Sprint Looks At Three-Tier System For iPhone Service

Tweet

You heard here, just four days ago, from our own Chris Smith who told you how Sprint wouldn’t be offering up phone insurance any more, but rather an AppleCare+ alternative instead. Well, we’ve just got fresh word in today that expands on that a bit, and says that there will be three tiers of AppleCare+ service at Sprint, and they’re color-coded for your convenience, as well as determining just how much you’ll pay for your repairs with an AppleCare+ plan.

The new service procedures, reportedly spelled out by a Sprint employee, describes the levels at which you’ll pay under the service. While the subscription itself is $99, you may also find yourself shelling out more based on the severity of the damage and thus the intensity of the repair needed. First is, not surprisingly, green. Green level repairs will be done for the first year for all customers, and if you purchase AppleCare+, you’ll get free green-level repairs for a full two years.

The next level is yellow, and this is said to be reserved for repairs stronger than green, yet the phone is workable. You’ll get two of those over the lifetime of the contract, regardless of warranty level, and while non-subscribers will shell out $199 for yellow repairs, those with AppleCare+ will pay $49, so there’s a pretty substantial savings right there.

Red level repairs, meanwhile, are limited to those things that essentially reduce your iPhone 4S to the “blunt-object” level, and will require full replacement cost be paid.

According to reports, though, none of these repairs will be handled at Sprint stores, but rather will happen at Apple proper; you’d only be starting the whole process out at Sprint. Based on these reports, though, AppleCare+ doesn’t exactly look like a great option. But what do you think here? Is it worth paying $99 at the outset to get free simple repairs and save $200 on two particularly complex repairs? Or would you sooner save your money and take your chances, possibly with the help of a particularly robust iPhone case? No matter how you feel about this one, we want to hear from you, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think!