Verizon warranty vs. Applecare

Apple includes a one year limited manufacturer's warranty with the iPhone. It is a manufacturer's warranty, not insurance - it does not cover accidental damage or loss/theft, and doesn't cost anything. Apple offers an AppleCare extended warranty which extends the standard one year manufacturer's warranty by an additional year. The AppleCare extended warranty is an additional cost, which can be purchased and registered anytime before the standard one year warranty for the iPhone expires, which begins on the purchase date.

What does the detail about Verizon's warranty include, which should be available via Verizon's website? At an additional $11/mo, this sounds more like insurance than a warranty. Apple provides the warranty on the iPhone, not the cell phone carrier.

Best explanation I've seen of the differences:

Both Extended Warranty and Wireless Phone Protection are products offered by Verizon. Total Equipment Coverage is the name of the two products bundled together.
Extended Warranty is not Applecare. Verizon will also sell you Applecare if you want it. There are a couple of important differences between the two. Without Applecare, you get one complimentary call to Apple Tech support within the first 90 days of ownership, after that calls are $29.99. With Apple Care, you get free calls for the entire two years. The Extended Warrany sold by Verizon does not give you that. If you need a phone replaced under Applecare, you deal with Apple. If you need a phone replaced under warranty through the Extended Warranty, you deal with Verizon. They will not have replacement phones on site. You will be shipped a replacement overnight.
Neither Applecare nor the Extended warranty cover loss, theft or damage. For that you need the Wireless Phone Protection , either by itself or bundled with the Extended Warranty in Total Equipment Coverage. If your phone is lost, stolen or damaged, you will get it replaced by Asurion. There is a deductible. You will be shipped a phone overnight.

Courtesy of Meg St._Clair

I have purchased applecare for all of my other mac products thus far and I highly recommend it. However, the applecare warranty will be voided (just like the verizon 1 yr manufacturer's warranty) if any contact with water is detected.

I have never purchased the Verizon insurance with my other phones (the total paid over 2 years is $287) but the applecare warranty will help if anything happens to the battery, charging port, earphone base, software problems, etc. in the second year of your contract which I think is the best bet.

Apple care is my bet.

The Total Equipment Coverage plan from Verizon ($10.99/mo) covers all accessories and accidental damage, including liquid damage.

http://support.vzw.com/clc/features/callingfeatures/equipmentprotection.html

You might also want to check the terms of your household contents insurance. Some plans will cover items that you can carry out of the house (cellphones, electronics, etc). I was able to claim on mine for sweat damage to an iPhone.

Matt

AppleCare covers only out of warranty failure. Verizon's Total Equipment Coverage protects your iPhone against loss, theft, water and other liquid damage, as well as, accidental damage and out of warranty defects. Nearly 50% of all cell phone claims are lost or stolen situations, so you’ll need that coverage to be fully protected. BTW, you can also make up to 2 claims within a 12-month period. The best part, you will receive a replacement phone next day in most cases. Learn more at http://bit.ly/VZWTEC.

A couple of points not covered in the responses thus far:

1) From my understanding, the iPhone battery can go through ~400 charging cycles before it starts to wear out. With AppleCare, battery replacement is covered. So, in theory, for $69.97 (What I paid for AppleCare at Verizon in Portland a week ago), over the two years I may get the battery replaced once or twice, under warranty. Through Apple, the replacement cost would be about $79. Right there AppleCare pays for itself.

2) According to the rep I work with at Verizon, the Asurion deductible for replacing an iPhone is $169. If you're not bothered by paying $10.99/month and knowing about the deductible, then go for it. However, the last phone I had replaced through Asurion (LG Dare) was essentially a refurbished product. And it was missing a couple pieces that came with my original phone. For me, in the end it didn't add up.

So I also did not sign up for either warranty repair coverage (AppleCare or Verizon) - and [of course] I promptly dropped my iPhone and cracked the front screen. I searched around a bit and found a company in Irvine California called "RepairZoom" that repairs broken iPhones. I mailed my iPhone to them for the repair and it actually worked out very well. I recommend them: http://www.repairzoom.com (But, truthfully, next time I would buy the Verizon iPhone damage repair warranty!!)

Who do you have as a carrier. State Farm will not cover iPhones.

http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

(also covers faculty).

Matt

Message was edited by: Matt Clifton