iPad Air Should I fix an iPad Air 1?

[ftaok]

IMHO that $99 would’ve been much better served towards a new iPad ($299 on Amazon right now). For $200 more you have years more longevity (and a product that is superior in literally every way) instead of giving an old dog a new kidney. That iPad Air is eight years old - should’ve let it die.

That seems like a waste of burnt money.

Note, the current Marvel Unlimited app requires iOS 11 or newer. They cut off support for iOS 10 around a year ago. Who knows how long iOS 12 will remain supported.

If this is an important function, I wouldn't waste money getting the iPad Air replaced. Better bang for the buck with an iPad 8th gen. Iirc, Marvel Unlimited is more aggressive than Amazon/Comixology at cutting off support for older iOS app versions (as in no library access at all if you're running an older app version).

All fair points. Is it the wisest use of $100, eh maybe not, but spending $300 on a new iPad isn't what I want either.

If I can get two years out this, I'll be happy. At that point, if it no longer serves my needs, I could get my daughter a new iPad and I could take her iPad (7th gen). Or if she doesn't want a new iPad, I could buy myself the latest mini at that point, or maybe I'll have a big-screen iPhone and won't need an iPad.

If I don't get two years out of it, then maybe I'll be disappointed. Either way, I won't have to use this Kindle for very much longer, which is worth the $100 for my mental health.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Either way, I won't have to use this Kindle for very much longer

No pun intended?

 

[ftaok]

No pun intended?

Nah, no pun. I'm currently using a Kindle Fire 7 to read comics. My iPad mini 2 has a bad screen. The iPad Air used to belong to my mom, so replacing the battery will allow me to put the Kindle out to pasture, which is a very good thing. Not only is the Kindle a garbage device, the Marvel Unlimited app of Android really sucks compared to the iOS version.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Not only is the Kindle a garbage device

For such a cheap device, what were you expecting? Most of them cost less than that battery repair you did.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I got tasked to fix my mom's iPad Air (1st gen). She's replaced it already with a new 10.2 iPad, so she doesn't need the iPad Air anymore.

It's a 16GB Wifi model and I see that prices go from $75 to $125 or so. I'm 95% sure that the issue is that it needs a new battery. Apple is charging $99 plus tax to replace the battery. The iPad itself is in very good shape and a fresh OEM battery would give it several more years of life. I'm leaning towards fixing it.

The local fixit place also charges $100, but I don't know if they use an OEM battery ... probably not.

I could also get a decent battery for $40 (maybe less) and fix it myself, but my eyes aren't as good as they used to be and iPads are a lot more difficult to work with than iPhones (which is more my speed).

The last risk is that the battery isn't the problem and now I've sunk $100 into it and didn't fix the problem.

Any suggestions. Maybe I'm just looking for folks to agree with me so I feel better about the decision. Thanks.

In my opinion, the device is not really worth putting more money into. I would trade it in for something newer that you would use.

 

[Digitalguy]

it's strange that they accept the battery service for a swelling battery. Will they really carry out the service? With my iPhone SE, which was only slightly swelling, they took it for service anyway but then called me and said I needed to pay full $250 for a refurbished unit instead of 50... I said no thanks and they sent it back to me

 

[ftaok]

For such a cheap device, what were you expecting? Most of them cost less than that battery repair you did.

the Kindle I bought was $50, but it was on sale from $80. Running Fire OS is very laggy on it, but even then, that's not the big issue. The problem is that it loses its wifi connection when not in use. Thus making me have to log into my Marvel account at least 5 times a week.

Then on top of that, the quality of the Marvel app on Android is way worse than on iOS. Not just in terms of smoothness, but just how things are organized and laid out.

I wasn't expecting the hardware of the Kindle to be anything special, but the software side is garbage. Maybe the experience on a more expensive Android tablet would be better, I don't know.

it's strange that they accept the battery service for a swelling battery. Will they really carry out the service? With my iPhone SE, which was only slightly swelling, they took it for service anyway but then called me and said I needed to pay full $250 for a refurbished unit instead of 50... I said no thanks and they sent it back to me

They don't really service iPads. They swap them out. The Genius looked at it and he ordered me a new one, so I'm guessing they'll honor the battery replacement pricing. If they say it's an "out of warranty" repair for $250, then I won't do that.

 

[ftaok]

Note, the current Marvel Unlimited app requires iOS 11 or newer. They cut off support for iOS 10 around a year ago. Who knows how long iOS 12 will remain supported.

If this is an important function, I wouldn't waste money getting the iPad Air replaced. Better bang for the buck with an iPad 8th gen. Iirc, Marvel Unlimited is more aggressive than Amazon/Comixology at cutting off support for older iOS app versions (as in no library access at all if you're running an older app version).

I was curious about Marvel Unlimited support for earlier versions of iOS so I checked the Marvel website and it implies that iOS 10 and earlier is not supported.

So I decided to test this. I found an old iPhone 5 that is running 10.3.3 and installed Marvel Unlimited onto it. Logged into my account and opened up a few books. So it still works.

That's not to say that Disney/Marvel will turn it off someday, but as of right now, it's still operational.

 

[saudor]

Not sure why everyone is hating on the OP for spending money on the Air 1 but if it fits their needs, $100 aint bad and that $200 saved could be put to better use. I still use an ipad 2 from 2011 to read PDFs etc and sits at the night stand. For those purposes, it's more than enough

my main ipad is an Air 2. Again, gets the job done so while the new one is really good and tempting, i likely wont get it unless my needs change.

My mum uses Air 1 for reading PDFs and listening to music - A7 is powerful enough for that.

 

[ftaok]

Not sure why everyone is hating on the OP for spending money on the Air 1 but if it fits their needs, $100 aint bad and that $200 saved could be put to better use. I still use an ipad 2 from 2011 to read PDFs etc and sits at the night stand. For those purposes, it's more than enough

my main ipad is an Air 2. Again, gets the job done so while the new one is really good and tempting, i likely wont get it unless my needs change.

My mum uses Air 1 for reading PDFs and listening to music - A7 is powerful enough for that.

I don't think anyone is hating on me. They're just disagreeing with the logic in fixing an old device. I'm not sure if it's the most cost effective thing to do ... it's probably not.

Thing is, I could easily go out and buy a new iPad for $329 and it wouldn't change my financial situation at all. $100 for a battery is no big deal.

But I am a bit of a cheapskate. So spending $100 on an old iPad that will allow me to use it for a few, easy tasks feels better than spending $329 for a new iPad that has much more capability, but capabilities that I don't need. Besides, the 10" size isn't really ideal for me (although I am getting older and I now understand the popularity of the zoom function for older folks) I would really love something in the mini size, but comparable to the regular iPad.

Maybe in two years (fingers crossed), when this iPad no longer does what I need it to do, I'll get a new mini that totally fits my needs. Or maybe I'll have moved onto whatever iPhone Max and then I won't need an iPad at all.

 

[ftaok]

UPDATE for those who might be interested.

It took a while, but after waiting for over a month to see my support ticket updated, I finally got my replacement. I had to go through several chats with Support and a phone call as well, but they finally got a replacement unit.

Just picked it up a few minutes ago.

I didn't notice it when he took it out of the box, but they replaced my old iPad Air 1 (16GB) with a iPad 5th gen (32GB). And it was still under the $99 battery replacement fee.

I'm not saying my situation is typical, but it doesn't seem like they have any replacement iPad Air 1's left.

I'm happy with how this all turned out.

 

[Digitalguy]

UPDATE for those who might be interested.

It took a while, but after waiting for over a month to see my support ticket updated, I finally got my replacement. I had to go through several chats with Support and a phone call as well, but they finally got a replacement unit.

Just picked it up a few minutes ago.

I didn't notice it when he took it out of the box, but they replaced my old iPad Air 1 (16GB) with a iPad 5th gen (32GB). And it was still under the $99 battery replacement fee.

I'm not saying my situation is typical, but it doesn't seem like they have any replacement iPad Air 1's left.

I'm happy with how this all turned out.

Wow, that's great!

 

[Crow_Servo]

Wow, that turned out to be a great deal in the end. Congrats!