A bit like cars: getting behind the wheel of a BMW, a Mercedes or an Audi is not impossible. By deferring the invoice over time, what for some is a dream can turn into reality, and the possibilities grow if you turn to the second-hand market where a German with more than a few years on her shoulders and a “loaded” speedometer can come away at the price of a Fiat Panda or a Dacia Sandero. In short, the purchase is not a stumbling block. The grits come when something breaks and the car has to be put back in place.
The same goes for the new, precious, Apple Watch Ultra from 1,009 euros of price list in Italy. Pre-orders on Amazon started a few minutes ago: the price is still the list price, therefore prohibitive for many, but with the purchase in installments of Amazon the purchase is deferred and the operation becomes more feasible (200 euros and slices per month for 5 months). The point, like a premium car, is whether something should go wrong. Any out-of-warranty repair on the Apple Watch Ultra costs – sit down – 619 euros, 61% of its list price.
Already a few weeks or months after the purchase, in short, the doubt will arise whether to remedy any damage, even trivial, it is better to entrust it to Apple technicians or buy it new, considering that the price, sooner or later and especially on Amazon, will face a physiological drop, even minimal.
The only intervention that requires a greatly lower outlay concerns the battery, which in any case has a higher price than what any other Apple Watch has ever requested so far: they make 129 euros, instead of the 99 euros necessary for the same intervention on any Apple Watch Series 8 or previous generation.
There is no doubt that the prices, exorbitant in absolute terms, if put in relation to the Series range of Apple Watch are justified by the hardware and construction differences of the most precious watch ever made by Apple, without bothering the Editions. There is the titanium case for example, or even the largest battery ever used on a Watch that explains the extra 30 euros on the replacement.
Moreover, on closer inspection, the 619 euros required for the repair of an Ultra are also few in relation to the list price. The same type of intervention on an Apple Watch Series 8 only GPS 45 mm and 549 euros requires 359 euros, that is, over 65% of the price from new so it has a greater impact than the 61% calculated on Ultra, and we are more or less on the same percentages for the other models.
APPLE WATCH, BETTER WITH THE APPLECARE+ PARACHUTE
Ultimately, in short, the investment required for the AppleCare+ accessory warranty in the case of the Apple Watch, which is a device inherently more at risk than others because it is constantly exposed in an area of the body that can often be bumped, seems like a bargain. Two years of AppleCare+ coverage in addition to those provided by the legal guarantee currently cost in Italy:
The policy can be purchased together with Apple Watch or within 60 days from the date of purchase in the same way explained yesterday for AppleCare+ for iPhone:
online (you are asked to verify the serial number and perform an automatic diagnosis);
by calling 800 915 904 (an automatic diagnosis and proof of purchase are requested).
In this way you are protected from pharaonic disbursements for accidental damage by paying “only” 65 euros of deductible that become 75 euros in the case of Watch Ultra (+ Edition and Hermès). In other words, an intervention for accidental damage on Ultra (as for iPhone are no longer two per year but unlimited) costs 88% less than the asking price to those without AppleCare + and 93% less than the purchase of a new Watch Ultra at the list price.
The problem, perhaps, is that AppleCare+ only lasts two years.
