Apple just turned AppleCare+ into a monthly subscription – Here’s everything you need to know

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Apple just added a new way to pay for AppleCare+ – monthly fees that can go on indefinitely. Spotted in the new AppleCare+ legal document by a 9to5Mac reader, the new monthly plans don’t have a set end date, extending your AppleCare+ warranty until you cancel or Apple runs out of parts to repair your device.

That’s a tempting offer, especially with the new prices of the Apple Watch Series 5…

You can now keep on paying for AppleCare+ forever…

It’s been a year since Apple allowed buyers of iPads, iPhones or Apple Watches to enroll in AppleCare+, which was previously limited to Macs and other devices. At the time, purchasers could buy plans for two years or three years. Now, Apple is rolling out a new way to enroll, with a monthly subscription that ends when you want it to, not after a set time.

• Monthly AppleCare+ plans renew indefinitely, unless you or Apple cancel them. Apple says it won’t cancel unless “Apple is no longer able to service your Covered Equipment due to the unavailability of service parts”
• The monthly plans apply to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
• Lump-sum, paid-in-advance AppleCare+ is offered with iMac, MacBook, Apple TV, headphones, and other things in Apple’s storefront

Does this make it seem like Apple is about to offer its own cell service down the road? Google’s Fi carrier has a monthly protection plan which is very similar to AppleCare+. Then again, it could just be Apple trying to scrape revenue from everything else, since its iPhone sales have been slowing for years.

What do you think? Glad to see this coming to more products in a monthly subscription model? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Apple’s top-spec iPhone 11 Pro Max costs more than this used Buick
• Play Pass, Google’s answer to Apple Arcade, is officially on the way
• Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro introduces new camera technology and native video editing tools
• Apple Arcade finally gets a confirmed release date and price point

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.