Starting at $1,099, the iPhone XS Max is the most expensive smartphone Apple has ever sold. Therefore, its repair costs are greater than any iPhone as well, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: Apple devices are expensive, and repairing them is expensive as well. But when you put the numbers into perspective, they start to look especially ridiculous, as we discovered when we checked out Apple’s updated service repair pricing page.
Before we continue, it’s worth noting that AppleCare+ can significant reduce the cost of certain repairs, and is a smart purchase if you’re prone to dropping expensive devices. But if you don’t have AppleCare+ and your one year limited warranty has expired, Apple will charge you $599 to repair “other damage” on an iPhone XS Max.
Here’s the part where we put that into perspective. As of this week, Apple has lowered the price of 2017’s iPhone 8 to $599. In other words, if your phone breaks out of warranty, it would cost you the exact same amount, right down to the dollar, to buy a brand new iPhone 8. It gets even more ridiculous when you consider that the iPhone 7 (which is still a great phone two years later) now costs just $449. That’s $150 less than an iPhone XS Max repair.
Every iPhone comes with a warranty and AppleCare+ costs $9.99 a month for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, so there’s a good chance you won’t be confronted with a $600 bill. That said, the fact that it’s even possible is somewhat hard to believe. Even a screen repair out of warranty costs $329 for the XS Max.
