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stq807

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2016
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Hello I shopping around for my first ipad, looking on ebay. My main concern is with battery life, am looking for an ipad 4 which is an aging model now, and don't want a tablet with a fatigued battery. I have noticed some ipads are manufacture refurbished which I believe means new batteries too. However some listings just say the screen was smashed and tablet sent for and repaired by apple - fir warranty repairs is it s different process to refurbishment? Or in those cases does apple just strictly fix the screen? Cheers
 
My advice on buying refurbished Apple devices is getting it through Apple for that peace of mind. It's pretty much brand new with the same 1-year warranty.

Unfortunately, they don't sell the iPad 4 anymore but they do have the Air 1 & 2.
 
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Are you looking for a 4 because of price? Or another reason? I would recommend going with a refurb from Apple direct if possible.
 
Are you looking for a 4 because of price? Or another reason? I would recommend going with a refurb from Apple direct if possible.

I think iPad 3/4 is really amazing for value and still have a long way to go before obsolescence, only issue is possibly weight. Deals on eBay are great, but on Apples website are horridly overpriced.

My concern is battery life on these used devices, so am looking for a warranty repaired one, but do they routinely replace the battery? It's dawning on me they probably wouldn't if they have no reason to
 
I think iPad 3/4 is really amazing for value and still have a long way to go before obsolescence, only issue is possibly weight. Deals on eBay are great, but on Apples website are horridly overpriced.

My concern is battery life on these used devices, so am looking for a warranty repaired one, but do they routinely replace the battery? It's dawning on me they probably wouldn't if they have no reason to

I wouldn't be too concerned about battery life on an iPad 4, my day one iPad 4 still had all day battery life when I passed it along to a family member and it was being used daily prior to that, so pretty much being recharged every couple of days or so.
 
I think iPad 3/4 is really amazing for value and still have a long way to go before obsolescence, only issue is possibly weight. Deals on eBay are great, but on Apples website are horridly overpriced.

My concern is battery life on these used devices, so am looking for a warranty repaired one, but do they routinely replace the battery? It's dawning on me they probably wouldn't if they have no reason to
The iPad 4 might be a different story, but I definitely wouldn't consider the iPad 3 an amazing value. I had one for almost three years, and by the end, it was very frustrating to use sometimes. It got extremely sluggish and laggy.

If I were you, I really would look into getting a first gen Air over the 4 if you can. It will be worth it for the much thinner, lighter, and narrower design and the 64-bit A7. Not to mention it'll get updates for at least a year longer than the iPad 4.
 
I think iPad 3/4 is really amazing for value and still have a long way to go before obsolescence, only issue is possibly weight. Deals on eBay are great, but on Apples website are horridly overpriced.

My concern is battery life on these used devices, so am looking for a warranty repaired one, but do they routinely replace the battery? It's dawning on me they probably wouldn't if they have no reason to

The iPad 3 was hardly a good value when it was first released. It's slower than the iPad 2. It's a terrible value now, and the iPad 4 is not really much better.

Get a refurbished Air or Mini 2 direct from Apple.
 
I personally wouldn't buy a used electronic device from eBay, but as far as battery life goes, I've gifted an iPad 3 and 4 to a friend's grandchildren and they are still going strong with no issues.
 
My advice on buying refurbished Apple devices is getting it through Apple for that peace of mind. It's pretty much brand new with the same 1-year warranty.

Unfortunately, they don't sell the iPad 4 anymore but they do have the Air 1 & 2.
So if for some reason you want Apple do not sell - you have to buy used?
 
I think iPad 3/4 is really amazing for value and still have a long way to go before obsolescence

I wouldn't count on that at all. iPad 3&4 are 32bit. It won't be long until Apple only supports 64bit only devices. They don't even sell 32bit devices anymore and 64bit ones have been around 2,3 and soon 4 generations now.

If iOS 10 this fall doesn't drop 32bit entirely I would fully expect iOS 11 will. Once that happens a lot of apps will follow suit and be 64bit only as well. Leaving your newly purchased, old iPad in the rear view mirror/dust.

I would highly recommend saving up a bit longer (if need be) for an iPad with no less than a A7 chip in it. Preferably get an Air 2 for a longer life cycle because it has a very strong A8X with 2gb of RAM. This will increase the value you get out of it much, much longer than an old iPad 4 that is near the end of its supported life cycle.
 
I wouldn't count on that at all. iPad 3&4 are 32bit. It won't be long until Apple only supports 64bit only devices. They don't even sell 32bit devices anymore and 64bit ones have been around 2,3 and soon 4 generations now.

If iOS 10 this fall doesn't drop 32bit entirely I would fully expect iOS 11 will. Once that happens a lot of apps will follow suit and be 64bit only as well. Leaving your newly purchased, old iPad in the rear view mirror/dust.

I would highly recommend saving up a bit longer (if need be) for an iPad with no less than a A7 chip in it. Preferably get an Air 2 for a longer life cycle because it has a very strong A8X with 2gb of RAM. This will increase the value you get out of it much, much longer than an old iPad 4 that is near the end of its supported life cycle.
iOS 10 will still support 32-bit devices. They aren't about to drop the iPhone 5 just yet.
 
iOS 10 will still support 32-bit devices. They aren't about to drop the iPhone 5 just yet.

You don't know that for sure. It's already evident that Apple is starting to phase out 32bit in iOS 9. With features like Slideover/Split Screen, PiP, Safari Content Blockers and the upcoming Night Shift all being 64bit only. I'm sure there are couple other features as well I'm not remembering off the top of my head. I would say the phasing 32bit out has already begun with latest features being 64bit only.

Besides, I never said iOS 10 will without a doubt drop 32bit. I said it might, when you look at their current features released. iOS 11 though is very likely.

The point I was making is that the iPad 3 & 4 is a lot closer to being dropped in support than the OP thinks. And would get a much better value and life span out of something newer like an Air 2.
 
Interesting viewpoints...if I can find a good deal on an iPad Air I'll take it. But I think iPad 3 is underrated, if it can play 3D games then it has more than enough power for YouTube, word processing and safari which I want it for, long enough o figure out if I even need an iPad at least
 
In my experience the iPad batteries are really excellent. My iPad 2 is still going with 6-7 hours of battery on a full charge, despite having been used at least a couple of hours each day since it was bought.
 
Interesting viewpoints...if I can find a good deal on an iPad Air I'll take it. But I think iPad 3 is underrated, if it can play 3D games then it has more than enough power for YouTube, word processing and safari which I want it for, long enough o figure out if I even need an iPad at least

Yes, iPad 3 is good enough for that. Just don't expect it to get iOS 10 -- it might, but again, it might not.
 
You don't know that for sure. It's already evident that Apple is starting to phase out 32bit in iOS 9. With features like Slideover/Split Screen, PiP, Safari Content Blockers and the upcoming Night Shift all being 64bit only. I'm sure there are couple other features as well I'm not remembering off the top of my head. I would say the phasing 32bit out has already begun with latest features being 64bit only.

Besides, I never said iOS 10 will without a doubt drop 32bit. I said it might, when you look at their current features released. iOS 11 though is very likely.

The point I was making is that the iPad 3 & 4 is a lot closer to being dropped in support than the OP thinks. And would get a much better value and life span out of something newer like an Air 2.
Of course it could go either way, but I'd say it's highly unlikely that Apple drops the iPhone 5 and iPad 4 this year.

I do think the iPad 3 is very close to losing iOS updates, though. I'm sure it and the iPad 2 will stop getting updates at the same time, and that could very well be this year.

Interesting viewpoints...if I can find a good deal on an iPad Air I'll take it. But I think iPad 3 is underrated, if it can play 3D games then it has more than enough power for YouTube, word processing and safari which I want it for, long enough o figure out if I even need an iPad at least
The iPad 3 can do those things. It's how slow and laggy it does them that's the problem.
 
Well your opinions swayed me, the end managed to get an ipad air for £200, pretty happy with that :) At least I wont have to fret about lag anytime soon
 
Well your opinions swayed me, the end managed to get an ipad air for £200, pretty happy with that :) At least I wont have to fret about lag anytime soon

Let's just hope it is not icloud locked when it arrives.....:eek:
 
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