AppleCare+

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250637382

The monthly plan is brand spanking new from Apple. While you pay a bit more for the coverage on the monthly plan than you would if you bought it up front, it's actually a very smart new plan from Apple. According to the plan, you can continue the coverage until such time that Apple no longer can provide parts or service for the device. Until Apple changed this, one had to buy a plan for 24 months and once the plan expired, it could not be renewed. Now, you can just keep paying the monthly fee far longer.

So, I finally got around to going into the AppleCare+ Legal Terms and Conditions.

Who I spoke with yesterday, was incorrect. If you buy AppleCare+ upfront for the 24 months prepaid, the service is for 24 months. The terms I copied below, says the following about renewal of the Single-Pay Plan. It's certainly not clear under what condition Apple might offer a renewal to a Single-Pay Pan or what it could cost.

"(j) Each Monthly Plan will renew automatically, unless cancelled, at its original Plan purchase price. Apple is not obligated to renew any Single-Pay Plan. If Apple does offer renewal, Apple will determine the price and terms."

But it's clear from the Legal Terms the Monthly Pay plan continues until the purchaser cancels or Apple no longer has parts available to fix a device.

"Plan coverage begins when you purchase the Plan and continues, unless cancelled, through the date specified in your Plan Confirmation (the “Plan Term”). 

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.

Monthly Plans may not be available for all Covered Devices. For Covered Devices where Monthly Plans are available, you agree to have the credit card, debit card or other authorized payment source i.e. Apple Pay (the “Payment Source”) used for your initial Plan purchase kept on file to automatically charge in advance of the first day of each month following your initial purchase to renew your Plan unless cancelled. If your Payment Source cannot be charged for any reason, and you have not otherwise made the appropriate renewal payment on time, your Plan coverage will cease from the renewal due date. Apple has the right, but not the obligation, to accept any late payment and allow renewal from the date of late payment.

For Single-Pay Plans, your Plan Term is two (2) years (or three (3) years for Apple Watch Edition or Hermès). Apple is not obligated to renew your Single-Pay Plan. If Apple does offer to renew, Apple will determine the price and terms. "

Exactly - I will check again with some other person. FWIW, this was not support, it was online Apple store personnel with "have a question about purchasing". It sounds as though you can do the monthly for as long as Apple has parts for the device, but the one time payment plan is 2 years, period. But I want to hear from someone else. Sales people aren't tuned in to legal terms usually.

So, I tried another chat today with a different person at the online Apple store and that person said: yes, you can. here is the relevant excerpt from the chat:

A: To answer your question, yes you can do that.

Changing your plan to a monthly payments once you’ve done the 2 years? Yes thats’ possible.




ME: Really - I can buy one payment Applecare now and in 2 years I can extend it with a monthly plan?




A: Absolutely, you can do that.

You just need to contact our AppleCare+ Team, since you can re-new the AppleCare+ within 60 days of expiration.

You can then opt to get it on a monthly payments.




ME: Well, I asked that question a couple of days ago and was told no. Then the option to extend is something new?

It is confusing because the terms do not specifically say that (and I do read all of the fine print, LOL)




A: Here online you can’t do that, since you really need to contact the AppleCare Team, and yes extending is something new, since it will renew the accidental damages too.




ME: that is interesting. Is there a way to chat with the Applecare folks or do I need to do that via phone?




A: You can chat with them, you just need to download the Apple Support App, there’s an option there to chat with them.



FWIW, I tried to find a chat option within that app, but could not. Have been busy with other things since, so I haven't done anything further.

In other words, we're no further than we were yesterday........

Hi there,

This information page has all the important information for AppleCare+ for your iPad.

Best,

David

He just got a new iPhone and I get his "discards" (by choice - I really like my "luddite" flip phone which does what I want it to do: make phone calls). The smart phones are either too small for me to read anything and/or too large to fit in a pocket or my purse; besides, why bother reading something on a small screen when I got an iPad or MBP or MBA or 24" external monitor....

Not quite time to replace the MBA; Applecare goes through mid 2020 (a 2015 refurb); keeping my fingers crossed with my refurb 2012 MBP (Applecare through March 2020) with an SSD and lots of RAM - I want to keep that as it is the only thing I can boot into Mavericks (10.9.5) on an external which allows me to use my preferred old video/movie editing/burning apps when I start another movie project.

Okay, back to Applecare + for a minute:

Just had a chat with Apple online store (mostly regarding date when I can order for store pickup); also asked about extending the Applecare plan and here is how that went (don't know if he is correct or not, but this is what I got) - in two screenshots:

That's interesting. Apple Support told me on a call today, that AppleCare+ CAN be extended after the first two year contract.

Maybe it's just too new for all the support peeps to know all the details? I don't always take what Apple Support says as Gospel.

I would not create a user tip until I can actually find an official statement and/or URL. The only place it shows up is in the iOS apple support app and there is no way to link to it, but I may copy/paste it into a post in the WC.

really - I did not know that. Will need to check into that - does that really mean that you could have coverage for, say, 4 years?

YES YES YES........not only that, once your standard AppleCare policy expires if you purchased a prepaid 24 month plan, you can now extend it by paying a monthly fee. This is really terrific!

ohhh, that is cooool! We're about to get two new iPads.....

My iPhone is a huge part of my work life, so I typically get the newest one almost every year. Plus, I just love tech toys, hence why I'm on this forum so much.

For me, it's not a big deal, as I usually don't keep iPad or iPhone longer than two years. But I do want to know the right answer so I can properly answer users on this subject.