iPhone 4S Release Date: No More Free Replacement iPhones Under AppleCare+

The release of Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S is just days away and the company has updated its AppleCare program in accordance with the new hardware.

The AppleCare + extended warranty program has now been launched, especially for iPhones.

The warranty supports two years of coverage for all generations of the iPhone, as well as renewed coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage.

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AppleCare + sells for $99 and must be bought at the time of the product’s purchase, according to Apple. Any incidents reported under AppleCare + will also incur a $49 service fee.

The original AppleCare program sells for $69 and can be bought at any time while the initial one-year limited warranty is still active.

While AppleCare is no longer in place for the iPhone, it remains the warranty plan for all other Apple products.

MacRumors reports that other restrictions have been implemented for AppleCare +.

Now, with AppleCare + in place, Genius Bar staff can no longer wave the $199 out-of-warranty replacement fee for damaged iPhones.

A source at an Apple retail store told MacRumors that this was often done as a “one-time exception.”

Many questions have also arisen concerning the restrictions of AppleCare +.

While Apple details that the warranty must be bought at the same time as an iPhone purchase, many customers have already unknowingly pre-ordered the iPhone 4S without AppleCare +.

Customers have been getting conflicting reports from Apple store associates about what to do if they have purchased their iPhone 4S without AppleCare +.

While some say customers can contact Apple’s phone hotline to resolve the issue, others say that customers can bring their unopened iPhone 4S into an Apple store to have AppleCare + added to the device.

MacRumor’s Apple source has divulged that in the event that an iPhone bought without AppleCare + is damaged, the customer can buy the warranty for a replacement phone and receive a $50 discount on the $199 replacement fee.