Apple “charges as much as $229 to replace an iPhone 5 with a broken screen. That’s more than the $200 price of the device with a two-year contract, and more than a third of the $650 cost of the phone without a contract,” Quentin Fottrell reports for MarketWatch. “Select Apple stores offer the option of a $149 repair. And for those who paid $99 for AppleCare insurance, the replacement is just $49.”
“The replacement components for the iPhone 5 are much more expensive than similar parts for prior models — so expensive in fact that many independent repair services cannot compete,” Fottrell reports. “‘Due to the high cost of replacement parts, we are not yet offering iPhone 5 repairs,’ according to a statement on ComputerOverhauls.com, an online repair shop. ‘Currently, the Apple Store is the least expensive option for repairing damaged iPhone 5s.’ Other services charge as much as $250 for the repair.”
Fottrell reports, “Replacing an iPhone 5 screen takes 5 to 10 minutes and is easier to fix than the 4, says AJ Forsythe, founder of iCracked, a repair service for iGadgets… Despite this, iCracked — an independent firm that has technicians across the U.S. — charges twice as much to fix an iPhone 4S screen ($79 to $99) as to fix an iPhone 5 ($169 to $199). Why? There is a tight control on iPhone 5 components in the market, Forsythe says. ‘Market forces determine the price,’ he says. ‘Apple sells about 300,000 iPhones a day and, as the repair market grows, prices will get lower.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If you’re prone to breaking your iPhone, it seems like AppleCare is a no-brainer.
It implies Apple margin profit improved .
MacDailyNews Take: “If you’re prone to breaking your iPhone, it seems like AppleCare is a no-brainer.”
—
A protective case with screen protector sounds like the first no-brainer. Just a screen protector isn’t as effective against certain side/edge impacts.
Sure it ruins a bit of the iPhone’s aesthetics, but I guarantee that giant cracks on the screen ruin it more. And it can cut you, as a friend with a cracked-glass iPhone found out.
“Fottrell reports, “Replacing an iPhone 5 screen takes 5 to 10 minutes and is easier to fix than the 4, says AJ Forsythe, founder of iCracked, a repair service for iGadgets… Despite this, iCracked — an independent firm that has technicians across the U.S. — charges twice as much to fix an iPhone 4S screen ($79 to $99) as to fix an iPhone 5 ($169 to $199). ”
Am I completely misreading this or is the writer confused about the point he is trying to support?
iCracked cost to repair iPhone 4S $79 to $99
iCracked cost to repair iPhone 5 $169 to $199
The first range of numbers is not twice the second number. There is definitely a need for better editors in the blogosphere.
$169 is over 2x $79.
$199 is approx 2x $99, but technically still more than 2x.
By rounding DOWN to 2x, Fottrell is actually understating how much more an iPhone 5 repair cost from iCracked can be.
You missed quivran’s point… The article said, “(iCracked) charges twice as much to fix an iPhone 4S screen ($79 to $99) as to fix an iPhone 5 ($169 to $199).”
That quote literally reads that fixing an iPhone 4s costs twice as much as fixing an iPhone 5, and that $79-99 is twice as much as $169-199, so it’s exactly backwards. That was the source of quiviran’s suggestion that the blogosphere needs better editors, a point with which I completely concur.
Ah ok. I think I’m too used to mentally compensating for atrocious writing online (whether it be reader comments, blogs or traditional media), so I get at the meaning even if it’s not literally correct.
I do that a lot. Sometimes it just jumps out at me.
My son and I have not cracked our iPhone 5’s (that’s 5’s not 5s)
. . . and we have not broken the new ear pods. A record for us.
Either they are better made, or we have learned to avoid the bad habits that broke our previous items.
Yea. I will get Apple care for my iPhone 5S/6.
Cool!
About time.
I expected this would come about eventually.
What is an iPhone?