iPad Apple refuses to replace iPad battery

[dcell]

Would love to hear your experience with your iPad - what did they charge you? Did they have you mail it in? Was it a replacement device or your original device? Thanks!

I bought the device in Hong Kong at the end of 2017. So it is out of warranty for quite some time. I live in The Netherlands though. It is my original device and lately i have been using it heavily because of the lockdown here.

Two days ago i had it with the battery life and consulted Apple Support by phone and the employee analysed some things and recommended me to mail it in as i have no Apple Store nearby.

I explicitly asked if i could use the out of warranty battery replacement for 109 euro in this case. The employee answered me with "big chance" after his analysis but he also said it is up to the technician to make the final call.

I opted for UPS pick up and today UPS picked up my device at my home. That cost me 12 euro extra on top. So now it is a waiting game. I will follow up with my experience when i know more.

 

[max2]

I bought the device in Hong Kong at the end of 2017. So it is out of warranty for quite some time. I live in The Netherlands though. It is my original device and lately i have been using it heavily because of the lockdown here.

Two days ago i had it with the battery life and consulted Apple Support by phone and the employee analysed some things and recommended me to mail it in as i have no Apple Store nearby.

I explicitly asked if i could use the out of warranty battery replacement for 109 euro in this case. The employee answered me with "big chance" after his analysis but he also said it is up to the technician to make the final call.

I opted for UPS pick up and today UPS picked up my device at my home. That cost me 12 euro extra on top. So now it is a waiting game. I will follow up with my experience when i know more.

Cool I have a question what is UPS like there ? Is it any different ? Do they use the same big UPS brown trucks ? Curious is all. I know it always cost more to have them pick it up.

 

[max2]

The trucks look cool there! Not sure if really much smaller though. Understandable.

 

[dcell]

The trucks look cool there! Not sure if really much smaller though. Understandable.

The UPS trucks over here are the same as in this picture. The driver unfolded a box with a plastic wrap inside specifically made to hold and protect electronic devices during transit.

 

[dcell]

To follow up on my case. Apple received my iPad this morning and i just got an mail that they will sent me a replacement device

No confirmation though that it will be for the price of out of warranty battery replacement but i expect that they would have contacted me if my iPad did not qualify for battery replacement.

 

[dcell]

I got my replacement iPad today. That was lightning quick 'repair'. Three days in total from pickup to delivery. Also got my invoice by mail today and they charged me 120 euro in total. Coconut Battery is showing 96.2% design capacity though. I will check again in a few days ....

It needed an update as it was on iPadOS 11.2. Time to restore my iTunes backup.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I got my replacement iPad today. That was lightning quick 'repair'. Three days in total from pickup to delivery. Also got my invoice by mail today and they charged me 120 euro in total. Coconut Battery is showing 96.2% design capacity though. I will check again in a few days ....

It needed an update as it was on iPadOS 11.2. Time to restore my iTunes backup.

$120 Euros ain't terrible but that's kinda expensive. The 96.2% would annoy me but hopefully that ticks up over the next dozen or so charges. I'm guessing they just sent a refurbished unit?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

$120 Euros ain't terrible but that's kinda expensive. The 96.2% would annoy me but hopefully that ticks up over the next dozen or so charges. I'm guessing they just sent a refurbished unit?

Apple doesn't replace batteries they send you a refurbished unit.. Basically you get a "like" new iPad for $120 euros... I've watched some videos on replacing batteries on newer iPads and I would rather get the refurbished unit than have some clown try and replace it for around the same $...

 

[dcell]

$120 Euros ain't terrible but that's kinda expensive. The 96.2% would annoy me but hopefully that ticks up over the next dozen or so charges. I'm guessing they just sent a refurbished unit?

Yes it is a refurbished unit. Looks like new on the outside and came in a plain white box.

Apple doesn't replace batteries they send you a refurbished unit.. Basically you get a "like" new iPad for $120 euros... I've watched some videos on replacing batteries on newer iPads and I would rather get the refurbished unit than have some clown try and replace it for around the same $...

Basically this is what i was thinking. I also consulted some 3rd parties for a battery replacement but they weren't cheaper and seeing videos on iFixit how risky it is to replace the battery i find 120 euro perfectly acceptable for a remanufactured unit.

 

[Digitalguy]

I got my replacement iPad today. That was lightning quick 'repair'. Three days in total from pickup to delivery. Also got my invoice by mail today and they charged me 120 euro in total. Coconut Battery is showing 96.2% design capacity though. I will check again in a few days ....

It needed an update as it was on iPadOS 11.2. Time to restore my iTunes backup.

Man that's expensive, it's over $140. I guess it's VAT... Here in Switzerland it's 105 CHF, or around 95 EUR.
The 96% is strange. All my devices have always been over 100% (between 104 and 107).
Maybe check it with iMazing...

 

[dcell]

Man that's expensive, it's over $140. I guess it's VAT... Here in Switzerland it's 105 CHF, or around 95 EUR.
The 96% is strange. All my devices have always been over 100% (between 104 and 107).
Maybe check it with iMazing...

109 euro for the battery and 12 euro for pick at and delivery at home. The VAT here in the Netherlands is 21%

Apple charges the same amount in Germany where the VAT is 19%

The design capacity was jumping between 96 and 99 % in Coconut Battery. I have checked a few times when i was restoring some videos to VLC. I’ll try iMazing tomorrow and see if there is any difference with Coconut Battery.

 

[Digitalguy]

109 euro for the battery and 12 euro for pick at and delivery at home. The VAT here in the Netherlands is 21%

Apple charges the amount in Germany where the VAT is 19%

The design capacity was jumping between 96 and 99 % in Coconut Battery. I have checked a few times when i was restoring some videos to VLC. I’ll try iMazing tomorrow and see if there is any difference with Coconut Battery.

Ok that's more reasonable...
I went myself to the Apple store to pick it up. Here VAT is 7.7% (probably the lowest in Europe).
Life is expensive here, but at least tech is generally cheaper than in the euro area.... Apple stuff in EUR is so much more expensive than in the US. Here while more expensive, it's still closer to the US.
For instance an iPad air here it's 630 (as a teacher I can get it for 580) vs 600 in the US (with the CHF being 1.08 USD), in EUR it's 670 EUR... (and the EUR is 1.20 USD) so $800, the price of a pro in the US!

 

[dcell]

Ok that's more reasonable...
I went myself to the Apple store to pick it up. Here VAT is 7.7% (probably the lowest in Europe).
Life is expensive here, but at least tech is generally cheaper than in the euro area.... Apple stuff in EUR is so much more expensive than in the US. Here while more expensive, it's still closer to the US.
For instance an iPad air here it's 630 (as a teacher I can get it for 580) vs 600 in the US (with the CHF being 1.08 USD), in EUR it's 670 EUR... (and the EUR is 1.20 USD) so $800, the price of a pro in the US!

I got my iPad Pro 10.5 (256GB) in Hong Kong while i was there a few years ago and saved about 250 euro compared to buying in Europe. Only downside was 1 year warranty instead of 2. Now with a new battery i have still saved like 130 euro.

At the moment Imazing is showing 98,6% design capacity while Coconut Battery is showing 96,5%

 

[Choisky]

My 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 has 350 cycles, health 50.9% according to coconutBattery. Apple claimed it was 96% healthy. It used to last 10-12 hours, now it’s 5-7 hours.

i think apple doesn’t replace batteries anymore because they break the iPad too often, and thus need to replace the whole thing. (they did that with my phone once). a new battery would extend the life of my iPad another 2 years and I was willing to pay up to $150.

 

[Digitalguy]

My 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 has 350 cycles, health 50.9% according to coconutBattery. Apple claimed it was 96% healthy. It used to last 10-12 hours, now it’s 5-7 hours.

i think apple doesn’t replace batteries anymore because they break the iPad too often, and thus need to replace the whole thing. (they did that with my phone once). a new battery would extend the life of my iPad another 2 years and I was willing to pay up to $150.

they do replace it. My 2015 12.9 was 40% according to coconut and 56% accoring to Apple. It was lasting less than 2 hours. One thing to keep in mind, you should test the battery when it's fully charged or almost fully charged...

 

[Mom Bear]

My 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 has 350 cycles, health 50.9% according to coconutBattery. Apple claimed it was 96% healthy. It used to last 10-12 hours, now it’s 5-7 hours.

i think apple doesn’t replace batteries anymore because they break the iPad too often, and thus need to replace the whole thing. (they did that with my phone once). a new battery would extend the life of my iPad another 2 years and I was willing to pay up to $150.

My 2017 iPad battery is getting weaker, and I went to Best Buy (in Minnesota, US) to see if I could get it replaced with a new one. The Geek Squad told me that they don’t replace the batteries on iPads, and Apple doesn’t either. Apparently Apple just gives you a refurbished device for $99 and takes your iPad to be refurbished. He suggested Batteries Plus, but that seems unsafe to me. I may just buy a new iPad before I travel, which is when I need the battery life. Apple estimated that they could give me $255 for the old one on a trade -in.

 

[sananda]

Yeah, clearly if a price for battery service is posted there should be clear guidance on what metrics are involved to qualify for said service.

Apple should honor their service offering, or at the very least provide succinct requirements.*

* Too bad an Apple Genius Bar employee can't chime in on the specific guidelines and perhaps why they're in place -- assuming they might be privy to that knowledge.

I tried to get the battery replaced on my iPad Air (original) in 2019 at the Apple Store, Regent Street. I was told that the battery was "consumed" but that did not entitle me to have the battery replaced for the battery service fee. Rather I would have to pay the much more expensive out of warranty service fee to have the battery replaced or wait until the battery "failed". I don't know what the definitions of "consumed" and "failed" are.

Apple Support remotely tested my Apple Watch yesterday and said the battery was "consumed". I don't know whether I can get that replaced for the battery service fee. I'll make an appointment soon (currently storefront support in the UK) and see what happens.

 

[Digitalguy]

I tried to get the battery replaced on my iPad Air (original) in 2019 at the Apple Store, Regent Street. I was told that the battery was "consumed" but that did not entitle me to have the battery replaced for the battery service fee. Rather I would have to pay the much more expensive out of warranty service fee to have the battery replaced or wait until the battery "failed". I don't know what the definitions of "consumed" and "failed" are.

Apple Support remotely tested my Apple Watch yesterday and said the battery was "consumed". I don't know whether I can get that replaced for the battery service fee. I'll make an appointment soon (currently storefront support in the UK) and see what happens.

Failed means that it failed their test. Mine failed their test at 56% (I think the fail threshold is 80%). Mind you this does not match Coconut o iMazing, which both were reporting around 40% in my case...)

 

[Bernardinho]

Failed means that it failed their test. Mine failed their test at 56% (I think the fail threshold is 80%). Mind you this does not match Coconut o iMazing, which both were reporting around 40% in my case...)

My 12.9 ipad Pro from 2016 was judged by the genius as a battery fail today, so I can have the replacement for 99 (gbp). I get about 2 hours surfing the web on half brightness, which equated to 76% reported on apple’s software. Even without the additional sudden shutdowns and delayed recharge behaviour, that 76% figure hardly equates to the 20% of battery stamina that I am experiencing. Just relieved that my machine made the cut.... no equivalent replacement in stock today so I have to wait a bit.

 

[Digitalguy]

My 12.9 ipad Pro from 2016 was judged by the genius as a battery fail today, so I can have the replacement for 99 (gbp). I get about 2 hours surfing the web on half brightness, which equated to 76% reported on apple’s software. Even without the additional sudden shutdowns and delayed recharge behaviour, that 76% figure hardly equates to the 20% of battery stamina that I am experiencing. Just relieved that my machine made the cut.... no equivalent replacement in stock today so I have to wait a bit.

wow that was close... mine lasted 2-3 hours too, but it really depended on use... the original iPad pro has variable refresh rate so if it was displaying static content it can last a while, because it lowers the refresh rate, while with video it didn't even last 2 hours.... this is again one of those "hidden" features (like USB 3.0 or 30w charging) that while inferior to full promotion still makes the original pro better than more recent non pro iPads

 

[ricketysquire]

Just following up to this thread. Rather than continue to argue with Apple, I decided to trade in the 6th generation iPad to Best Buy this past November. I then purchased an iPad mini 5, but it was a bit too small for my needs so I returned it and got a 128 gb 8th generation iPad when they were on sale. I've been using it on a daily basis since then without any issues.

 

[Icabod Slipp]

Apple doesn’t replace iPad batteries, they replace the entire iPad altogether (often with a refurbished model), which is probably why they are stricter about servicing iPads - said model definitely costs more than the $99 you are paying.

Had a similar experience to yours some years back (2016 iPad Pro was having poor battery life, their diagnostics showed it still had 94% battery health while coconut showed 80%).

I will say you are out of luck with Apple, and your options are to either check with a third party repair store elsewhere or upgrade your iPad. I ended up getting the 2018 iPad Pro later that year.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What's the definition of a refurb? Isn't it an iPad who's battery has been replaced? Sure, there are other reasons -- returns, etc. -- but if I take in my 2018 basic iPad for this reason (and the battery life sucks on it), I don't think I'm going to get a simple returned iPad that someone used for a few days then brought back to the store.

 

[Digitalguy]

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What's the definition of a refurb? Isn't it an iPad who's battery has been replaced? Sure, there are other reasons -- returns, etc. -- but if I take in my 2018 basic iPad for this reason (and the battery life sucks on it), I don't think I'm going to get a simple returned iPad that someone used for a few days then brought back to the store.

Apple refurbished means the give you a new battery, new screen and new external case, only the internals are reused

 

[Abazigal]

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What's the definition of a refurb? Isn't it an iPad who's battery has been replaced? Sure, there are other reasons -- returns, etc. -- but if I take in my 2018 basic iPad for this reason (and the battery life sucks on it), I don't think I'm going to get a simple returned iPad that someone used for a few days then brought back to the store.

It basically means you are not getting the same iPad back.

It’s a similar story when I brought my Smart Keyboard in for servicing. I had to return a few days later to collect a replacement as they didn’t have any on hand, while there were a ton of Smart Keyboards on sale.

It looked every bit as new as the original, just that it didn’t come in the original packaging, so I assume it’s probably a returned model.

 

[Phil77354]

I don't have an issue with Apple refusing to replace a battery but will use this thread for my post since it seems to have evolved into a broader discussion of iPad battery questions and so forth.

I'm going to be having the battery for my 5th generation iPad replaced. I've moved to an iPad Pro model and will be handing this 5 gen down to family members, and I want it to be in good condition. I had noticed the battery life didn't seem very good, ran iMazing and it told me the battery condition was 52%. It is 4 years old, I don't question that the battery needs to be replaced.

I decided to initiate a chat with Apple support to get a confirmation on battery health, and they ran a diagnostic check and gave me a similar result - actually reported that my battery health is 45%. Cycles are 469. I realize the battery should theoretically be good for 1000 cycles or so, but I have no complaint.

I'm sharing this because I feel that having the ability for Apple to do a remote diagnostic check on a device is such a terrific thing, it didn't cost anything for them to do this for me, no trip to the Apple Store was necessary, and I now have confidence that I'm making my decision based upon solid data. I've used the Apple Support chat a few times over the past few years, for various questions, and have always been very happy with the result.

My final point, and question for the forum, is that I'm still not fully clear on whether the battery for this iPad will actually be replaced, or if it will be a swap-out as has been stated here quite a few times. Either way is ok with me, although I did ask the service advisor during our chat session if they actually replaced the battery, and he said they did. But he may not actually be that familiar with what is really done.

What I am wondering is this - if they replace the case, display, etc when they do a 'battery replacement' (as stated in most recent two posts here), then they at least must keep the same back cover otherwise the serial number is not going to be the same. I'm wondering if anyone here has gone through this themselves and can confirm that?

Also, I plan to have Best Buy do the replacement, since they are convenient and the Apple Store is a couple of hours drive for me. I don't necessarily expect them to have the parts on hand for this older iPad, am thinking that I may make the initial appointment and then either leave it there for the work to be done once the parts are in hand, or will return when they are.