In a video this week to retail store employees, AppleCare chief Tara Bunch has outlined some changes coming to the company’s AppleCare+ program for the iPhone and iPad. In the video, Bunch and an associate in charge of AppleCare+ say that the service will now become simpler to add for international customers. For example, if a Hong Kong resident travels to the United States, purchases an iPhone or iPad, and adds AppleCare+ to their purchase, their new device will become automatically registered with AppleCare+ in their home country…
As of fall 2013, AppleCare+ became available to international travelers outside of the country of the protection plan’s origin, but the process of transferring an AppleCare+ plan to a home country from the country in which the plan was purchased was not standardized. According to the Apple executives, the process of purchasing an AppleCare+ plan outside of Europe and then returning to European countries will not be automated due to insurance and government restrictions in the region. Users will have to call AppleCare in Europe to transfer or re-enable their plan.
Bunch also stated that AppleCare+ will be expanding “as soon as [Apple] can” to a trio of new countries: Spain, Brazil, and Turkey. Currently, AppleCare+ is available to purchase in Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as listed on Apple’s official support website. The three future countries will likely gain support for the simplified AppleCare+ region transfer process when AppleCare+ purchases officially become available.
Launched in 2011, AppleCare+ provides accidental damage support for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch owners. For example, the iPhone plan costs $99, extends AppleCare support coverage to two years, and allows users to accidentally damage their iPhone twice and get a replacement unit for $79. Apple also recently debuted AppleCare+ plans for joint iPhone/Apple Watch purchases. Bunch called the attachment rate, or rate at which customers were purchasing the extended warranty with new devices, “blow-away” in her announcement. In earlier messages to employees, executives said that the company is considering to further expand the AppleCare+ service to cover Macs, which would bring accidental coverage to the notebook and desktop hardware for the first time.
