Colour me impressed. My old iPhone 6 Plus 128GB, bought on launch day back in September 2014. It’s never had AppleCare purchased separately and despite being in decent cases it’s had a few knocks (not that you’d know as it looks pristine (thanks to those cases).
Repair 1:
In 2015 I dropped it and smashed the screen (first ever for me) and paid Apple to replace it. Luckily I have insurance for these things.
Replacement 1:
About a week shy of its 3rd birthday in 2017 it got touch disease. Back to Apple who replaced the whole phone this time for the cost of the screen as it’s a known issue. I was about to hand it down to my Son and was about to pay $129(?) for a new battery anyway so this wasn’t much more and gave him a totally new phone.
Repair 2:
Kids… Didn’t even make it 12 months and he’s managed to smash the screen. Back to Apple again for another new screen. Insurance again, really paid for itself last year with three smashed devices in the space of three weeks.
Replacement 2:
So the screen started playing up again over the last couple of weeks with weird lines, non-responsive to touch but different from the last touch disease. Back to Apple to see what’s what.
I was 50/50 on recycle vs repair again which leads to this thread.
The Genius I spoke to tell me that ACL covers me from the last replacement (09/17) for two years and the screen is covered for two years (05/18) so regardless of which is playing up, it’s likely to be covered as long as there is no physical damage (including water damage). Given it lives in an Otterbox, there was a safe bet it was all good. For the first time ever they wanted to send it away rather than dealing with it on the spot although they did offer a loan phone. Given we had a spare at home I declined, but it’s nice to know that was an option.
3 working days later I got an email telling me they were replacing it and I could pick it up from the Apple Store.
So today I picked it up, a shiny new (refurb I assume) iPhone 6 Plus 128GB Space Grey… in 2019. The Genius today was very clear in telling me I had 12 months Apple Care and 2 years under ACL from today. Which means my iPhone 6 has Apple Care and my iPhone 8 doesn’t which sort of blows my mind.
In the interim, my Son has nabbed his mothers iPhone 6S and despite the smaller size is loving the better camera and active wallpapers so the 6 has made its way back into its original box with its factory protecting plastic sheet untouched and is sitting as a NIB spare for now. The next child is due for a phone next year, although with my wife and I on alternating years of upgrade cycle, there is likely to be another option soon enough.
All of that is to say Kudos to Apple and their level of support to older hardware. It’s pretty amazing really.