iPad Apple refuses to replace iPad battery

[Abazigal]

Perhaps people should file a complaint with the BBB and contact Tim Cook tcook@apple.com

I still can’t find anything on their website at stating that your iPad must meet certain (unpublished criteria) in order to be eligible for battery service. How is this NOT false advertising?

They have no problem taking $49 or $69 to replace the iPhone battery (a product they designed with serviceability in mind) Yet they won’t take $99 to replace an iPad battery (a product intentionally designed to be throw away)

I will be waiting until after the holidays and hopefuly till things start to get back to normal and then I’ll give it another try and raise hell if necessary.

I guess the difference is that the iPhone battery can indeed be replaced, but in the case of the iPad, they will just issue you a replacement device outright because it’s battery wasn’t intended to be removed in the first place.

So for the former, the $69 more than covers the cost of the replacement battery and the manpower invoked. But for the latter, $100 doesn’t even come close to paying for the spare iPad they are giving away.

Hence, the criteria for servicing the battery in the iPad is way more stringent.

 

[Sal09]

I had an appointment today but was cancelled by the store. Only attend if i have bent iPad, cracked screen or iPad is not switching on. Alternatively ring Apple Care so i did.

Spoke with Senior Support Advisor over the phone and was told just keep using the ipad and once its down to 80% we will service the iPad.

I tried to explain him the issue in plain English but that was the resolution he gave me and was advised the genius in store will do the same.

iPad 8 bought in October and the health is already down to 88% and battery drain is awful.

 

[MacCheetah3]

was told just keep using the ipad and once its down to 80% we will service the iPad.

I concur. If you’re concerned/dissatisfied with battery drain rate, your best tool is Screen Time. Add up the time, you might be surprised how many hours your device is actually providing. Don’t forget that network-based apps (e.g. messaging, streaming, web browsing) require frequent/constant processing, including notifications. You should also occasionally review location service access and background refresh for all of your apps.

 

[ouimetnick]

I guess the difference is that the iPhone battery can indeed be replaced, but in the case of the iPad, they will just issue you a replacement device outright because it’s battery wasn’t intended to be removed in the first place.

So for the former, the $69 more than covers the cost of the replacement battery and the manpower invoked. But for the latter, $100 doesn’t even come close to paying for the spare iPad they are giving away.

Hence, the criteria for servicing the battery in the iPad is way more stringent.

Again, not my problem (or yours). Perhaps Apple's engineers and designers should have considered that during the design phase. Apple shouldn't punish customers because of Apple's own choices. Maybe they shouldn't offer battery "service" and instead tell customers to throw it away (recycle it) and buy a new one (or trade it in). Maybe Apple should charge more than $99 to "service" the battery. It also seems pretty sneaky and misleading not to mention that stringent criteria on the website where they advertise a $99 battery service. Nothing in the footnotes on the battery page about the criteria either.


Remember the original iPhone wasn't serviceable, and when they introduced the 3G and 3GS, they were able to replace the screens.
Then with iPhone 4 & 4S they took a different approach making the battery serviceable but the screen required device replacement (everything had to be removed to replace the iPhone 4/4S screen, I know because I used to replace phone screens in High School) iPhone 5 and later allowed easy screen replacement like in the 3G/3GS days AND easy access to the battery for replacement.

They accomplished this and made the device thinner and lighter at the same time. There is no reason why they can't accomplish this with an iPad. It's a shame that a $1200 iPad Pro (the one I just bought) isn't serviceable. I feel bad for any suckers who bought a 12.9" 1TB iPad Pro (with cellular). That's a $1649 throw away device. I'd guess that most iPad batteries last long enough to where people upgrade to a newer model, but not every iPad battery does.

 

[Abazigal]

Again, not my problem (or yours). Perhaps Apple's engineers and designers should have considered that during the design phase. Apple shouldn't punish customers because of Apple's own choices. Maybe they shouldn't offer battery "service" and instead tell customers to throw it away (recycle it) and buy a new one (or trade it in). Maybe Apple should charge more than $99 to "service" the battery. It also seems pretty sneaky and misleading not to mention that stringent criteria on the website where they advertise a $99 battery service. Nothing in the footnotes on the battery page about the criteria either.


Remember the original iPhone wasn't serviceable, and when they introduced the 3G and 3GS, they were able to replace the screens.
Then with iPhone 4 & 4S they took a different approach making the battery serviceable but the screen required device replacement (everything had to be removed to replace the iPhone 4/4S screen, I know because I used to replace phone screens in High School) iPhone 5 and later allowed easy screen replacement like in the 3G/3GS days AND easy access to the battery for replacement.

They accomplished this and made the device thinner and lighter at the same time. There is no reason why they can't accomplish this with an iPad. It's a shame that a $1200 iPad Pro (the one I just bought) isn't serviceable. I feel bad for any suckers who bought a 12.9" 1TB iPad Pro (with cellular). That's a $1649 throw away device. I'd guess that most iPad batteries last long enough to where people upgrade to a newer model, but not every iPad battery does.

I am not saying it’s anyone’s fault or problem. I am simply rationalising why Apple’s policies are the way they are.

As it stands, anyone can walk into an apple store and request for their iphone battery to be replaced so long as they are willing to pay, even if the battery still has 99% health. And the reason why Apple is able to do this is precisely because the batteries are readily replaceable (though Apple would end up replacing my 8+ altogether last year when the attempted battery swap failed). Apple is not losing anything by offering such a policy (except maybe people will hold on to their iPhones a little longer, but Apple has already factored that into their sales strategy).

For the ipad, I am not seeing any such policy on their website. They will only replace the battery (which basically amounts to the replacement of the entire ipad) if it proves to be faulty or the battery health falls to below 80%. I admit the wording on their website is quite arcane and can be hard to understand.

iPad Repair and Service - Apple Support (SG)

Need to repair your iPad? See your service options, their costs by coverage type and how long they take.

support.apple.com

And the issue is that Apple uses their own internal diagnostic tool to make the call, so it doesn’t really matter that 3rd party apps report in this regard - Apple is not going to go by them. If your coconut app reports a battery health of 80% while Apple’s own diagnostic app reports 94% (which was what happened with my 9.7” iPad Pro in 2018), you are out of luck.

And the reason for this, I believe, is because the iPad’s battery is not easily replaceable. At least, it would be far beyond the ability of most Apple store geniuses to dissemble and then reassemble, because the ipad is essentially glued shut.

It is what it is.

 

[ouimetnick]

I am not saying it’s anyone’s fault or problem. I am simply rationalising why Apple’s policies are the way they are.

As it stands, anyone can walk into an apple store and request for their iphone battery to be replaced so long as they are willing to pay, even if the battery still has 99% health. And the reason why Apple is able to do this is precisely because the batteries are readily replaceable (though Apple would end up replacing my 8+ altogether last year when the attempted battery swap failed). Apple is not losing anything by offering such a policy (except maybe people will hold on to their iPhones a little longer, but Apple has already factored that into their sales strategy).

For the ipad, I am not seeing any such policy on their website. They will only replace the battery (which basically amounts to the replacement of the entire ipad) if it proves to be faulty or the battery health falls to below 80%. I admit the wording on their website is quite arcane and can be hard to understand.

iPad Repair and Service - Apple Support (SG)

Need to repair your iPad? See your service options, their costs by coverage type and how long they take.

support.apple.com

And the issue is that Apple uses their own internal diagnostic tool to make the call, so it doesn’t really matter that 3rd party apps report in this regard - Apple is not going to go by them. If your coconut app reports a battery health of 80% while Apple’s own diagnostic app reports 94% (which was what happened with my 9.7” iPad Pro in 2018), you are out of luck.

And the reason for this, I believe, is because the iPad’s battery is not easily replaceable. At least, it would be far beyond the ability of most Apple store geniuses to dissemble and then reassemble, because the ipad is essentially glued shut.

It is what it is.

Who decides if my iPad's battery is worn down? It should be the user, not some low I.Q. "Genius" Whats to say that Apple's own diagnostics are very accurate? When I worked as an ACMT, I've tested MacBook batteries using MRI (Mac Resource Inspector) and I've seen several batteries in the green area yet they were visibly bulging. I'm paying them $99 to "replace" it. Cue the meme saying "shut up and take my money"😉 As the owner and user of my iPad, I KNOW from my own usage that it is't holding the same charge it once did. The working on the site isn't hard to understand. It's clear that the reference to less that 80 percent of original capacity is for AppleCare+ customers, not out of warranty PAYING customers like me. The wording on the site isn't hard to understand.

As far as them "gluing" the iPad shut, it's technically very strong double stick tape that secures the battery and logic board to the back case, and heat sensitive 3M double stick tape securing the display. When I did a iPad battery replacement a few years back, I used alcohol (like iFixit suggests) to remove the logic board and battery.

 

[Sal09]

I concur. If you’re concerned/dissatisfied with battery drain rate, your best tool is Screen Time. Add up the time, you might be surprised how many hours your device is actually providing. Don’t forget that network-based apps (e.g. messaging, streaming, web browsing) require frequent/constant processing, including notifications. You should also occasionally review location service access and background refresh for all of your apps.

The iPad in question is used by my 5 year old son so most of the things are turned off. Siri, Notifications, Location Services all off. He is allowed max 4 hours screen time. Currently battery drain avg. per hour is 20%.
His iPad Mini 2 which i traded in had 82% battery health after 3 years.

 

[ouimetnick]

If rechargeable batteries are consumables, then why make it so difficult to access and replace on iPad? Or are $1649 iPads consumable throw away devices now?

 

[MacCheetah3]

The iPad in question is used by my 5 year old son so most of the things are turned off. Siri, Notifications, Location Services all off. He is allowed max 4 hours screen time. Currently battery drain avg. per hour is 20%.
His iPad Mini 2 which i traded in had 82% battery health after 3 years.

Granted, the health percentage, remaining mAh on that battery report is surprising given the age and number of full charge cycles. However, as I’ve said, you shouldn’t put a lot of weight on the health percentage.

As to the battery drain... I don’t know if it’s worse on iOS 14, i don’t get concerned about that, but the rate you mention isn’t phenomenally off. The iPad doesn’t have the Battery section in Settings, which logs/reports battery percentage as well as time. Therefore, I can only give you examples from my iPhone — 85% health, if it matters.

16m of Safari = 10% (on Wi-Fi)
1h 3m Wordscapes = 29%
8m screen - 1h 46m background Amazon Music = 16%

Again, my point is sone apps can burn through battery power much quicker than you’d assume.

Also again... Does that justify Apple not satisfying an offered paid service? No.

Edit: Fixed some spelling.

 

[ouimetnick]

Went to the Apple Store again. This time I had a much nicer and more polite “Genius” He also witnessed the iPad’s battery percentage jump down slightly, and it failed the battery test. $99 later, I left with a refurbished iPad Pro 10.5.

I bought the 11” iPad Pro 1 TB from Apple during the Black Friday sales event. Here’s the dilemma, and I think I should return the iPad Pro 11. Lets hypothetically say I sold the 10.5” iPad Pro 512GB for $350. That means I get $250 (spent $100 for battery service) iPad Pro 11” cost $1199-$250=$949

$949 gets you a

2 year old A12Z (really an A12X)
2GB more RAM
512GB more storage
0.5” larger screen
FaceID (works well at home since I don’t wear a mask at home)

More flimsy feeling chassis (you can easily flex the iPad Pro 11, iPad Pro 10.5 doesn’t flex as easily)

USB-C

Am I missing anything? USB-C is nice, but the iPad doesn’t have independent resolution like a real computer does, iPad’s Files app is pathetic, and iMovie is under featured, and a real keyboard costs an extra $300

I don’t need a new Mac right now either, but I spent $800 on a used Mid 2014 MBP 13” back in 2016. It struggles when editing 4K video, but it has a real version of iMovie that allows for actual video editing, it runs FCPX fine, has proper external display support, built in keyboard, real file support, etc. Even the A10X with 4GB RAM in the 10.5” Pro handles 4K just fine.

Unless someone has any suggestions that don’t involve spending $30 on LumaFusion, I think iPad Pro isn’t really worth of the “Pro” name.

I wouldn’t consider 4 speakers to be a professional feature nor do I consider 120Hz refresh to be a professional feature considering Android devices have had this feature for a while now. $949 is a lot to spend on a device mostly used for consumption. I’d like to use it for productivity, but if it involves heavy typing, why would I spend $300 for a Magic Keyboard when I can use a perfectly capable MBP? Why spend $30 on a video editing app when I could use iMovie on macOS for free or use FCPX?

I will give the iPad Pro 11” credit, it scores higher in GeekBench 5 compared to the iPad Pro 10.5, it boots a few seconds faster and games like Asphalt and Need For Speed do load quicker, but the game play is the same. If $949 got me a new iPad Pro 11” 1 TB with a A14X and some other improvements, I’d be tempted. But it seems like perhaps a MBP with M1 would be a smarter choice (when the time comes to replace my 2014 MBP) I do use my iPad more than my Mac, but a Mac seems to be a more powerful, more useful, more features, better value, etc.

 

[Astonish_IT]

Hello Ouimetnick,

I am glad that finally they “replaced” your iPad Pro battery. I passed from a 1st gen iPad Pro to 2018 iPad Pro and I couldn’t be happier. But obviously, my use case is a bit different and I had already bought many softwares such as LumaFusion.

For me, usb-c is god sent. Finally I am able to connect dongles, harddisks..etc easier to my iPad without paying the overpriced dongles from Apple. Again, usb-c permits me to use my phone’s usb c charger with the iPad Pro and also again buying a good quality 3rd party fast charger, if i wish to, without buying the higher priced Macbook charger. Those are two adventages that I do enjoy a lot, without mentioning the smaller foot print of the 12.9 iPad Pro compared to the first gen. In your case, it is an extra .5” of screen, as you have mentioned. I do like the Face ID too.

Having said that, I don’t know what are your expectations from a video editing app, but many people who wants to do ”pro” video editting on their computers, they as well, buy certain apps such as FinalCut Pro, Adobe Premiere..etc. Same on the Windows side as well. True, you have some “basic” apps such as iMovie or Movie Maker on your computer, and I agree that the iMovie on the iPad is much more primite compared to the full versions on the computer but for a “more serious” video editting, people mostly move onto other apps. LumaFusion is actually pretty powerful, and even tho yes, it has an initial price tag, It is worth it and it is something you can buy once and use it on your future iPads as well. So if you think about 5+ use case scenario of LumaFusion, the price is not that relevant, especially if you buy it on black friday for 19$.

I agree that it would be nice if Apple offered us some more pro level app on the iPad Pro, but it is almost the same case on computers.

 

[Aydy]

When my ipp 10.5 was at 83% health I contacted apple to arrang a battery replacemen. They said it was performing fine and “within expected limits” they told me i would only be “eligible” to pay for a replacement when the battery health dropped below 80%

It was after that phone conversation that a strange occurrence came about. My battery health remained at 83% for an entire 14 months yet the actual usage life continued to degrade to a point where it was needing Charged 3X in a day. In The end I gave the iPad to my cousin and upgraded to a 12.9 2020 model. The iPad I have away was still displaying 83% health when I passed it on..despite being used heavily in the 14 months since speaking to apple (at original 83%)

What are the chances apple can manipulate the software to prevent batteries reaching the crucial 80% requirement for battery Replace? I only became suspicious of this when I recently found out they, mostly, do not in fact swap the battery but replace entire device.

Hypothetically. By putting a stop on the software displaying the required level (for exchange/replace) they can effectively, deliberately reduce eligibility and most users..like myself, give up waiting for elusive 80% but upgrade instead

 

[rui no onna]

What are the chances apple can manipulate the software to prevent batteries reaching the crucial 80% requirement for battery Replace? I only became suspicious of this when I recently found out they, mostly, do not in fact swap the battery but replace entire device.

Hypothetically. By putting a stop on the software displaying the required level (for exchange/replace) they can effectively, deliberately reduce eligibility and most users..like myself, give up waiting for elusive 80% but upgrade instead

Willfully and knowingly doing that is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

Easier for them to just not display the battery percentage at all. Settings - Battery doesn't show battery health for iPads. On the iPhone, they only started showing battery health after #batterygate.

 

[Aydy]

Willfully and knowingly doing that is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

Easier for them to just not display the battery percentage at all. Settings - Battery doesn't show battery health for iPads. On the iPhone, they only started showing battery health after #batterygate.

Yeah. I only was aware of my iPad battery health when performance was lacking and coconut battery showed 83% which correlated with the tech support I spoke with. Incidentally, only when pushed would he confirm the battery percentage. He really didn't want to give that figure..instead kept saying it was within normal operation threshold.

Also, my above hypothetical doesn't hold water in retrospect as it wouldn't explain all users who currently use iPads with health in the 70s and lower. Perhaps an exception on my particular device as to why it suddenly stopped depleting ?‍♂️

 

[Astonish_IT]

Willfully and knowingly doing that is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

Easier for them to just not display the battery percentage at all. Settings - Battery doesn't show battery health for iPads. On the iPhone, they only started showing battery health after #batterygate.

Oh, I had never thought about it, so this could be the reason why they do not display in the iPad the battery health? To avoid people come and say that the battery health is below 80% and then they could not say that their system was showing above 80%.

 

[ThemePro]

Oh, I had never thought about it, so this could be the reason why they do not display in the iPad the battery health? To avoid people come and say that the battery health is below 80% and then they could not say that their system was showing above 80%.

Quite likely. I use the Mac CoconutBattery app to check my iPad and my 2015 iPad Pro is down to 72%. That said, being a large device with a large battery, it's not overly noticeable.

 

[Digitalguy]

Guys, I am just coming back from the Genius Bar and they tested my iPad pro 12.9 and found the battery at 56% (coconut and imazing were giving me around 40%, some days a bit more). So they will give me a new iPad... That's great for a device that has over 5 years (bought in November 2015) and is now ready to live many more years. My mini 4 is certainly eligible too, since I get similar results, but that's a tougher decision, since it's not worth that much.... maybe I'll do it if it gets even worse.... Now however I know that there is around a 20% disparity between coconut/imazing and Apple. So if these software show that your battery is under 60% or maybe even under 70% then it should be good for replacement...

 

[ahostmadsen]

This is good to know. I thought I could get my battery replaced if I was willing to pay. My 11" iPad pro is still under AppleCare+ (exactly two years old). I feel the battery life is not what it used to be. I used to easily be able to get through a day without recharging, but now I sometimes have to top up at the end of the day. Coconut battery says 85%, and I had Apple do a remote diagnostics, which also said the battery is OK. So, I don't think I can get it replaced under AppleCare+, but I had hoped I could pay. It really bothers me it cannot make it through a day, and just going from 85% to 100% would definitely get me there.

 

[Populus]

This is good to know. I thought I could get my battery replaced if I was willing to pay. My 11" iPad pro is still under AppleCare+ (exactly two years old). I feel the battery life is not what it used to be. I used to easily be able to get through a day without recharging, but now I sometimes have to top up at the end of the day. Coconut battery says 85%, and I had Apple do a remote diagnostics, which also said the battery is OK. So, I don't think I can get it replaced under AppleCare+, but I had hoped I could pay. It really bothers me it cannot make it through a day, and just going from 85% to 100% would definitely get me there.

Yeah, I have AppleCare+ as well, and it is a bit of a bummer they don't want to replace it if your battery is not that good, but at least they got you covered in case you drop it accidentally. I got my AppleCare+ because I dropped it during the first week, but fortunately the iPad survived quite well. Since that moment, I knew it could fall again at any moment. For Macs? meh, I will be careful. But with iPads it is a good investment.

 

[Populus]

I just had the same experience. Coconut Battery says 74%, but when they ran their diagnostics (and I had them do it twice), it shows 90%. I'm only getting about 3 hours from my iPadPro 10.5... 1.5 hours of Apple News drains about 50% of the charge! Not sure what to do... not a fan of 3rd party batteries...

I had this experience with my old 2010 MacBook Pro, with a battery replaced not long ago. After it was replaced, I noticed the degradation was especially quick/aggressive, and when I went to the Genius Bar (the battery was still under warranty) their diagnostics threw a completely different degradation%. It's like their systems have a 10% margin when measuring capacity (like, if your full capacity is at 80%, their diagnostics will show a 90%). I think the only point I am not satisfied with Apple is their battery policies.

 

[henry72]

Guys, I am just coming back from the Genius Bar and they tested my iPad pro 12.9 and found the battery at 56% (coconut and imazing were giving me around 40%, some days a bit more). So they will give me a new iPad... That's great for a device that has over 5 years (bought in November 2015) and is now ready to live many more years. My mini 4 is certainly eligible too, since I get similar results, but that's a tougher decision, since it's not worth that much.... maybe I'll do it if it gets even worse.... Now however I know that there is around a 20% disparity between coconut/imazing and Apple. So if these software show that your battery is under 60% or maybe even under 70% then it should be good for replacement...

Nice and good to know about the discrepancy.

Did you get a new iPad Pro 2015?

 

[rui no onna]

Nice and good to know about the discrepancy.

Did you get a new iPad Pro 2015? If so I can’t believe they still have them...

California Lemon Law (Song-Beverly), manufacturers need to provide repair parts/hardware support for at least 7 years. Even if the 2015 iPad Pro doesn't get future software updates, they still need to support the hardware until 2022.

 

[macagain]

I just had the same experience. Coconut Battery says 74%, but when they ran their diagnostics (and I had them do it twice), it shows 90%. I'm only getting about 3 hours from my iPadPro 10.5... 1.5 hours of Apple News drains about 50% of the charge! Not sure what to do... not a fan of 3rd party batteries...

Happy Days! Last week I initiated a new service request via the website and had a box sent to me. I sent my iPad in on Sat fully expecting it to be bounced back. But on Monday, I got an email saying it was received and work had started, then just 5 hours later, got another email saying a replacement was being sent out to me, and today it arrived! (Yes, different S/N)

Don't know if it made a difference, probably not, but I'd taken a screenshot of coconut battery, circled the battery health bar in red, and set that as the wallpaper on both the home and lock screens. I was hoping whoever turned it on would see it. Also, i shipped it with only a 20% charge, because that's when it'll drop to nothing in 15-20 mins, hoping that it'd die on them while they were running diagnostics. Guess I'll never know if any of that made a diff... but I'm thrilled that i can postpone giving up my split kb for a little while. Ironically, I'd ordered a new Air cos it was on sale on Amazon... but it's going back now.

Strange thing is the only charge that hit my apple card yesterday was for $0.52. They did authorize the $99 charge when I first initiated the service request, but that never got confirmed.

Best thing in this whole episode... I didn't have to speak to or chat with a single person!

 

[Natzoo]

California Lemon Law (Song-Beverly), manufacturers need to provide repair parts/hardware support for at least 7 years. Even if the 2015 iPad Pro doesn't get future software updates, they still need to support the hardware until 2022.

Hypothetically speaking, could I just go to California to replace a device that is 6 years old Or do you have to be a resident? I mean I’m not going to travel to another state to just fix a product but curious If it would work.

 

[rui no onna]

Hypothetically speaking, could I just go to California to replace a device that is 6 years old Or do you have to be a resident? I mean I’m not going to travel to another state to just fix a product but curious If it would work.

I believe you need to have bought the product in California and paid CA sales tax. That said, the manufacturer can still give you the run around and it could take weeks before you get to a resolution so it seems highly impractical to pursue if you're out of state.

California's Lemon Law helps protect pricey consumer electronics

California's Lemon Law is intended first and foremost to keep new-car buyers from being stuck with a hunk of junk.

www.latimes.com

Also, the Lemon Law doesn't mean that the repair is free, it just requires that it's available for 7 years.