iPad Air iPad Air 2 battery replacement. Is it salvageable?

[PinkyMacGodess]

Really liked the iFixit kit. Had everything right there. 5 stars! They said it was difficult, but I'd rate it as darn near impossible.

I worked at it for over 3 hours, and had a few hiccups, but nothing earth shaking. I thought...

This is what I have left. *Something* didn't go right, and the whole thing is toast. Well, or at least the display is. I don't know what happened, but it's totally unusable at this point. *sigh*

Is it worth a replacement screen, or just cut my losses?

I *think* I must have snagged something on the back of the display. The instructions do not say 'go deep towards the back, under the screen with the picks'. Had I known, or had they said to do that, I could have been warned. All of their pictures show the picks parallel with the face, not at any angle. Tip to people *dumb* enough to try this themselves: GO DEEP!! (I think they mentioned it, but they could have stressed it during the written instructions. I DO read instructions)

Sad...

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

🥹 Found this small piece on the floor. Bummer. Just that little piece. Crap...

But I have a new iPad Air 2 battery. (Always look on the bright side of life?)

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

After looking at the screen, I don't see where it might have come from. It could be from almost anywhere at this point. It's a small discrete board with a small chip on it, and looks like a couple resistors.

Proof that just because we have the 'right to repair', that not all repairs are going to go well. 'It' happens... 🥹

 

[BugeyeSTI]

After looking at the screen, I don't see where it might have come from. It could be from almost anywhere at this point. It's a small discrete board with a small chip on it, and looks like a couple resistors.

Proof that just because we have the 'right to repair', that not all repairs are going to go well. 'It' happens... 🥹

I was contemplating replacing my Air2 battery and after looking at the tear down I decided no effin way.. Everything is glued down and it's quite obvious it isn't something that even 3rd party shops should be trusted with.. The $99 replacement fee Apple charges is the way to go in this situation, you get a refurbished replacement and it eliminates the chance of damaging anything... In my case, It wasn't worth spending money on something only worth $100 so if I were you I'd cut my losses

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I was contemplating replacing my Air2 battery and after looking at the tear down I decided no effin way.. Everything is glued down and it's quite obvious it isn't something that even 3rd party shops should be trusted with.. The $99 replacement fee Apple charges is the way to go in this situation, you get a refurbished replacement and it eliminates the chance of damaging anything... In my case, It wasn't worth spending money on something only worth $100 so if I were you I'd cut my losses

They told me they didn't do batteries in Air 2's! WTF!?!?

Yeah, it's a hot mess. The LCD part of the screen nestles down in the chassis, so if you go straight in, you can actually separate the LCD from the touch screen overlay. AND, after thinking my 'go deep' comment, if you go too deep in certain areas, you might snag important parts (more than the provided document says). I think that the part I tore off was actually on either the frame, or the mainboard. They show the picks penetrating the side for quite a distance, but the adhesive is only around an eighth of an inch wide, so actually going deep isn't quite necessary, oops. The document they sent was in error, it seemed to show a deeper penetration under the screen assembly then was at all necessary.

I mean, NOW I see the issues. Until I can do an effective postmortem on the system, I won't know what parts I might need. In the meantime I have an iPad Mini4, and it's damned weird how slow it is doing some functions, and others it's really quite quick at. Is Apple really throttling the system, making certain operations take longer than others? It seems so 'odd'.

But the iPad Air 2 is likely gone. Lessons learned. *shrug*

 

[Mlrollin91]

They told me they didn't do batteries in Air 2's! WTF!?!?

Yeah, it's a hot mess. The LCD part of the screen nestles down in the chassis, so if you go straight in, you can actually separate the LCD from the touch screen overlay. AND, after thinking my 'go deep' comment, if you go too deep in certain areas, you might snag important parts (more than the provided document says). I think that the part I tore off was actually on either the frame, or the mainboard. They show the picks penetrating the side for quite a distance, but the adhesive is only around an eighth of an inch wide, so actually going deep isn't quite necessary, oops. The document they sent was in error, it seemed to show a deeper penetration under the screen assembly then was at all necessary.

I mean, NOW I see the issues. Until I can do an effective postmortem on the system, I won't know what parts I might need. In the meantime I have an iPad Mini4, and it's damned weird how slow it is doing some functions, and others it's really quite quick at. Is Apple really throttling the system, making certain operations take longer than others? It seems so 'odd'.

But the iPad Air 2 is likely gone. Lessons learned. *shrug*

Air 2 is a vintage product, so they no longer do battery replacements. it made its way onto the vintage list in May 2022.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Air 2 is a vintage product, so they no longer do battery replacements. it made its way onto the vintage list in May 2022.

That's what I thought. I did check Apple's battery replacement website, and the Air 2 was definitely not on the list. Sad.

But if anyone is going to try replacing their own, meaning to stress this as much as possible: Don't go deep...

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Found where the part came from. (I wish iFixit used cellular models to tear down too) And it's beyond toast...

Now wondering how I save the Home button for use in a new screen.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Apple.com/recycling

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Apple.com/recycling

I will likely put a new screen on it because it's got a new battery, so... IF I can get the home button removed without ripping the flat cable(s). They are sure stuck on there very well. The 'IOpener' heating tube didn't seem to loosen the stuckum as much as I would think ideal. That's part of the reason why I went deeper, because the picks weren't staying in, and the tip was flexing a bit. Next time, I'll get someone else to do it. Once bitten...

Oh, and it is really easy to separate the touch surface from the LCD back if people go too deep on the sides. It's not for brute forcing...

They are made for being assembled, not disassembled, sadly...

 

[saudor]

as a heads up, these third party batteries are often a hit and miss when it comes to quality. They might be ok for a few months to a year but from my experience they tend to die real quick while the apple ones will last much longer. So if you intend to use the device longer, it might be a good idea to replace the battery at apple before the support drops off.

I replaced my 5S battery back in the days and it only lasted about maybe a year before acting up - at 1/3 of the price of apple. Even when "new", battery life wasn't that great and the health was hacked to always show 92% and 1 charge cycle. Since apple's last 3-5 years for me, it didn't make any sense.

I recently replaced my 8+ battery at the apple store. The phone runs like new - under light use, it lasts 5-7 days which is insane.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

as a heads up, these third party batteries are often a hit and miss when it comes to quality. They might be ok for a few months to a year but from my experience they tend to die real quick while the apple ones will last much longer. So if you intend to use the device longer, it might be a good idea to replace the battery at apple before the support drops off.

I replaced my 5S battery back in the days and it only lasted about maybe a year before acting up - at 1/3 of the price of apple. Even when "new", battery life wasn't that great and the health was hacked to always show 92% and 1 charge cycle. Since apple's last 3-5 years for me, it didn't make any sense.

I recently replaced my 8+ battery at the apple store. The phone runs like new - under light use, it lasts 5-7 days which is insane.

It's old enough Apple no longer replaces batteries in them. It's an iFixit battery, and I'd hope that it would be a 'good battery', but you never know. I think me keeping it plugged in for years might have toasted the original battery. It just would blink out within 10 or 15 seconds, and the screen would show the empty battery display. *sigh* Bit I'm still below replacing it, so far. I'm wondering why the 'iOpener' didn't release the adhesive very much, but I did this to myself. Yikes. I was so nervous that it would turn out bad.

 

[saudor]

It's old enough Apple no longer replaces batteries in them. It's an iFixit battery, and I'd hope that it would be a 'good battery', but you never know. I think me keeping it plugged in for years might have toasted the original battery. It just would blink out within 10 or 15 seconds, and the screen would show the empty battery display. *sigh* Bit I'm still below replacing it, so far. I'm wondering why the 'iOpener' didn't release the adhesive very much, but I did this to myself. Yikes. I was so nervous that it would turn out bad.

the ifixit is better and at least you should have some kind of warranty. and yeah keeping it plugged in all the time is bad. these things do well when kept between 20 and 80. would be nice if there was a way to keep it within that range but that doesn’t make business sense for apple.

 

[FeliApple]

It's old enough Apple no longer replaces batteries in them. It's an iFixit battery, and I'd hope that it would be a 'good battery', but you never know. I think me keeping it plugged in for years might have toasted the original battery. It just would blink out within 10 or 15 seconds, and the screen would show the empty battery display. *sigh* Bit I'm still below replacing it, so far. I'm wondering why the 'iOpener' didn't release the adhesive very much, but I did this to myself. Yikes. I was so nervous that it would turn out bad.

Wow, I didn’t think an iPad could be degraded enough to do that (shut down within seconds). Yeah, perhaps keeping it plugged in continuously for years killed it. Otherwise it’s difficult to explain. iPads should be far more resilient than iPhones in that regard.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Wow, I didn’t think an iPad could be degraded enough to do that (shut down within seconds). Yeah, perhaps keeping it plugged in continuously for years killed it. Otherwise it’s difficult to explain. iPads should be far more resilient than iPhones in that regard.

I was shocked as I have, and have had, iPads that have lasted far longer. Ugh...

 

[FeliApple]

What happened with this in the end? Could you fix it?

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

What happened with this in the end? Could you fix it?

Nope. It's waiting until I can get the home button off the old screen, and I have to say that the heat method iFixit uses takes a bit more work. Or at least I didn't have much luck. It felt like it was still stuck way too well, and I kept thinking the screen was going to crack as I pried and prodded the adhesive. It didn't, but the effort strained my nerves, and the guitar pick-like tool. It damaged the pick, being scraped on the side of the iPad shell.

In hindsight, I probably rushed a little, and should have tried harder to insulate the iPad as the hot-pad tried to soften the adhesive. That stuff is definitely some heavy duty stuff. I couldn't help but think that it was too strong. It's not like the iPad is going to fall and pop apart. Using such strong adhesive is abusive, but good to know that it's totally not going to 'fall apart'.

Maybe get two of their heating pads, one for the bottom, and one for the top?

And no that I an ripping iFixit. This is my first time taking apart an Apple iDevice with the thought of repairing it. It's a pretty brutal process to get that adhesive broken to get in it. The clearances are really close, and the degree of force required is unnerving. I was so sure that the screen was going to crack. It was freaking me out. In hindsight, I should have done more research, and handled the heating better as I said above. Proceed at your own risk, make sure the edges are well heated. Maybe have someone do it that has done it before? It's a shame that Apple won't swap batteries for older iDevices. There is nothing wrong with the one I had, except the battery was dead. It would have been tossed if I hadn't tried to fix it, and I just wish it had worked out better. (Yeah, I feel stupid for ruining the screen)

 

[FeliApple]

Nope. It's waiting until I can get the home button off the old screen, and I have to say that the heat method iFixit uses takes a bit more work. Or at least I didn't have much luck. It felt like it was still stuck way too well, and I kept thinking the screen was going to crack as I pried and prodded the adhesive. It didn't, but the effort strained my nerves, and the guitar pick-like tool. It damaged the pick, being scraped on the side of the iPad shell.

In hindsight, I probably rushed a little, and should have tried harder to insulate the iPad as the hot-pad tried to soften the adhesive. That stuff is definitely some heavy duty stuff. I couldn't help but think that it was too strong. It's not like the iPad is going to fall and pop apart. Using such strong adhesive is abusive, but good to know that it's totally not going to 'fall apart'.

Maybe get two of their heating pads, one for the bottom, and one for the top?

And no that I an ripping iFixit. This is my first time taking apart an Apple iDevice with the thought of repairing it. It's a pretty brutal process to get that adhesive broken to get in it. The clearances are really close, and the degree of force required is unnerving. I was so sure that the screen was going to crack. It was freaking me out. In hindsight, I should have done more research, and handled the heating better as I said above. Proceed at your own risk, make sure the edges are well heated. Maybe have someone do it that has done it before? It's a shame that Apple won't swap batteries for older iDevices. There is nothing wrong with the one I had, except the battery was dead. It would have been tossed if I hadn't tried to fix it, and I just wish it had worked out better. (Yeah, I feel stupid for ruining the screen)

Very unlucky, I’m sorry it happened. I’m very surprised about the battery dying like that. I know that iOS updates induce massive runtime drops, I’ve experienced a significant drop after Apple forced my 9.7-inch iPad Pro into iOS 12, but the battery actually dying on an iPad is unheard of for me before this case.

By significant drop, I mean that it went from 13-14 hours on iOS 9 to 10-11 hours on iOS 12. Totally usable, but significantly worse. Nothing like your case, which rendered the device unusable. Very surprising, like I said.

I assume Apple doesn’t swap iPads’ batteries because, like you experienced, they’re difficult to replace. When they don’t make the iPad model anymore, there are no more replacements.

Then again, if I have to talk about what I’ve seen, experienced and read online, iPads’ batteries are extremely difficult to degrade. Decade-old iPads work quite well. Like I mentioned elsewhere, I haven’t used an iPad enough to degrade it heavily yet, neither have I seen an iPad degraded enough for battery life to be that poor, which is why it surprises me in the first place.

I’ve used my 9.7-inch iPad Pro daily for nearly 7 years, and it runs fine. Battery life is decent (as in, not like it was on iOS 9, but it has seen no decrease from when it was originally forced into iOS 12. Taking that into account, I think I can still call it “like-new”). Yes, I’m an efficient user, but older and far more heavily used iPads than mine are fine.

I have seen updated iPhones with abhorrent battery life, but iPads? Far more uncommon. In fact, the only other time I noticed it was on a YouTube video of a person speaking about their experience with the 10.5-inch iPad Pro on iPadOS 16, and they had about 1.5 hours of screen-on time. Surprisingly, Coconut showed an abhorrent 68% capacity after only 400 cycles. It wasn’t your battery life, but it wasn’t good.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Very unlucky, I’m sorry it happened. I’m very surprised about the battery dying like that. I know that iOS updates induce massive runtime drops, I’ve experienced a significant drop after Apple forced my 9.7-inch iPad Pro into iOS 12, but the battery actually dying on an iPad is unheard of for me before this case.

By significant drop, I mean that it went from 13-14 hours on iOS 9 to 10-11 hours on iOS 12. Totally usable, but significantly worse. Nothing like your case, which rendered the device unusable. Very surprising, like I said.

I assume Apple doesn’t swap iPads’ batteries because, like you experienced, they’re difficult to replace. When they don’t make the iPad model anymore, there are no more replacements.

Then again, if I have to talk about what I’ve seen, experienced and read online, iPads’ batteries are extremely difficult to degrade. Decade-old iPads work quite well. Like I mentioned elsewhere, I haven’t used an iPad enough to degrade it heavily yet, neither have I seen an iPad degraded enough for battery life to be that poor, which is why it surprises me in the first place.

I’ve used my 9.7-inch iPad Pro daily for nearly 7 years, and it runs fine. Battery life is decent (as in, not like it was on iOS 9, but it has seen no decrease from when it was originally forced into iOS 12. Taking that into account, I think I can still call it “like-new”). Yes, I’m an efficient user, but older and far more heavily used iPads than mine are fine.

I have seen updated iPhones with abhorrent battery life, but iPads? Far more uncommon. In fact, the only other time I noticed it was on a YouTube video of a person speaking about their experience with the 10.5-inch iPad Pro on iPadOS 16, and they had about 1.5 hours of screen-on time. Surprisingly, Coconut showed an abhorrent 68% capacity after only 400 cycles. It wasn’t your battery life, but it wasn’t good.

Yeah, from hours to less than a minute was a shock. I was just, as I said upstream, a little concerned about the battery potentially having a runaway being plugged in basically 100% of the time. I've had plenty of batteries swell and a few get hot in the past, and don't need that kind of drama. Oh yeah, heck no. It *was* still usable, just had to be plugged in, so me breaking the screen just makes it that much more painful. I had thought of just stripping the battery out of it, but was told that it still needed some kind of battery for some reason 🤷🏻‍♂️...

Oh the pain...

 

[FeliApple]

Yeah, from hours to less than a minute was a shock. I was just, as I said upstream, a little concerned about the battery potentially having a runaway being plugged in basically 100% of the time. I've had plenty of batteries swell and a few get hot in the past, and don't need that kind of drama. Oh yeah, heck no. It *was* still usable, just had to be plugged in, so me breaking the screen just makes it that much more painful. I had thought of just stripping the battery out of it, but was told that it still needed some kind of battery for some reason 🤷🏻‍♂️...

Oh the pain...

Yeah, keeping it plugged in is never ideal. Whilst I have said that battery health and battery care is pretty irrelevant in my honest opinion, keeping it plugged in all the time is not ideal.

People tolerate different runtime levels. Some have reported maybe 5-6 hours with 1st-gen iPad Pros on iPadOS 16. I’d think that’s abhorrent, but as a casual user, maybe some people can get by. 10-11 hours with light use is the least I can decently tolerate. 5 hours and it would get to 50% after a couple of hours, not good. Others that maybe are very light users are fine as long as the device is compatible, but I wouldn’t be. Mine isn’t perfect on iOS 12, like I said. But glass half-full: it is decent enough to be comfortably usable. As much as I was - and am - angry with Apple for ruining my favourite iPad ever’s perfection, I acknowledge that it could be a lot worse.

As far as the iPad side-stepping the battery, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that: you need a battery for it to run, unlike Macs, that can run off of AC. So yeah, removing the battery wouldn’t work. Well, I hope you can find an adequate solution to all of this. Thank you for the update!

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

My latest gen iPad Mini is a disappointment. I'm not getting 5 hours out of it. Possibly as little as 4 hours. It's not 'that old'. Disappointing... Yeah, no, I will not try to replace the battery myself.

I talked with an Apple support rep, and they said that it 'seems' appropriate and I would have to take it to an Apple Store for support because the Mini has no 'send in service'. I went that route with the Mac Mini, so sure, I want to do that again. 3 trips, nearly 2 hours each way. Hmm...

 

[MrAperture]

My latest gen iPad Mini is a disappointment. I'm not getting 5 hours out of it. Possibly as little as 4 hours. It's not 'that old'. Disappointing... Yeah, no, I will not try to replace the battery myself.

I talked with an Apple support rep, and they said that it 'seems' appropriate and I would have to take it to an Apple Store for support because the Mini has no 'send in service'. I went that route with the Mac Mini, so sure, I want to do that again. 3 trips, nearly 2 hours each way. Hmm...

iPad Mini 4 was released in 2015, so it is quite old.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

iPad Mini 4 was released in 2015, so it is quite old.

The latest model. Gen 6? Battery issues, sadly... I've disabled everything that could be sucking the battery, and it still seems to be zonked far too quickly.