AppleCare+ for the iPhone: Accidental damage protection for $99

Today, Apple dominated the news. Apple released the iPhone 4S today, as well as iOS 5 and the addition of Sprint in the company’s lineup of US carriers. Read here for everything you need to know about today’s announcements.

Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook filled us in on the iPhone 4S (full details are here). It has the same design as the iPhone 4, but inside it is “all new”. The iPhone 4S will cost $199, $299 and $399 for 16, 32 and 64 gigabyte versions, respectively. The 8-gig iPhone 4 goes to $99 and the 3GS will be free, all on 2-year contracts. The date? As we called it, October 14th, with a pre-order on October 7th.

Also huge, is that Apple is now offering AppleCare+ for the iPhone, which includes accidental damage protection for the first time. While every iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage and 90 days of telephone technical support, AppleCare+ for iPhone extends repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee. AppleCare+ is $99 and must be purchased with a new iPhone. Let the water gun fights begin!