TECH NEWS – Replacing a lost iPhone 17 Pro Max through AppleCare+ turned into an unexpectedly big win for one Reddit user.
Losing a flagship phone is the kind of headache that makes monthly protection plans suddenly feel a lot more reasonable. In this case, a routine replacement claim didn’t just get a device back into someone’s hands – it came with a storage bump that most people only ever see on a spec sheet.
On Reddit, user ScienceFuture2300 said his 256 GB iPhone 17 Pro Max was lost and he filed a claim. Instead of receiving a like-for-like replacement, he reportedly received a 2 TB model. If he’s in the U.S., that difference can amount to roughly $800 – and given what Apple charges for storage upgrades, it’s hard to imagine anyone complaining about getting the higher-capacity version at no additional cost.
One plausible explanation floated in the comments is that Apple didn’t have the exact color of the lost phone available, so the company shipped a higher-capacity variant as the replacement. AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss provides coverage if your iPhone is lost or stolen up to two times per year, while AppleCare One extends theft-and-loss coverage to your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch up to three times per year. Each incident is subject to a deductible, taxes may apply, and theft-and-loss coverage requires Find My to be enabled at the time of loss or theft and throughout the entire claims process.
This also isn’t the first time a replacement has effectively doubled as an upgrade: in a previous example, the owner of an Intel-based 2018 MacBook Pro reportedly received an M4 Max MacBook Pro as a replacement – a configuration valued north of $4,000 – without paying extra.
Source: WCCFTech
