Apple Unveils AppleCare One for Multiple-Device Protection

[Laine.Lee]

Within a few minutes of updating from macOS 15.5 to 15.6, I received a message from Apple Support:
" Sign in to keep coverage
A new Apple Account has signed in to your MacBook Pro. To avoid losing AppleCare One coverage, you must sign in to the MacBook Pro with the Apple Account associated with your AppleCare One plan.

You have 24 hours from when this email was sent to sign in, or your MacBook Pro will be removed from your AppleCare One plan."

I was certainly unaware that anyone else had signed into my MacBook Pro, but I suspect the issue is related to the newness of AppleCare One and the update to 15.6. I have a support call lined up, so I’ll be trying to gather other details.

[david_tuma]

As I understand it, there is a problem with AppleCare One that didn’t exist with AppleCare+
I put both my wife’s and my apple devices on my Apple Care+ account.
The problem seems to occur with AppleCare One - when she now uses her MBP and it is signed into her Apple Account (which it always has been) there is a hiccup with AppleCare One.
They only want the devices on an AppleCare One account that are signed into the same Apple Account associated with the AppleCare One account. It didn’t seem to make a difference with AppleCare+
David

[tommy (Tommy Weir)]

I could see an argument for keeping this per user in that a single user is not as likely to have three high value devices as a family might.

I wonder if they might offer later a family plan set up like Apple One?

[aforkosh (Alan Forkosh)]

A Redditor has created a web app to figure out how to most optimally split Apple Care coverages for multiple devices between AppleCare One and individual contracts for specific devices. Youlist the devices to be covered and the app produces a monthly cost for using AppleCare One for all of them, covering each device independently, and also gives an optimal mix. There is also a selection for whether you will be paying annually if it is an option.

iCare — AppleCare Plan Calculator<

[Laine.Lee]

After I opened the support case regarding the incident, the responding Apple agent asked permission to schedule a support call. I was put on hold, then the agent came back and told me the specific time to expect the call, and stated that it would occur “later today”. It was after that that I reported my experience in this forum. Later, when I received an email confirmation about the scheduling of the support call, the appointment time appeared as two days later than the representative had originally stated, which meant that the support call would occur after the warranty removal time specified in the problematic warning message. There had been no indication from the agent during our previous communication that scheduling the appointment had not yet actually been done. After asking Apple about this discrepancy, I was told that the time (apparently delayed by two-days) was the first available on the schedule. In my opinion, if the agent had not actually scheduled the call by the time the agent gave me the call’s scheduled time, then the first communication about the scheduled call time (which concerned a time sensitive matter) was made to appear disingenuous by the appointment confirmation email. This constitutes precisely the sort of discrepancy that has had the effect of eroding my confidence in Apple support recently.

Because the notification had indicated that the MacBook Pro’s removal from warranty status would occur 24 hours later (before I was now to receive the scheduled support call), and because the alert in the AppleCare & Warranty system settings item had since stopped appearing by the time I received the call scheduling confirmation anyway, I chose to cancel the call.

Now it is days later, and the MacBook Pro is apparently still signed up for the warranty protection agreed upon when I adopted AppleCare One. That fact now makes the entire matter seem moot, except for my dissatisfaction about the way my complaint was managed by support.

[trilo]

As an Australian I’m clearly not going to be eligible for the new AppleCare One plans.

Despite this, it’s worth remembering many upper level credit cards offer additional warranty on items purchased with the card. The card I have even covers mobile phone insurance - including theft and major damage - for as long as you pay a monthly phone contract with the card.

It might be worth considering your credit card insurances when assessing the worth of AppleCare/One.

[Stephen1 (Stephen@RadicalLiberation.com)]

I came back here because I also got the “Sign in to keep coverage” email. I’ll wait it out like you suggest.

[david_tuma]

I got a similar message. I have had to split my wife’s devices and mine on 2 Apple One accounts. We have 3 devices each so that worked ok.

I was signed in with my MBP - signed out and signed in. Alert in system settings - Apple Care and Warranty for the MBP eventually went away.

Caused some additional work when I signed back in due to used of iCloud Drive.

David

[tommy (Tommy Weir)]

One other thing to note regarding AppleCare One, your device purchase needs to match your iCloud region. At least appears to. I realised i had two devices, an iPhone 16 pro and a recent iPad mini, on AppleCare+ and would save with the upgrade. But the only other device I could add was my AppleTV 4k, the rest were all either too old or purchased ‘out of region’ in Europe. Having AppleCare+ already purchased for those two devices seems to have bypassed this requirement, one purchased in Ireland, the other in Germany. So that maybe a workaround but I can’t swear to it.

This to my mind is new. As someone with a foot either side of the Atlantic, and who purchased equipment on both sides of it, frequently with AppleCare, I’ve never encountered this. So folks who purchase Apple Watches in Europe to get the Blood Oxygen app functionality but whose AppleID is US won’t be able to immediately add them to their AppleCare One plan. The rollout of the offer is currently limited of course, so there’s that, possibly it will change, but folks might try a standalone AppleCare plan for the watch and add it later, but can’t swear to that. Those two devices AppleCare+ plans predated my upgrade of one of them to AppleCare One. There may be a sweep of existing plans to add which happens first.

[ddmiller (Doug Miller)]

@tommy

One other thing to note regarding AppleCare One, your device purchase needs to match your iCloud region…

This to my mind is new…

As far as I know, this has always been the case. I did some searching and there are plenty of posts that confirm this. For example, see the reply here.

It’s one reason why I always travel internationally with a spare iPhone in case something happens to one of ours, rather than purchase a new device locally in the foreign country, because I always understood that an iPhone purchased in a foreign country meant that I had a warranty in that country only.

[jiclark]

I’ve read about the new option to cover three devices for $20, but just today they’ve started sending out notifications to all my devices about it.

I understand how it’s all supposed to work, but what I can’t find an answer to is the question of how it applies to those of us who are subscribed to the iPhone Upgrade Program, which includes AppleCare+ at no additional cost. Anyone gotten an answer about that?

I called Apple to ask directly this afternoon, but promptly got disconnected. Sigh… I’ll probably try again soon, but thought I should check to see if any of you wise ones had any info in the meantime.

Thanks!
John

[Halfsmoke]

I’ve been interested in how generative AI’s handle various questions. So I put your question into Perplexity (an “answer engine” that has been discussed on TBT). How do you rate its answer, assuming you’ve talked with Apple?

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-does-apple-care-one-apply-j.sRUm1hSkyFVM_mk2gG.Q

[tommy (Tommy Weir)]

Well it’s out of date. AppleCare One is available in Europe.

[tommy (Tommy Weir)]

My AppleCare One plan only covers my iPhone and iPad mini. The only other device I could add was my AppleTV. Not that I worried about that particularly. I’d much sooner have added my laptop or iPad Pro. After a day I received an email saying unless I logged into the AppleTV with my account it would be removed. Which it was… both my App Store ID and my personal iCloud. Anyway it booted the device off the list. If I pick up a new Mac Mini this year (fingers crossed) I’ll add that.

[ace (Adam Engst)]

@jiclark

I understand how it’s all supposed to work, but what I can’t find an answer to is the question of how it applies to those of us who are subscribed to the iPhone Upgrade Program, which includes AppleCare+ at no additional cost. Anyone gotten an answer about that?

The article addresses this—Dan Moren asked Apple:

For iPhone Upgrade Program subscribers, Dan Moren reports at Six Colors that you can still participate in AppleCare One by contacting Apple Support to unbundle your AppleCare+ coverage from the iPhone financing.

[ace (Adam Engst)]

@tommy

Well it’s out of date. AppleCare One is available in Europe.

Huh. In the announcement, Apple at least implied it was US-only to start. Did that change right away, or were there other announcements?

Starting tomorrow, customers in the U.S. can sign up for AppleCare One directly on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or by visiting their nearest Apple Store.

Apple introduces AppleCare One, streamlining coverage into a single plan

[jiclark]

@ace

For iPhone Upgrade Program subscribers, Dan Moren reports at Six Colors that you can still participate in AppleCare One by contacting Apple Support to unbundle your AppleCare+ coverage from the iPhone financing.

I can’t imagine this making sense for many folks, mostly due to the fact that it would pretty seriously detract from the value of the iPhone Upgrade Program. Am I missing something here?

[tommy (Tommy Weir)]

Argh. Apologies, the AppleCare One info page reads like it’s available. Once you choose your country from a dropdown, it adjusts. Nope, not available.

Forgive my confusion. I have a US iCloud account, the two devices were purchased in Europe put both under AppleCare+ at time of purchase via my iCloud account, so on setup, AppleCare One offered to take them in. Neither seems to have been a problem despite their purchase here. But my other recent devices, not under AppleCare+, were indicated as out of region bar my purchases in the US which were indicated as too old.

I tend to agree with John Siracusa, it’s a mess. Perhaps messy customers but also perhaps it’s just a bit of a mess. Why can’t I add my wife’s phone? Why can’t I add my daughter’s laptop? They should make it ‘Apple Family’ friendly for a start. The regional thing… well who knows, I wonder how even handed the handling of that is across the planet. Here in Ireland, long an Apple base for many reasons, there’s a friendly take on the support phone and I’ve never had an issue with my US purchases for example.

Why does a global company like Apple care about regional purchases? There’s that. If it’s under guarantee or a paid for support like AppleCare why make where it was purchased an issue?

I once had a Sony Clié I had to ship to California for repairs, paid a fortune to do it.

[jzw (Jolin)]

@ddmiller

I always understood that an iPhone purchased in a foreign country meant that I had a warranty in that country only.

That is not the case. Several times over decades (including recently) I have had warranty repairs on Apple products bought in another country. This is standard warranty, not AppleCare. So it may be that you have to purchase AppleCare from the same country that you purchased the device, but once a device is covered under Apple’s warranty, they will repair/replace it worldwide.

[jeff2 (Jeff W.)]

Thanks to @ace and to everyone who has contributed to this discussion.

Quick summary: If you have devices registered to AND logged into the same Apple Account, AND if you want AppleCare+ with Loss and Theft for them, AND if the total cost of separate AppleCare+ policies is more than AppleCare One (be sure to compare monthly totals and annual plans), then AppleCare One is worth considering.

Longer story:

I just had my first — and likely last — experience with AppleCare One and it was dreadful, resulting in five days of phone calls with six different people at AppleCare Support, and me losing the AppleCare+ (without Loss and Theft) coverage I had for my wife’s iPhone and ending paying more for AppleCare+ with Loss and Theft for her phone, outside of AppleCare One.

The first-round AppleCare+ on my iPhone expired and I was happy to renew, first annually. The AppleCare process on my phone pushed me to AppleCare One, and pushed even harder, over and over, to add my wife’s phone. It was cheaper to do so, so I did.

Then, three times a day for five days, I received vaguely threatening e-mails telling me I must change the Apple Account login on my wife’s phone, and her phone’s AppleCare was marked as “pending for 24 hours” for five days. She uses a different Apple Account than I do, although her phone is registered under my Apple Account (probably a remnant of when we shared our Apple Account ages ago).

I’ll spare you the ugly details of the often-contradictory, often-nonsensical interactions with AppleCare support, and just offer the warnings and suggestion:

• If you have AppleCare+ without Loss and Theft coverage, and if you give it up by joining AppleCare One or anything else, you can’t get it back, ever. It’s no longer offered by Apple, so even if Apple sells you AppleCare One you can’t use, and you try to undo it, you won’t be able to go back to the simpler version of AppleCare and will be forced to go to the only version now offered, with one with Theft and Loss.

• All of your devices under AppleCare One must be registered AND LOGGED INTO the same account. This is most definitely not a Family program.

• Unlike other Apple Support teams, who in my long experience range from good to amazingly excellent, the AppleCare team is inflexible about fixing what is clearly a mistake in the AppleCare One onboarding process, so don’t expect useful support. You know things are bad when they ask if you read the fine print (I replied that I only read the BIG PRINT on my small screen, which over and over boldly told me that I should add her phone to the plan, and even now is touting AppleCare One overall) and claim inflation is the reason for the price difference (it can’t be because we were on a monthly plan for her phone, so it was “current”), among other stalling tactics hoping I’d just hang up, pay the difference and go away.

I just had the battery in my phone replaced under AppleCare last week, and hers is due soon, so we are pretty happy having AppleCare for the time being. We don’t buy phones very often, so we re-upped for a year of each (slighly discounted from a monthly subscription). As I told her today at the end of all the unpleasantness with AppleCare support, “I don’t deeply mind the result — financially we ended up being out about $16, which I’ll swallow reluctantly. It was the process that hurt.”

Overall — if you have devices both registered to AND logged into the same Apple Account, AND if you want AppleCare+ with Loss and Theft for them, AND if the total cost of separate AppleCare+ policies is more than AppleCare One (be sure to compare monthly totals and annual plans), then AppleCare One is worth considering.

If ANY of those are not true, then beware. (Even if they are true, beware.). Apple is definitely not flexible on this and is showing no intent to accommodate and fix even its own mistakes.