Apple's Three Clocks: 14 Days to Return, 60 Days for AppleCare+, One Year of Warranty
A new iPhone starts three timers the day it arrives. Here is what each one covers, the 14-day price-drop refund most buyers never claim, and what Apple's one-year warranty quietly excludes.
The new iPhone is out of the box, the case is on, and three clocks have already started. One gives you 14 days to change your mind. One gives you 60 days to decide about AppleCare+. The third runs a full year and covers defects, though not the kind of damage that most often ends a phone's life. Apple documents all three in different places. This guide puts them on one page.
Heads up
Apple's return, warranty, and AppleCare terms differ by country and change with each product cycle. This guide reflects Apple's published US terms as of the date above. Confirm current terms on apple.com before you rely on them, and remember that phones bought from a carrier or another retailer follow that seller's return policy.
Clock One: 14 Days, From Delivery, Apple-Bought Only
Apple's returns and refunds policy gives you 14 calendar days from the date you received the item to return it, whether you bought online or at an Apple Store. The item has to go back repackaged with the cords, adapters, and documentation that came with it. Online orders can be returned by mail through your order page or carried into any Apple Store.
Two conditions catch people. First, only products bought directly from Apple can be returned to Apple. An iPhone bought at Target, Best Buy, or a carrier store follows that retailer's rules, and those are often tighter; our guide to Target's electronics return exceptions shows how different the clocks can be. Second, returning an iPhone or cellular iPad does not cancel the wireless plan attached to it. That is a separate call to the carrier, and any activation or early-termination fees are yours.
A short list of items cannot be returned at all: opened software, electronic downloads, software upgrades, Apple gift cards, and Apple Developer products. Software with a printed license can still go back if the seal is unbroken.
The 14-Day Price Drop Refund
Buried in the same policy is a perk that costs nothing to use. If Apple reduces the price of an Apple-branded product within 14 calendar days of the date you received it, you can ask for a refund or credit of the difference at an Apple Store or by calling Retail Customer Care. The request has to come within 14 days of the price change. Limited-time reductions and special sales events, Black Friday included, do not count, but a permanent price cut after a product launch does. Anyone who buys in the weeks before a September or October Apple event should put a reminder in the calendar.
Track this kind of thing
Stop losing money to deadlines you didn't know existed.
HeresNext maps the manufacturer warranty, return window, credit-card extension, retailer perks, and any third-party plan on every purchase. Quiet email a few days before any window closes.
Join the waitlistClock Two: The One-Year Limited Warranty
Every Apple-branded product carries Apple's One Year Limited Warranty, which covers defects in materials and workmanship for one year from the date of original retail purchase. The remedy is Apple's choice of repair, replacement, or refund, and a replacement part or product carries the remaining term or 90 days, whichever is longer.
What the warranty does not cover is the longer list, and it is where most declined claims live:
- Consumable parts such as batteries, unless the failure is a defect rather than normal decline
- Cosmetic damage: scratches, dents, and broken plastic on ports
- Damage from accidents, abuse, misuse, fire, liquid contact, or other external causes
- Damage from third-party accessories that do not meet Apple's specifications
- Service or modifications by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider
- Normal wear and tear, a removed serial number, or a device reported stolen or still locked with a passcode
Apple's warranty overview adds one line worth knowing: the warranty's benefits are in addition to the rights consumer protection law gives you in your country or state, including the implied warranty covered in our manufacturer warranty basics. The exclusions above are the same categories that trip up owners of every brand, and our guide to what voids a manufacturer warranty explains where the lines are drawn.
Clock Three: 60 Days to Decide on AppleCare+
Everything the warranty excludes is what AppleCare+ sells. Apple's AppleCare page describes unlimited repairs for accidental damage such as drops and spills, with a flat service fee per incident, plus battery replacement at no charge once capacity drops below 80 percent and priority support. AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss adds up to two replacement claims in any 12 months for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
| What happened | Under the one-year warranty | Under AppleCare+ (iPhone) |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked screen or back glass | Not covered (accident) | Covered, $29 service fee |
| Liquid damage or other accident | Not covered | Covered, $99 service fee |
| Lost or stolen | Not covered | Covered with Theft and Loss, $149 fee, up to 2 claims per 12 months |
| Battery below 80 percent capacity | Only if defective | Replaced at no extra charge |
| Manufacturing defect | Covered for one year | Covered while the plan is active |
The decision has a deadline. Apple says you can add a plan when you buy, or for 60 days after a new Apple purchase through the Settings app on the device. Plans are now priced monthly or annually and run until cancelled rather than for a fixed two years. Apple also sells AppleCare One, which covers up to three products for $19.99 a month (each additional product $5.99) or an entire Family Sharing group for $49.99 a month, with three or six theft-and-loss claims a year respectively.
Whether any of it is worth the money depends on what already covers you. Many credit cards extend the one-year warranty and some include cell-phone protection, and a later guide in this series compares AppleCare+ directly against those benefits. The 60-day window is what makes the comparison possible: buy the phone, check the card, then decide.
A Buyer's Checklist for a New Apple Product
- Keep the box and everything in it for 14 days. A return has to include the cords, adapters, and paperwork.
- Set a price-check reminder for day 14. A permanent price cut within that window is refundable on request.
- Buy from Apple if you might return it. Retailers and carriers set their own, usually shorter, windows.
- Photograph the receipt. The one-year warranty runs from the original retail purchase date, and the receipt is the proof.
- Decide on AppleCare+ by day 60. Check your credit card's extended warranty and phone protection first, then buy the plan only for the gaps.
- Cancel the carrier plan yourself. Returning the phone does not do it.
Three clocks, three deadlines, and each one is written down. Put them in the calendar the day the box arrives and the fine print stops being a surprise.