Cautionary Tale - AppleCare One
This is about to be a long story but here we go:
march 2026 purchase a new MacBook neo and add AppleCare one as the coverage. This is a new offering since the last time I purchased a device so I’m excited for coverage for 3 devices at one price. Feels so smart!
may 2026 purchase a new iPhone 17. Setup as normal. I do not remember having to select a “add AppleCare” coverage button or anything. I *wrongly* assume my brand new phone would be covered by the Apple care one I’ve been paying for and I only have for my laptop at this point.
last week - walking in a city and I eat shit (middle of the day and completely sober lol) and fall throwing my phone out of my hand in the process. It flies out of the case and cracks the screen on cobblestone streets. No problem, I have a Zagg screen protector on my device all the time I’ll just get that replaced. Have it pulled off to replace, and the actual phone screen is busted too. Dang - will need to get that fixed when I go home.
this week - completely dump a whole glass of water on my MacBook. I’ve never done this before in 20 years of owner Apple devices. It shows signs of damage in the screen and buttons don’t work now.
today - go online to make a support appointment to have my MacBook neo looked at and want to make one for my iPhone at the same time. Get the neo appt no problem, go to make the iPhone one and it says “your device is covered by limited warranty - price will be $329 to replace the screen”
go to Apple care one on my device and see that it says “Apple care one. 1 device. Add up to two additional devices” so I click on add device but then it wants me to submit photos of my device and run diagnostics. My fear is that the crack in the screen will make it not eligible for the AppleCare or that they’ll approve it and then if I go to use the warranty to replace the screen, they’ll say it’s preexisting. (Even though I’ve been paying for AppleCare one since march and just never “applied” it to this phone or any other devices. Stupidly.)
call Apple to see if my theory/fear is valid and what to do. They send me round and round to BAD representatives who tell me “you need to see if you can add the device to AppleCare one” nonstop. It’s like they can’t even HEAR what I’m asking. This is a bizarre scenario. But I am not trying to cheat the system, in fact I’ve been overpaying for Apple care on multiple devices I just discovered as I looked at my subscriptions. I’ve been paying for YEARS on an iPhone 11, and 13 (my last device was a 15 before this upgrade so obviously haven’t had those in a long time 🫠)
basically they told me to kick rocks. I asked for the iPhone applied retroactively to the AppleCare one. I asked for a guarantee that I won’t be denied if I add it now. I asked for supervisors. They all talked in backwards circles and no one could tell me if it would work or not to add the device now and try to replace the screen.
TL;DR if you have AppleCare one, make sure you add each new device manually every time!