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MacBainNO

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2017
112
78
I've had my iPad Air 2 for several years and used it a lot. Recently I noticed that the battery life was starting to decline (750 cycles).
So I decided to change to a new battery myself since the cost at Apple is 5X what a battery costs.
Anyhow, after changing the battery and having done two full charge/discharge cycles I get a little bit over 6 hours use (tested by playing a youtube video with). Does this sound right?, I thought it was supposed to have 10 hours of life? Could I have gotten a bad battery or is 6 hours ok?
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,668
4,508
it's not right, but I am not surprised since it's not a genuine Apple battery... but you still got more than what you paid for...
 

MacBainNO

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2017
112
78
it's not right, but I am not surprised since it's not a genuine Apple battery... but you still got more than what you paid for...
Ok, so I should just keep the battery and not try to get a replacement one?
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,668
4,508
Ok, so I should just keep the battery and not try to get a replacement one?
It will be the same, Apple does not provide original batteries to non authorised shops, so you would just waste the time you spent changing it again (how long did it take you? I guess it's not an easy swap...)
 

MacBainNO

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2017
112
78
It will be the same, Apple does not provide original batteries to non authorised shops, so you would just waste the time you spent changing it again (how long did it take you? I guess it's not an easy swap...)
It was sold to me as genuine, but of course it's not.
It wasn't too hard, but since I live in Norway I have GSM model and the ifixit guide was missing a lot.
I choose to to it the "correct" way any took out the logic bord instead of just bending in like a lot of people do.
Since it was the first time it took me about 1-2 hours.
I guess 6 hours is ok, besides it charges quick.
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,668
4,508
It was sold to me as genuine, but of course it's not.
It wasn't too hard, but since I live in Norway I have GSM model and the ifixit guide was missing a lot.
I choose to to it the "correct" way any took out the logic bord instead of just bending in like a lot of people do.
Since it was the first time it took me about 1-2 hours.
I guess 6 hours is ok, besides it charges quick.
Maybe install iMazing in your pc/mac (free version) and check the battery information in the bottom right corner (effective max capacity etc.)
 

MacBainNO

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2017
112
78
Here is the original battery (not fully charged when I took the photo) and the new one.
So i guess the new one has 278mAh less capacity then an original, but still 2477mAh better then the state of the old one, if I interpret these numbers correctly.
But if the difference is only 278mAh that wouldn't make the original battery last 10 hours as apple lists in the specs sheet?

11 (Tilpasset) (1).jpg
2.jpg
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,668
4,508
Here is the original battery (not fully charged when I took the photo) and the new one.
So i guess the new one has 278mAh less capacity then an original, but still 2477mAh better then the state of the old one, if I interpret these numbers correctly.
But if the difference is only 278mAh that wouldn't make the original battery last 10 hours as apple lists in the specs sheet?

View attachment 1779551 View attachment 1779550
I have already seen this, while Apple battery are around 104-106% when new, these third party ones are under 100%. Also cells tend to degrade faster over time, but with the money they cost, you can change it again in a couple of years if necessary and still have more battery than the Apple one...
 

MacBainNO

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2017
112
78
I have already seen this, while Apple battery are around 104-106% when new, these third party ones are under 100%. Also cells tend to degrade faster over time, but with the money they cost, you can change it again in a couple of years if necessary and still have more battery than the Apple one...
Yes, makes sense. Given that apple charge $140 for a battery change(Here in Norway) it's worth the trade-off.
But I still don't think a new factory iPad Air 2 would last 10 hours. They state "up" to 10 hours, so maybe with brightness turned way down I would last a bit longer, but still not 10. Maybe the new OS also drains more battery the with the launch OS like catcat98 said.
 
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