I’m not sure I like the new AppleCare Plans

Got this little notice saying the AppleCare on my phone was expiring and that I could renew it. 

“Okay, that’s neat,” I thought.

Then I checked out the plans. I can cover my phone for another $99 a year, billed yearly. There’s a monthly option as well.

Or I can cover 3 devices for $239 a year, billed yearly or $19 bucks a month.

These AppleCare plans are automatically renewing until cancelled.

But what if you have more than 3 devices? You can add them for an additional fee. 

The thing is, I don’t believe I’ve used AppleCare more than 2 or 3 times for an actual repair in decades. Mostly I keep AppleCare on one or more devices which covers my one call every two years (on average) to apple technical support.

AppleCare has always been expensive. But this seems really pricy. The AppleCare includes theft and loss coverage too, so it’s even more like insurance. But my homeowners policy also includes theft and loss. 

I’m not sure that this is a value, at least not for me. I tend to keep pretty tight reign on my stuff. I suppose if I was always in a high crime urban area where the likelihood of getting mugged was higher, it might be useful.

With the newer generation of Apple Watches and their gesture controls, there’s really no reason to have your phone out (exposed) while you’re walking in a public space. 

Apparently you can answer a phone call with a gesture. If you’re wearing newer AirPods you can set it up to answer or reject a phone call with a nod or shake of your head. Again your high ticket phone stays in your pocket.

The newer watches have phone capabilities directly built into them. So, for me the price seems a bit high since I’m not one of those people that walks around with my face glued to a screen. I tend to be looking around and keeping an eye on anyone approaching me. Even when wearing AirPods in a potentially crowded environment I turn off noise cancelling. I want to be able to potentially hear someone coming up behind me.

Even on my dog walks, I’ll wear AirPods if I’m not going through wooded areas. In wooded areas, typically I put the AirPods away, I don’t need music or podcasts playing that might distract me from the sound of a predators approach.

I suppose these days, most people call that paranoia. 

I call it proactively defending myself.

I’ll have to chat with my insurance agent to see exactly what the homeowners policy covers. I’m not sure the ROI on the AppleCare plans is high enough to justify the cost in my particular situation.