Apple Giving Customers a Second Chance to Buy AppleCare+ After Their iPhone or Mac is Repaired

Apple is now providing customers who have faced a costly out-of-pocket repair for an iPhone or Mac with a second chance to purchase AppleCare+ coverage for the device, although there are some strings attached to the policy.

applecare apple care banner
In an internal memo this week, obtained by MacRumors, Apple said customers who had an iPhone or Mac repaired at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider are now eligible to purchase AppleCare+ for the device, so long as the device was purchased less than one year ago and passes a physical inspection and diagnostics after repair.

For customers who are unsure if their iPhone was repaired by an Apple Authorized Service Provider, iOS 15.2 introduces a new "Parts and Service History" in Settings > General > About that indicates if components like the battery and display are genuine Apple parts. The software update is expected to be released as early as next week.

Customers are still required to pay Apple's full out-of-warranty fees for any repairs completed prior to purchasing AppleCare+ coverage for the device.

An example scenario: A customer named John purchases a new iPhone, but he decides not to pay for AppleCare+ coverage for the device. A few months later, John drops the iPhone and the display is cracked. John takes the iPhone to an Apple Store to be repaired and faces costly out-of-warranty service fees since he decided not to purchase AppleCare+. Since the iPhone is less than one year old, John is advised that he can still purchase AppleCare+ for the device so that any subsequent repairs aren't as expensive.

The policy is in effect at Apple Store and Apple Authorized Service Provider locations in all countries and regions where AppleCare+ is available.

This expanded AppleCare+ eligibility for repaired iPhones and Macs should further boost Apple's services revenue, which hit a record $18.27 billion last quarter.

Popular Stories

iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
sam sung auction

Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

Wednesday October 22, 2025 4:44 pm PDT by
Back in 2012, an Apple retail employee named Sam Sung went viral because his name is similar to Samsung, one of Apple's main competitors. In a recent interview with Business Insider, he detailed that period in his life, how Apple responded, and he explained why he ultimately changed his name. Someone posted an image of Sung's Apple business card on Reddit in 2012, and it spread rapidly....
cadillac lyric infotainment

GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars

Wednesday October 22, 2025 11:34 am PDT by
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down. In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

What's New in iOS 26.1 Beta 4

Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below. Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...

Top Rated Comments

haruhiko Avatar
51 months ago
So now Apple not only gets the expensive repair fees, they get the AppleCare sales too. ??
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamjackson Avatar
51 months ago
Just a reminder for some people that it may be worth checking if your credit card will cover this. I bought my iPhone 13 Pro full price with my American Express card which extends the factory warranty by 12 months (2 years) and by paying for my cell phone bill with Visible with my Amex card, they extend to me an $800 per incident damage coverage for every 30 days I pay my phone bill. So in that scenario, if I have a cost to repair my iPhone for a damage scenario, I submit the receipt from the Apple Store to Amex and they reimburse me up to $800.

This is why I stopped buying AppleCare+ on my iPhones but I do continue to put it on my MacBook Pro which still works to my advantage because even though I won't get damage coverage through Amex they will add 1 year to my 3 year warranty since I attached AppleCare at the time of purchase so my MacBook Pro has a 4 year warranty for hardware failures not related to damage.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AmazeSE Avatar
51 months ago
Wow this is a smart idea. People are be more likely to insure their device after they go through an expensive repair.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPSaltzman Avatar
51 months ago
Another one of Tim's ingenious Cash Cows to keep that money flowin' in and the stockholders happy....
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
51 months ago

So now Apple not only gets the expensive repair fees, and they get the AppleCare sales too. ??
Apple gets it all. They really know how to save $ and get a single penny out of your pocket.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
51 months ago
Ohh! That’s pretty cool. People will need it if they plan on fixing the devices themselves.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)