Kids iPad dilemma

[mlody]

My 9 years old daughter's iPad Air 2 no longer lasts more than 4 hours. The coconut shows %77 after only 471 cycles. I am tempted to spend $99 with Apple to get a new battery to keep her going with it for another 2-3 years.

I was also contemplating if I should upgrade it to iPad 2018, but i would need to get 128 GB as her current iPad Air 2 is 64GB and she needs that space, so the 32GB iPad 2018 is out of the question. This means, the new replacement iPad would cost me at the minimum $350+tax+new case, so easy into $400 vs $100 for the battery alone.

Everything on her current iPad is performing perfectly, no delays, things works just as you would expect. I am questioning if for her needs (youtube kids, some google apps for school, roblox, apple music, text messaging, FaceTime calls) spending 4x more is worth it. I get that the new iPad 2018 will be supported longer, and has pen support (which she does not care for), but also, I get a device with worse screen, thicker, same amount of RAM, same cameras, so besides faster CPU (which she does not need) I would get nothing that really make a difference worth spending 4x more.

 

[pugxiwawa]

My 9 years old daughter's iPad Air 2 no longer lasts more than 4 hours. The coconut shows %77 after only 471 cycles. I am tempted to spend $99 with Apple to get a new battery to keep her going with it for another 2-3 years.

I was also contemplating if I should upgrade it to iPad 2018, but i would need to get 128 GB as her current iPad Air 2 is 64GB and she needs that space, so the 32GB iPad 2018 is out of the question. This means, the new replacement iPad would cost me at the minimum $350+tax+new case, so easy into $400 vs $100 for the battery alone.

Everything on her current iPad is performing perfectly, no delays, things works just as you would expect. I am questioning if for her needs (youtube kids, some google apps for school, roblox, apple music, text messaging, FaceTime calls) spending 4x more is worth it. I get that the new iPad 2018 will be supported longer, and has pen support (which she does not care for), but also, I get a device with worse screen, thicker, same amount of RAM, same cameras, so besides faster CPU (which she does not need) I would get nothing that really make a difference worth spending 4x more.

I would suggest getting an used 10.5 64gb pro on eBay that’s about $400. It will be supported for many more years. Air 2 is good but it’s starting to show its age. You can trade in iPad Air 2 to Apple for $125.

 

[willmtaylor]

I was also contemplating if I should upgrade it to iPad 2018, but i would need to get 128 GB as her current iPad Air 2 is 64GB and she needs that space, so the 32GB iPad 2018 is out of the question. This means, the new replacement iPad would cost me at the minimum $350+tax+new case, so easy into $400 vs $100 for the battery alone.

I am questioning if for her needs (youtube kids, some google apps for school, roblox, apple music, text messaging, FaceTime calls) spending 4x more is worth it.

Why does she require so much storage if that’s the use case?

 

[muzzy996]

Personally I’d replace the battery given what you’ve posted about your daughter’s use. You’ve clearly stated that at this time you don’t need the added horsepower or features so it seems fair to keep it a little longer until your daughter needs something more powerful.

IMO even if the iPad only lasts another year you’re not out a ton of money and you’ve stretched the lifespan of the device for what would amount to less than 10 bucks a month. Assuming you get another year or more out of the device you’ve bought yourself some time to get into a newer generation device.

 

[mlody]

Why does she require so much storage if that’s the use case?

She likes to take some pictures and record videos, kids games, occasional movie downloads for road trips etc. The 64 GB gives her nice buffer, while 32GB would always be maxed out with constant 'no enough space' popup messages.
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Personally I’d replace the battery given what you’ve posted about your daughter’s use. You’ve clearly stated that at this time you don’t need the added horsepower or features so it seems fair to keep it a little longer until your daughter needs something more powerful.

IMO even if the iPad only lasts another year you’re not out a ton of money and you’ve stretched the lifespan of the device for what would amount to less than 10 bucks a month. Assuming you get another year or more out of the device you’ve bought yourself some time to get into a newer generation device.

This is exactly my though process. Ideally if $100 gives me 2 more years, I would be a very happy camper. After that, I will pass down my 10.5 Pro to her to use, unless Apple continues to support Air 2 via iOS updates which I am hoping will still be the case with iOS13.

 

[mofunk]

So many options you could look at. First 4hrs is not too bad for the iPad battery. I've actually seen worse. So she could just keep it and have access to an outlet to recharge. Wait till newer options come out.

You could look at Refurbish iPad 5th Gen if she's not looking to use the Apple Pencil.

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/ipad/128gb-64gb

Don't forget most stores offer student discount. or Check out Microcenter iPad 128GB $359.99 which you could price match at most store. Or wait to see when a store will discount the iPad even more. Maybe she can hold off until then.

 

[mlody]

I went to Apple store today hoping the get the battery issue addressed. They ran their diagnostics and the battery reported 92% capacity which is stark difference compared to what coconut is reporting (77%). This is after close to 500 cycles. Because of that, they refused to addressed my concern and instead offered a replacement iPad for $250 which I declined. Does anyone have any experience in getting iPad battery replace? Why would Apple even care how much battery life is left given I am willing to pay for the service? It is not like I was expecting it for free?

 

[1BadManVan]

Did you mention that it only lasts 4 hours now?

 

[mlody]

Did you mention that it only lasts 4 hours now?

I did. Once they ran the diagnostics, which i asked to rerun again (same result btw) they were very adamant that there is nothing wrong with the ipad and they would not be able to honor $99 batter replacement service. They started blaming the apps for the battery drain.

This really pissed me off as people can walk in with their iPhones and pay only $69 and without any questions get a new battery, but I could not do the same with my iPad.

 

[KPOM]

I did. Once they ran the diagnostics, which i asked to rerun again (same result btw) they were very adamant that there is nothing wrong with the ipad and they would not be able to honor $99 batter replacement service. They started blaming the apps for the battery drain.

This really pissed me off as people can walk in with their iPhones and pay only $69 and without any questions get a new battery, but I could not do the same with my iPad.

Have you tried an authorized Apple Repair Center? Lapin Systems is a good one in Chicago and Evanston.

 

[bluespark]

She likes to take some pictures and record videos, kids games, occasional movie downloads for road trips etc. The 64 GB gives her nice buffer, while 32GB would always be maxed out with constant 'no enough space' popup messages.
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If she uses iCloud to hold pictures and videos, you might be surprised by how far 32GB would take her. For local storage, though, you're correct.

 

[VMMan]

That was poor customer service, IMO. Those battery diagnostic tests are far from being full proof. I would go to a different Apple store.

 

[sickoagb]

I went to Apple store today hoping the get the battery issue addressed. They ran their diagnostics and the battery reported 92% capacity which is stark difference compared to what coconut is reporting (77%). This is after close to 500 cycles. Because of that, they refused to addressed my concern and instead offered a replacement iPad for $250 which I declined. Does anyone have any experience in getting iPad battery replace? Why would Apple even care how much battery life is left given I am willing to pay for the service? It is not like I was expecting it for free?

A similar thing happened to me with my MacBook Pro and I was initially declined service, however I mentioned that they should rerun the test without the charger plugged in and suddenly its capacity dropped to 75% from 89%. I tried this again with my iPhone 6S and the same thing occurred.

 

[mlody]

Thank you all for advices. I will give another Apple Store a chance. If no go, I will also try Apple Authorized Repair centers. There is one by me called ABT, so I might go there first since it is only few mins away.

 

[bluespark]

Thank you all for advices. I will give another Apple Store a chance. If no go, I will also try Apple Authorized Repair centers. There is one by me called ABT, so I might go there first since it is only few mins away.

It's Abt, and it's excellent.