Does APPLECARE+ worth it?

Have you ever dropped and broken anything? More than once?

Buy AppleCare +

APP+ is pretty nice. The base services are 1 year hardware warranty and 90 days (3 mo) of free phone support. APP gives an extra year hardware coverage, so if there's some sort of defect, you can get your phone replaced. This only covers defects, not accidental damage.

APP+ however does give you two incidences of accidental damage replacement for $79. So if you drop your phone and break it, it's only going to cost $79 to get it replaced. When you consider an iPhone 5 is normally $229 to replace for accidental damage, that's a nice discount.

You also get a full two years of phone support so you can call in if you need tech assistance fixing something or learning how to do something. Most carrier insurance plans are per month, so in my mind, a one-time payment for $99 is pretty affordable, and worth it for expensive pieces of hardware.

If you want to read the specifics you can find them here: http://www.apple.com/support/products/

It's difficult to answer that out of context - your context.

From an insurance perspective, you are betting that the phone will break during the life of the AppleCare+ contract, and Apple is betting that it won't. Whose bet is better? Apple clearly believes that the phone will not need repairs in those 2 years; if a lot of phones did they would lose money on AppleCare+.

For you to think about:

1. Will you really keep the phone for 2 years, or will you want a new one in 12-18 months?
2. How likely are you to drop it or get it wet in those 2 years?
3. How likely are you going to need telephone support for the phone past 90 days?

Having said all of that, my phone's SLEEP switch broke after 20 months. So my AppleCare+ was valuable for me, as I got a replacement for free that otherwise would have cost me $199. I only paid $99 for the AppleCare+. So I'm $100 ahead.

I'm just old and grumpy. A much better discount on damage is available if you're not daft enough to damage it.

Don't keep the phone in a hip pocket (is it really comfortable to sit on it? And how does it get from here to down the toilet?)

Keep the phone in the same pocket as your hand, or the pocket with a zip.

Don't place the phone on any surface which includes a container of any liquid.

Don't wave the phone about in rain or steam

Never leave the phone on any surface where others can see it and you cannot.

Technical support? There's here, and there's Google. The Apple guy at the end of the phone has not yet memorised all the help that is out there.

(Oh dear... I wonder if I get away with this post.....)