Oliver Haslam on August 18, 2020, 9:43 pm

AppleCare+ Can Now Be Bought Up To A Year After Initial Purchase In US And Canada

Apple is extending the amount of time people have to buy AppleCare+ after picking up a new device, according to a Bloomberg report.

Before today customers only had 60 days after a device’s initial purchase to buy AppleCare+. But that’s all changing in the United States and Canada, with buyers given up to a year.

Bloomberg doesn’t make it clear whether this is for all AppleCare+ plans from now on, or whether it only applied to iPhones. However, the news was reportedly shared with Apple employees yesterday.

“This gives customers another opportunity to protect their device and have access to all the AppleCare+ benefits,” Apple wrote in a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The company told employees the offer is available to customers who pay for AppleCare+ in full versus monthly payments, or for those that subscribe via installments on the Apple Card credit card.

Apple will require customers to have their devices checked by Apple to ensure there is no damage or any fault before AppleCare+ can be taken out. That is presumably to ensure nobody can buy AppleCare+ after damaging their device in order to get a cheap repair.

The new year-long window is likely a play to try and increase Apple’s services revenue, with buyers now more able to spread the cost of AppleCare+, something that can run into the hundreds of dollars depending on the item being covered.