Apple increases AppleCare+ costs for Plus iPhones from $129 to $149, and iPhone X to $199
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second AppleCare+ price bump in two years: back in 2015 Apple raised coverage to $129 alongside a $99 service fee for the iPhone 6s generation (that earlier hike set the current baseline). Today's move pushes Plus models to $149 and introduces a new top tier at $199 for the iPhone X.
The tiering matters because Apple has priced the X's repairs at a premium — a [[a:923522|$279 screen replacement versus $169 for the iPhone 8 Plus, and $549 for other out-of-warranty fixes]]. A $199 plan is being positioned against the most expensive repair bill Apple has ever attached to an iPhone.
First-order effects
- Buyers of Plus-size and iPhone X devices face a $20–$70 higher upfront cost for coverage than the previous generation paid, with the X carrying its own premium tier.
Second-order effects
- The steeper out-of-warranty repair prices make the pricier plans relatively more attractive — Apple is raising both the insurance premium and the uninsured risk at once, nudging attach rates upward rather than simply collecting more per policyholder.
Third-order effects
- If each flagship generation resets AppleCare+ pricing upward, AppleCare shifts from a flat accessory SKU toward a device-tiered recurring revenue line whose price scales with repair economics — a structure that also gives Apple a lever to steer customers toward its own service network over third-party repair.
The trend: Apple is converting device protection from a one-price add-on into a tiered, generationally repriced subscription that tracks the rising repair cost of each flagship.