple Watch Sport on Monday, Apple has now lowered the cost of its out-of-warranty repair price for the aluminum-cased wearable from $229 to $199. The program serves Apple Watch wearers not supported by AppleCare+, or the limited one-year warranty of the device, which will be ending soon for early adopters of the Apple Watch.

New apple watch sport warranty
The company still has a few rules about out-of-warranty service, with any Apple Watch that "has been broken into multiple pieces" remaining ineligible for repair. For more detailed descriptions of applicable devices, the company has a full Apple Repair Terms and Conditions document on its website.

Since the other tiers of the Apple Watch have not gotten a price drop, their out-of-warranty prices haven't changed either. If an owner of either the Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition lacks proper warranty, a repair will cost them $329 and $2,800, respectively.

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33 comments


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Jal217
31 months ago
thats an insanely high price for repair. At that price you might as well wait for a new model to come out and buy a brand new one.
Rating: 14 Votes
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marine0816
31 months ago

They're allowed to charge whatever they want - it's a free market. If you'll pay it, they'll charge it.

If you don't like their repair fee, maybe someone else will repair it for less. If not, there's likely a business opportunity available.


I love how the Apple attack squad is ready to defend the dynasty
Rating: 9 Votes
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ArtOfWarfare
31 months ago

$2800 for the gold edition that has the exact same internals as the cheapest model? While also not eligible for repair if broken into pieces (i.e. the golden shell isn't even part of the problem)?? In what universe does this make even the slightest sense?


They're allowed to charge whatever they want - it's a free market. If you'll pay it, they'll charge it.

If you don't like their repair fee, maybe someone else will repair it for less. If not, there's likely a business opportunity available.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Fzang
31 months ago
$2800 for the gold edition that has the exact same internals as the cheapest model? While also not eligible for repair if broken into pieces (i.e. the golden shell isn't even part of the problem)?? In what universe does this make even the slightest sense?
Rating: 6 Votes
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jbachandouris
31 months ago
At $100 less than new, it's better to just buy a new one and sell the defective one.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Glassed Silver
31 months ago
Super long, but super related video:

[MEDIA=youtube]NVAmnV65_zw[/MEDIA]

tl;dr: They don't care whether you want to get it repaired or not, you're bringing them similar amounts of dough either way.
Buy new or get it repaired, the "repairs" are priced in such a way that they couldn't care less economically.

They're allowed to charge whatever they want - it's a free market. If you'll pay it, they'll charge it.

If you don't like their repair fee, maybe someone else will repair it for less. If not, there's likely a business opportunity available.


Not out of spite, but you should REALLY check out the video I embedded in this post.
It's very enlightening.

And yes, they CAN charge whatever they want, but here's something else:
They practically HINDER others from doing repairs (again, watch the video and you'll see a lot of that) AND as a customer you're free to complain.
Business, even between end consumers and big corporations shouldn't be one-sided communication-wise.

"Yeah, that's great, but they won't read it anyways! Contact Apple directly!"
I tell Apple frequently that they are out of their minds concerning out-of-warranty repair costs, but don't underestimate the importance of critique in media and forums. ('http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/29/part-3-strategies-the-art-of-deep-background-and-controlling-the-press/')

Glassed Silver:mac

PS: I know that his take on the home button has since been commented on by Apple and that it was an accident. Basically skip that train of thought and check out the rest of his arguments.
Rating: 3 Votes
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ArtOfWarfare
31 months ago

I love how the Apple attack squad is ready to defend the dynasty


You're confused. I made the suggestion that you go with a third party repair, or open up your own third party repair shop if you can't find one you like. Apple hates third party repair shops. So I'm definitely not "defending the dynasty." There wasn't anything even Apple specific in my post - I was just explaining how capitalism works.
Rating: 3 Votes
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pat500000
31 months ago
Damn Apple...lowest of the low...and greedy or the greediest. Stop with soldering products.
Rating: 2 Votes
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73b
31 months ago
So a new watch only costs $100 more?
Rating: 2 Votes
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justperry
31 months ago
It's just ridiculous a company which charges premium prices has only a one year limited warrantee on its products.
Lower priced Apple stuff should have a minimum of 2 years warranty, higher priced stuff such as macbook pro's and the Mac pro should have a minimum of 3-4 years warranty.
Rating: 2 Votes
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