Good news for everyone who has a smash-prone life-style and an iPhone without AppleCare protection. Apple has reportedly begun replacing anyone's broken iPhone 5 screens at Apple Stores at a surprisingly competitive price.
According to AppleInsider, this change is just part of several rumored alterations to the company's AppleCare policy, which are expected to bring the Apple Store into a larger role for repairing Apple's products. The new iPhone 5 repair package, priced at $149, was reported first by Macrumors, who heard from a tipster Monday that the new in-store repair policy had been implemented.
For $149, Apple representatives will replace your broken iPhone 5 screen, instead of replacing the entire iPhone, which previously cost $229. Reportedly, this was leaked on a third-party iPhone repair website forum, Quick iFix, which prompted the company to lower their cracked-display repair cost from $175 in early May to $140. So this is good news across the board, as repairs for the frequently-smashed iPhone screens may get cheaper no matter where you go.
A more comprehensive repair policy is expected from Apple in July, with possible in-house repairs of iPhone cameras, sleep buttons and logic boards, according to Macrumors. Apple is likely to reconfigure or change the AppleCare pricing plan to fit the more comprehensive Apple computing line-up that many people buy. The new system may be a customizable plan for each customer that would cover every Apple device the customer owns — much like a comprehensive insurance plan — instead of having customers buy AppleCare on a product by product basis.
Also, according to AppleInsider, instead of the 90 days of free Apple phone support with a new product, the new AppleCare would offer at least a year of support, if not more. All of these roll-outs are still rumored, but could possibly come into effect within a month or two, saving both Apple and customers money and hassle.
Keep checking with us for more information as it becomes available.