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Apple Hardware · Coverage Record

Check Apple Warranty and AppleCare Cover

Cover is part of what an Apple device is worth and the part nobody can see by looking at it. Enter a serial number or IMEI to read the position on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV or HomePod: how much warranty is left, whether AppleCare+ is attached, and whether Apple will still take the thing in for service.

Dial *#06# on the handset to display its IMEI.

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The Mechanics

Cover Belongs to the Device, Not the Owner

Every piece of Apple hardware — iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, HomePod — leaves the shop under Apple's one-year limited warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Two things about that year are easy to get wrong. It is dated from the original retail sale rather than from the day the current owner picked the device up, and it stays attached to the hardware when that hardware changes hands.

AppleCare+ is what sits on top, if anyone bought it: up to two further years of hardware cover, and accidental damage that the standard warranty will not look at — usually two incidents in any 12 months, each with a service fee attached. Some regions also sell a Theft and Loss version, adding two replacement claims a year, which is worth precisely nothing unless Find My was switched on before the device went missing.

Because cover follows the hardware rather than the Apple ID, a second-hand device arrives carrying whatever the first owner paid for. That cuts both ways. The good version is inheriting a year and a half of AppleCare+ you never bought. The other version is paying a price that quietly assumed cover which lapsed last spring, or taking on a plan whose accidental damage claims have already been spent for the current window. The moment before the money moves is the only moment you can do anything about which version you have.

What the Record Gives You

Purchase Date The first sale Apple holds on record
Warranty Expiry The day the standard year runs out
AppleCare+ Status Running, lapsed, or never taken out
AppleCare+ Expiry The end date, where a plan is still running
Service Eligibility Whether Apple will accept the device today
Coverage Type Hardware only, hardware plus accidents, or nothing left
Region of Sale The market it was first registered in
Per Product

How Far Cover Can Be Extended

The free year is the same whatever you buy. What changes from product to product is how far AppleCare+ can push it and what that costs, so read the line for the thing actually in front of you.

iPhone
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: up to 2 years in total

Accidental damage arrives with AppleCare+; the Theft & Loss variant only in some regions.

iPad
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: up to 2 years in total

The iPad plan takes in the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil too.

Mac
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: up to 3 years in total

The Mac plan carries unlimited chat support, around the clock.

Apple Watch
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: up to 2 years in total

Hermès and Edition models go on the same plan as any other Watch.

AirPods
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: 2 years in total

Each earbud counts separately, as do the case and accessories.

Apple TV / HomePod
Standard: 1 year
AppleCare+: 2 years in total

Rarely bought for these, but the plan does exist.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How is AppleCare+ different from the cover that comes free?
The free year handles manufacturing defects and stops there. AppleCare+ is bought on top and adds up to two further years of hardware cover, accidental damage at a service fee per claim with normally two claims allowed in any 12 months, priority support around the clock, and battery service once capacity drops below 80%. The distance between the two is the distance between a free repair and a full-price one.
Serial number or IMEI — which one do I need?
Either will do. iPhones, cellular iPads and cellular Apple Watch models carry an IMEI. Wi-Fi iPads, Macs, AirPods, Apple TVs and HomePods are identified by serial number alone. Type in whichever number you have been given and the lookup routes it to the right place.
Where does each product keep its serial number?
iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch: Settings > General > About. Mac: the Apple menu, then About This Mac. AirPods: open the case beside a paired iPhone, then Settings > Bluetooth and tap the "i" beside the entry. It is also printed on the original box and etched into the back of most Apple hardware, which is the version worth asking a remote seller to photograph.
What does "Not Eligible for Service" actually mean?
Usually that the device is well past its warranty with no AppleCare+ running. It also appears where Apple has locked a unit reported lost or stolen, where a refurbished device has never been activated, or where the sale went through a channel Apple never registered. If you are halfway through buying something, read it as a reason to stop and ask, not as a clerical slip. Apple Support will confirm against the serial.
Does AppleCare+ go with the device when it is sold?
It does. The plan is attached to the hardware rather than to the first buyer's Apple ID, so the new owner picks up the remaining term and any accidental damage claims left in the current window. There is no form to fill in and nothing to tell Apple, which also means nobody can keep the cover and sell the device.
Why does cover matter when agreeing a price?
Because it is money, and it is invisible. The same model with a long stretch of AppleCare+ left on it and the same model with nothing are not the same purchase: on the second, every hardware fault from that day forward is yours at full repair price. Most sellers are not lying about this so much as guessing, and a guess is a poor thing to pay a premium for.
Which Apple products can be looked up?
Anything Apple gave a serial number to: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, HomePod, Beats, and Apple's wired and wireless accessories. Older hardware can come back with thinner detail, because Apple's registration records have not always held the same fields.
Can AppleCare+ be bought once the free year is over?
As a rule, no. Enrolment normally has to happen within 60 days of the original purchase, and some regions allow up to 12 months provided the device passes a diagnostic at an Apple Store. Beyond that the device cannot be enrolled at all, which is worth knowing before you buy an uncovered handset intending to add a plan later. Where AppleCare+ is sold monthly, that plan simply continues until somebody cancels it.
How long can AppleCare+ run for?
On iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods total cover reaches 2 years counted from the original purchase; on a Mac, up to 3. The accidental damage allowance resets every 12 months for as long as the plan is in force, and monthly plans keep going until they are cancelled.

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