iPad battery death

[tekksan]

Does anybody know if your AppleCare has expired on an iPad and the battery dies a natural death, will Apple replace the iPad with a new one for $99?

What about if the iPad battery dies and you *do* still have AppleCare...do you still have to pay the $99 for the new iPad?

 

[poloponies]

It's for out-of-warranty replacement, like for the iPod or MBA. Because it's not intended to be user-serviceable they offer the $99 battery replacement (iPad swap). In-warranty is still free.

 

[GGJstudios]

Batteries are only covered by warranty or AppleCare in the case of manufacturer defect. Replacement of a non-defective battery, whether in or out of warranty, will be charged to the customer. While you may be successful in getting a store to make an exception for you, that's not guaranteed.

Battery Replacement Service - iPad: Frequently Asked Questions

If your iPad requires service due to the battery's diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, that is not covered by Apple's one year limited warranty, the AppleCare Protection Plan or covered under statutory consumer rights, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee.

 

[poloponies]

Batteries are only covered by warranty or AppleCare in the case of manufacturer defect. Replacement of a non-defective battery, whether in or out of warranty, will be charged to the customer. While you may be successful in getting a store to make an exception for you, that's not guaranteed.

Battery Replacement Service - iPad: Frequently Asked Questions

By anyone's definition a dead battery in the first year of ownership is a manufacturing defect.

 

[hcho3]

They will give you different iPad that will have a new battery. So... quite possibly.... after few years, if you send in your original iPad, you might get 2nd or 3rd gen iPad for a replacement. Am I wrong?

 

[GGJstudios]

By anyone's definition a dead battery in the first year of ownership is a manufacturing defect.

Not true. It depends on how the battery is treated and how much it's used.

From: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipad.html

A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 1000 full charge and discharge cycles.

There is nothing in that statement that defines a timeframe. If you exceed the number of cycles in less than a year, there is nothing in the warranty that defines that as defective or assures a free replacement.

They will give you different iPad that will have a new battery. So... quite possibly.... after few years, if you send in your original iPad, you might get 2nd or 3rd gen iPad for a replacement. Am I wrong?

They would likely replace it with the most equivalent model available at the time of replacement.

 

[andiwm2003]

They will give you different iPad that will have a new battery. So... quite possibly.... after few years, if you send in your original iPad, you might get 2nd or 3rd gen iPad for a replacement. Am I wrong?

they will have refurb ipads available for a long time to swap them out.

after that they will upgrade your 1st generation iPad with a better 1st generation ipad (e.g. a 32GB with a 64GB model)

and after that they will maybe upgrade you with a refurb 2nd generation model. however my guess is that they end the program before that and you're out of luck.

also it's not likely that after 5+ years your iPad is still fully working without any scratches and therefore eligible for the battery swap program. more than likely your iPad will have a scratch or a brokem homebutton or such that disqualifies it from the battery swap program. and apple care ended by then as well.

in short: no cheap way to upgrade your iPad.

 

[GGJstudios]

also it's not likely that after 5+ years your iPad is still fully working without any scratches and therefore eligible for the battery swap program.

A scratch would not disqualify an iPad from battery replacement:

Note: Your iPad is not eligible for Battery Replacement Service if the product has been damaged, for example, as result of an accident, liquid contact, disassembly, unauthorized service or unauthorized modifications, or if the product is not operating correctly as a result of a component failure.

 

[poloponies]

Not true. It depends on how the battery is treated and how much it's used.

From: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipad.html

There is nothing in that statement that defines a timeframe. If you exceed the number of cycles in less than a year, there is nothing in the warranty that defines that as defective or assures a free replacement.

Please, 1,000 cycles in a year? Aside from your obvious grasping at straws, Apple generally doesn't view drops of 20-40% of battery life over the first year as defective (although you can certainly find a sympathetic ear at 40%).

What I said in my post that if the battery is dead (40% of original or less) within the first year (for an undamaged iPad, obviously), nobody is going to argue that you ran over 1,000 cycles. They will replace it under warranty.

 

[GGJstudios]

... nobody is going to argue that you ran over 1,000 cycles. They will replace it under warranty.

Not if you're over 1,000 cycles, unless you find a sympathetic Apple rep. And if AppleCare has been purchased, the time frame is 2 years, not 1.

a. Scope of Coverage. Your coverage for defects begins on the date your Covered Equipment’s Apple hardware warranty expires and terminates at the end of the Coverage Period (“Repair Coverage Period”). Apple will, at its option, repair or replace the affected Covered Equipment, if (i) during the Repair Coverage Period there is a defect in the Covered Equipment’s materials or workmanship or, (ii) during the Coverage Period, the capacity of the Covered Equipment’s battery to hold an electrical charge has depleted fifty (50%) percent or more from its original specification, (after being fully charged and the Covered Equipment playing audio or video with all settings reset).

 

[danrel]

Not if you're over 1,000 cycles, unless you find a sympathetic Apple rep. And if AppleCare has been purchased, the time frame is 2 years, not 1.

I think he was just getting at the fact that it would be physically impossible to charge(~4-5 hours) and rundown the entire battery(~6-8 hours) 1000 times in a year or less...

1 year = 8760 hours

4000 hours(~1000 charges) + 6000 hours(~1000 battery drains) = 10000 hours...

 

[GGJstudios]

I think he was just getting at the fact that it would be physically impossible to charge(~4-5 hours) and rundown the entire battery(~6-8 hours) 1000 times in a year or less...

As I said, you have 2 years, not 1, to hit that threshold, if you have AppleCare. The point is, the Apple Warranty and AppleCare only define a health percentage and number of cycles, not a time frame, for determining defective batteries.

 

[danrel]

As I said, you have 2 years, not 1, to hit that threshold, if you have AppleCare.

That wasn't the original argument, nor was it ever his argument. His argument was for the factory, one-year warranty. You added the two-year AppleCare argument as an aside in your last post to him...

Not if you're over 1,000 cycles, unless you find a sympathetic Apple rep. And if AppleCare has been purchased, the time frame is 2 years, not 1.

Can't argue about the last part though:

The point is, the Apple Warranty and AppleCare only define a health percentage and number of cycles, not a time frame, for determining defective batteries.

 

[drjsway]

If you exceed the number of cycles in less than a year, there is nothing in the warranty that defines that as defective or assures a free replacement.

It's physically impossible to exceed 1000 cycles in one year. Even if you continuously run 3D games, the worst case scenario for battery life is 7 hours. The fastest way to charge is using a Griffin power block, which charges to 80% in 2.5 hours. If you charge to exactly 80% every single time, you will go through 1 cycle in 3 hours.

3 + 7 = 10 hours to go through a full charge. That's 876 cycles at year. And that's continuously running 3D games 24/365 charging only using a Griffin Powerblock while unplugging the iPad at exactly 80% charge every single time.

 

[GGJstudios]

That wasn't the original argument, nor was it ever his argument.

Yes, actually it was the original scenario:

Does anybody know if your AppleCare has expired on an iPad and the battery dies a natural death

If AppleCare, not the original warranty, has expired, that indicates 2+years of use.

It's physically impossible to exceed 1000 cycles in one year.

That's irrelevant, as the OP indicated 2+ years of use, as evidenced by the expiration of AppleCare.

 

[danrel]

Yes, actually it was the original scenario:

Sorry, you are correct about the original scenario. I was talking about what you and poloponies were arguing about though...

If AppleCare, not the original warranty, has expired, that indicates 2+years of use.

Again, you are correct if that's what the OP meant by AppleCare. I saw it as the OP referring to the original warranty. Could be my mistake. A lot of people use term AppleCare interchangeably for the initial warranty/extended warranty.

That's irrelevant, as the OP indicated 2+ years of use, as evidenced by the expiration of AppleCare.

That was completely relevant to what you and poloponies were arguing about, which is what that last poster was referring to.

Again, in reference to poloponies comment, not the OP:

There is nothing in that statement that defines a timeframe. If you exceed the number of cycles in less than a year, there is nothing in the warranty that defines that as defective or assures a free replacement.

 

[Ciclismo]

By anyone's definition a dead battery in the first year of ownership is a manufacturing defect.

That is not the case - if the defect stems from improper use (e.g. use of a third party manufacturer charger which resulted in overcharging; exposure to excessive temperatures, especially below freezing etc. etc.) then the defect is deemed to be outside of the scope of the warranty.

Perhaps if you had written "By anyone's definition, a dead battery in the first year of proper use as stipulated in the users manual could be surely deemed to stem from a manufacturing defect" then there would not have been such a fuss over your post.