Apple's new insurance bundle

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I have a sneaky confession to make.

A few years ago, after just exiting an Apple store with a brand-new iPhone, I immediately dropped my new handset on the sidewalk.

Like a slice of freshly peanut-buttered toast, it landed perfectly face down.

Dreading the worst, my suspicions were confirmed: The screen was cracked.

I was flabbergasted for three reasons:

1. I couldn’t believe my first touch was a fumble.

2. I was literally just about to put a case on it.

3. The iPhone landed flawlessly face down on a tiny pebble — the only piece of grit on an otherwise spotless sidewalk.

Here’s the sneaky part: I immediately bought AppleCare — Apple’s insurance program that’s available for 60 days after the initial purchase.

I waited a week or two, and then filed a claim for the broken screen, which ended up costing about $30. The repair would have cost several hundred dollars without Apple’s insurance. Even with the expense of AppleCare, it still ended up cheaper than if I’d had to pay out-of-pocket.

This is the first thing I thought of when reading about AppleCare One, Apple’s new insurance program that covers up to three Apple devices for $19.99 per month — and they can be up to four years old!

‘Apple’s gonna be repairing a lot of cracked screens,’ I thought to myself. But then I looked at the fine print — and Apple may have already thought of this. See our post.

Either way, AppleCare One looks like a great insurance program if you have more than one Apple device, especially for portable products like AirPods, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, which tend to get bashed about. It covers loss and theft too. Here’s everything you need to know.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• The death of Liquid Glass in iOS 26 has been greatly exaggerated. It’s back in beta 4!

• Here’s an interesting rumor about Apple’s folding iPhone — one that makes me even more curious about the device, frankly.

• The amount of work that went into making this iPhone case that adds USB-C charging to older iPhones with Lightning. Why not just get a cheap adapter?

• Check out these e-learning courses from our partner StackSocial. There’s some great courses here for just $19.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

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