Mac users in Malaysia must have long known about the existence of the AppleCare+ plan, which is an additional warranty that ensures that when a MacBook experiences keyboard problems, broken screen issues, and others can be repaired at an affordable price. Since January last year, the AppleCare offering has been expanded to iPhone, AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch and others.
So far, AppleCare has offered a method of purchasing an additional warranty on a prepaid basis, either for 2 years or 3 years. It is offered in physical stores and also online. According to a report by Mark Gurman, this may change starting this week – where AppleCare+ will be offered in the form of a subscription plan. It may be a monthly or annual subscription plan.
At the same time, the 2-year to 3-year AppleCare+ prepaid pack will still be sold but limited to online only. For now, there is still no news about the price. AppleCare+ in Malaysia is sold at a price starting at RM69 for two years. It's the cheapest for the HomePod Mini, and can go up to RM2,299 for 3 years for select Mac products and monitors.
It's not clear if the change to offering AppleCare+ as a subscription plan is a good thing or another way Apple is trapping users in their ecosystem to make it harder to escape. In any case, buying an additional warranty separately is haram according to the Selangor Mufti.