New iPad or get battery replaced on my iPad Air

[deckard666]

Had my iPad Air from day one release so its almost 4 and half years old and its only ever problem in that time is now it needs charging every other day so I booted up Coconut Battery on my Mac and connected the iPad and it says its lost over half its battery with a max capacity now of 3957mAH of originally 8827 in 772 charges which to be honest I dont think is that bad - again you get what you pay for (see my MacPro 2010 comments from elsewhere here). Only dilemma is now its 40 quid for a new iPad battery or I could flog it on ebay for 200 or so and get the latest iPad second-hand from there for around the same money......Any thoughts ?

Funny enough my iPhone 6 which apple themselves are replacing the battery in Bath next week has only lost 300mAH in 927 charges.

 

[sracer]

4.5 years of productive use is a good run. Since iPads are NOT designed to have their batteries replaced, I think that it would not be wise to spend the money on a device whose remaining life is uncertain. My recommendation is to save the 40 quid, and apply that to a NEW 2017 iPad. You clearly get a lot of use and longevity from your device so why not start again fresh?

 

[bruinsrme]

I recommend having your ipad battery replaced.

I am interested in hearing how that goes. As @sracer mentioned the ipad isn't designed for such a repair I am interested in hearing about the quality of such a repair.

 

[ACST]

Had my iPad Air from day one release so its almost 4 and half years old and its only ever problem in that time is now it needs charging every other day so I booted up Coconut Battery on my Mac and connected the iPad and it says its lost over half its battery with a max capacity now of 3957mAH of originally 8827 in 772 charges which to be honest I dont think is that bad - again you get what you pay for (see my MacPro 2010 comments from elsewhere here). Only dilemma is now its 40 quid for a new iPad battery or I could flog it on ebay for 200 or so and get the latest iPad second-hand from there for around the same money......Any thoughts ?

Funny enough my iPhone 6 which apple themselves are replacing the battery in Bath next week has only lost 300mAH in 927 charges.

You want to sell your iPad air for the same price you think you can buy a second hand new iPad?
Why would a potentional seller buy your iPad air instead of that newer iPad he can buy for the same money.

 

[Wando64]

Had my iPad Air from day one release so its almost 4 and half years old and its only ever problem in that time is now it needs charging every other day so I booted up Coconut Battery on my Mac and connected the iPad and it says its lost over half its battery with a max capacity now of 3957mAH of originally 8827 in 772 charges which to be honest I dont think is that bad - again you get what you pay for (see my MacPro 2010 comments from elsewhere here). Only dilemma is now its 40 quid for a new iPad battery or I could flog it on ebay for 200 or so and get the latest iPad second-hand from there for around the same money......Any thoughts ?

Funny enough my iPhone 6 which apple themselves are replacing the battery in Bath next week has only lost 300mAH in 927 charges.

Never mind what Coconut Battery is telling you.
There is nothing wrong with having to recharge every other day. I think your expectations might be a bit too high.
Out of curiosity, how often did you recharge it when it was new?

 

[JPack]

Ask for a battery replacement service at Apple.

There's a good chance they will replace your iPad with an Air 2 or 2017 model because battery replacements can't be done in-store.

 

[gobikerider]

4.5 years of productive use is a good run. Since iPads are NOT designed to have their batteries replaced, I think that it would not be wise to spend the money on a device whose remaining life is uncertain. My recommendation is to save the 40 quid, and apply that to a NEW 2017 iPad. You clearly get a lot of use and longevity from your device so why not start again fresh?

Could you elaborate on this? Don’t you just go into an Apple Store and request a battery replacement for the “flat repair fee” like an iPhone?

 

[deckard666]

No I don’t as I don’t live within 150 miles of an Apple store so I use a specialist third party service who are I’ve used before and are absolutely brilliant so it’s 40 quid all in to get the the battery replaced by post. Funny enough Apple just got back to me as I am in Bath in a few weeks for a friends birthday and thought I’d get my iPhone 6 battery replaced by them - they’re saying 2-5 weeks !

Prices on ebay for my iPad Air Series 1 with 64 gig (mine is in flawless condition with original boxing) say 200 - 210

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/64gb-iPad-Air/253426793467?hash=item3b0169fbfb:g:twEAAOSwaC9ahEO-


and a 2nd hand current iPad (5th gen) around the same

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-iP...202925&hash=item21399ae72c:g:r-gAAOSw2GJaidmj

 

[ventmore]

If it still does everything you want it to do, and it's only problem is that it needs charging every other day, then personally, I'd just keep it and charge it every night or as necessary.

 

[sracer]

Could you elaborate on this? Don’t you just go into an Apple Store and request a battery replacement for the “flat repair fee” like an iPhone?

There's a difference between "being able to replace a battery" and "designed for the battery to be replaced". Some might refer to that as a "user-replaceable battery", but the need to forcefully remove a glue-on screen to get to the battery doesn't say "replaceable" to me.

I suppose someone could point to the fact that the internal battery has a connector instead of soldered is evidence that the battery is designed to be replaced. This isn't a slam at Apple since I don't know of any tablet that has a replaceable battery.

 

[rui no onna]

New iPad (which are relatively inexpensive nowadays).

I really wouldn't spend money on the iPad Air at this point in time. It's already showing its age. If you had stayed on older firmware, then some apps have probably stopped receiving updates. I believe comiXology dropped support for iOS 8 last year and I believe you couldn't use the older version of the app to read comics at all.

That said, charging every other day on the iPad ain't bad. With the iPhone, when battery drops, you'd sometimes have to charge every 4 hours or so.

 

[Freakonomics101]

I recommend the 5th gen iPad.

 

[Codeseven]

My Air needs to be recharged everyday. That doesn’t bother me since it gets charged at night while I’m sleeping anyway. I agree that if it does what you want out of an iPad then keep it as is. But it’s too old and outdated to put any money into, not worth it when a new technology basic iPad is relatively cheap nowadays.

Also, if you've been thinking of moving on up to a Pro model, the new iPad models will most likely be announced just around the corner in June and that’s when you could get a great deal on a fully capable Apple Refirbished or maybe decide you like what’s new.

 

[jaduff46]

Agree with @ventmore and @Codeseven above. My Air of the same vintage drains completely in roughly 2 days if I let it, but I usually just charge it overnight and don’t see the need to upgrade. Non-cellular btw.

 

[NoBoMac]

As others have mentioned, no sense in spending the money on replacing the battery if you can live wth charging it overnight, as it's old and new iPad "classics" will be announced shortly.

I'm still using a 6yo iPad 3, battery is at 72% of max capacity, but that is enough juice to use it on the couch and then put on charger at bed time. That said, it's long in the tooth and will be replaced in the next few weeks.

 

[rui no onna]

As others have mentioned, no sense in spending the money on replacing the battery if you can live wth charging it overnight, as it's old and new iPad "classics" will be announced shortly.

I'm still using a 6yo iPad 3, battery is at 72% of max capacity, but that is enough juice to use it on the couch and then put on charger at bed time. That said, it's long in the tooth and will be replaced in the next few weeks.

Lol, the iPad 3, we replaced as soon as the iPad 5th gen was released. Still got $100 trade-in for iPad 3 from Best Buy so effective net cost was just $229 + tax. Too bad I didn't trade in the iPad 3 a couple days earlier. Could've taken advantage of a $25-30 gift card bonus for pre-orders.

I don't know what battery capacity was at the time. Suffice to say the iPad 3 still lasted longer between charges than my barely a year old iPad Pro 9.7.

 

[bensisko]

Had my iPad Air from day one release so its almost 4 and half years old and its only ever problem in that time is now it needs charging every other day

If it makes you feel any better, my 10.5” Pro needs to be charged every day too.

 

[Crow_Servo]

It all depends on your usage too. If you’re a heavier user, it makes sense that it needs charging everyday. If it’s just casual/sporadic usage and still needs to be charged daily, that’s no good. I’d recommend a new one instead of a new battery. The 2017 9.7” is a solid buy, or maybe wait a month or so to see if a new one is announced this year. You got a lot of use out of your current iPad. I have a bias against second-hand electronics, but if you’ve had good luck doing that in the past, go for it.

 

[charlituna]

Ask for a battery replacement service at Apple.

There's a good chance they will replace your iPad with an Air 2 or 2017 model because battery replacements can't be done in-store.

nope. they don't. all models less than 5 years old and some less than 7 are still manufactured for service needs. any iPad older than that doesn't qualify for service anymore. the best you will get a reduced rate because the battery shows as 'consumed'. you might get a slight upgrade if you have an iPad that is in the sixth year. but those only qualify for service if they were bought and serviced in California or like 2 countries

 

[deckard666]

Funny enough in related news I Rang Apple last week as I wanted my iPhone 6 battery replaced and I knew I was in bath this week visiting friends and they said possibly the battery might be in the Bath store this week. Email from them yesterday to say it was in and just to call in. Called in yesterday at 3pm and they took the phone, said it would be ready in an hour. Picked it up at at 5 and 20 odd quid later I have what feels like a new iPhone

guy also said in passing when we were talking about the state of my iPad battery (30% down) that it I paid for a battery replacement with them for 80 quid they would actually give me a new iPad Air instead which seems remarkably good of them although for that money I could still sell my current iPad Air on eBay and get a 5th gen model.