No matter how careful you are with your iPhone or what kind of protective case you have on it, accidents do happen. Chances are good that there will come a day when you’ll need to decide whether you should have to fix a problem with your iPhone or if you should just bite the bullet and upgrade to a newer model.
If it has been less than one year since you purchased your iPhone, it should still be under warranty. You can take it to an Apple Store or ship it back to Apple for repair, although the latter route will likely take five or more business days for your phone to get back to you. If you opted for an extended Apple warranty when you purchased your iPhone, you will have extended coverage time to have the manufacturer repair your phone for a nominal fee.
On the other hand, if your warranty has expired and you did not purchase the extended plan, you have an entirely different situation to evaluate. If the repair is relatively minor—such as replacing the screen or battery—the cost of the repair should be much easier to swallow than purchasing a brand-new iPhone. If the repair could potentially be more than the phone is actually worth, you might want to consider upgrading to a new phone.
This is not to say you need to buy the latest model on the market. Visit the carrier store where you originally purchased your phone. See what models they still have available and decide if you can forgo some of the newer features to minimize the out-of-pocket expense you will incur for the purchase of a new but later model phone (most of the larger carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile offer plans to break the expense into monthly payments).
Another option is to visit an independent repair facility. These are great alternatives to making an appointment at an Apple Store or shipping your phone back to the manufacturer for an iPhone repair. In addition to being able to offer quality service, more convenient locations, and competitive pricing on repairs, these facilities often also have refurbished phones you can purchase. Since independent stores also service older model phones and they can use parts from other phones, in many cases, they will allow you to trade in your older phone—broken or undamaged—toward the purchase of a refurbished model.
If your phone is currently undamaged, take good care of it. If the time ever comes to have it serviced, consult with an independent repair facility to get a price quote on the repair. Then you can decide if your best course of action is to have it fixed, trade it in, or purchase a new phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment