The iPad has been a solid device for many years, with many improvements over the years making it a must-have device for those of us that are fans of Apple’s design and functionality that they bring to their devices. But is it worth replacing an iPad battery?
It is worth replacing the iPad battery. Apple offers free warranty repair of the battery, even offering replacement iPads. This goes up to two years coverage with Apple Care+. You can do a third-party replacement or do it yourself, and it is worth making some settings changes as well.
Let’s look at the signs you should replace it, how much it will cost, the process for doing it, as well as other iPad battery tips so you can learn everything you need to know about it. So without further ado let’s get right into it.
How Much Will It Cost to Replace iPad Battery?
Out of warranty, replacing an iPad battery costs $99, which is far less than purchasing a new iPad. [1] This is through the official Apple channels.
Apple’s warranty conditions mean they will only replace your iPad if the battery has died due to regular usage.
They have ways of checking for water or other liquid damage, so if you inadvertently spill your favorite drink on your iPad, unfortunately, they won’t be able to help you.
A replacement iPad will be wiped as it is a new device, so none of your personal information will survive unless backed up elsewhere.
If your iPad is still under warranty, it makes this process very simple and basically free, it is definitely worth it if you have established that your battery is at issue.
Apple Care+ covers you for two years from the time of purchase, and if you’re under the standard warranty you’re covered for a year. With the former, the only condition to replace it is if the battery holds less than 80% of its original capacity.
This means Apple will either put in a new battery in your tablet or give you a new iPad as a replacement. Apple handily allows you to check the iPad’s warranty status by opening up your Settings app.
Navigate to General then tap About iPad. From here, you should be able to see the warranty details, although you’ll need to be connected to the internet to have the most up-to-date information.
How Long Will a New iPad Battery Last?
You can generally expect that the lithium-ion battery in an iPad will follow the usual lifespan of a few years.
At least part of the battery’s capacity after two or three years is going to be gone, anywhere from 10% to over 50%. You will also notice performance is affected, as a full charge just does not last as long as it formerly did.
Apple products led the way in making non-replaceable batteries par for the course, which of course is just one of the disadvantages of the iPad; the battery cannot be replaced easy.
One way you can help lengthen the battery of an iPad is to adjust the lock screen and brightness settings. If the display is constantly on, or on for a long time before it times out and switches off, you are going to put a strain on the battery.
There is an iPad setting that will leave it constantly on till you lock it, which is great for certain use cases, but in many cases will lead to damage if you’re always leaving the screen on.
This can even happen if you’re watching videos, so make sure you close videos or minimize them whenever you put the iPad down.
You’ll also want to check if Auto-Lock is set to Never, as this will cause your iPad battery to drain quicker, thereby shortening its total life.
Go to Settings, select Display and Brightness then make sure Auto-Lock isn’t set to keep the screen on forever. You’ll have to make sure that Auto-Lock is set to any option besides Never.
You can do several things to help extend the battery life, such as turning off cellular connection or WiFi when it’s not in use, and switching off Location Services from the Privacy settings of the iPad.
You can swipe down from the top and go to Settings then tap on Battery, and toggle it to Low Power Mode.
Remove unused apps and close any in the background that you no longer use. You should also try not to always fully charge the iPad, as fully charging and fully draining batteries is an older piece of advice that doesn’t apply to lithium ion batteries like everyone thinks it does.
The usual things apply, in that you should grab a nice case for your iPad to protect it as physical impacts to the iPad, particularly the back can cause serious performance declines for the battery.
Is It Worth Getting the iPad Battery Replaced?
You can try some steps to see if that can help with your iPad’s performance but a battery replacement can help significantly.
One thing you should always do is make sure the iPadOS firmware or software is up to date, as battery management and app management are always being worked on, and making sure you have the latest version means energy saving and other policies will kick in.
This can help make your battery run more efficiently, meaning you don’t necessarily need to replace it.
Third parties offer battery replacement for iPads, and if you find a well reviewed place you can get some great results for a cheap price.
Keep in mind that once a local electronics store opens up your iPad, then any warranties or deals from Apple are void. You may even end up with a non-Apple produced battery, but this isn’t necessarily going to mean you’re getting poor performance.
If you’re near an Apple Store, it would be worth taking it down there to the Genius Bar. They can examine it in-store, but make sure to get an appointment first.
Service technicians can inspect your iPad and give you a full report on the current status of it, with them even offering you a warranty repair at this stage if available, or a quote to replace it.
Keep in mind that a failing battery could be a sign of other issues with the iPad, so getting a new battery won’t fix these issues.
This could mean you end up spending money on the replacement only for little to no improvement. You can pick up a brand new iPad for a few hundred dollars, so compare the features and in many situations, it may be better just to get a new one.
How Do You Know When to Replace Your iPad Battery?
Checking your battery’s health is a good start to know when it’s time to replace it.
Unfortunately, this feature is not native to iPads yet, as many users may know it from the iPhones. But you can get a 3rd party solution that does a similar thing.
iMazing can be installed on macOS and Windows computers, with many other features apart from checking battery health such as backing up your iPad files and performing similar tasks to iTunes.
Connect your iPad to your computer via USB, launch the app, from the device pane on the left select iPad, then click the Battery symbol in the bottom right.
It will show various data about the iPad’s battery health, importantly the maximum charge it can achieve compared to when it was a new iPad.
If this is significantly lower than it was when you bought it, this may be a sign of a failing battery, or at least one that you can’t rely on if you’re away from a charging source for a day or two.
Telltale signs that your iPad battery is failing include apps crashing, performance slowing down, high heat when charging and less than a few hours until the battery is completely drained when full.
Another common issue is that the battery will no longer fully charge, and the iPad shuts off before it has gotten to 0%.
You may notice the charging times have stretched out significantly, taking more than double the time to get to a full charge, without lasting more than a few hours.
Sometimes the battery may swell, meaning you can feel it pushing the back panel out, and this is a definite sign you should get it looked at. You can even notice pressure marks on the display itself.
You can also look at dimming the screen brightness to help get the most out of the battery.
You can do this a few ways by either opening the Control Center and drop the brightness slider to the bottom.
Auto-Brightness is a way that the iPad uses the inbuilt sensor to keep the light at a good level from Settings, tap Accessibility then go to Display and Text size and then hit Turn on Auto-brightness.
Dark Mode will also reduce the strain on the iPad’s battery and on your eyes, so go into the Control Center, then touch and hold the sun icon and tap the icon to turn Dark Mode on or off.
How Many Times Can You Replace an iPad Battery?
As long as the iPad is under warranty, you can get it replaced as long as Apple continues to find faults with the battery.
This is unlikely to happen as Apple will be testing the battery before installing it, so your chances of getting two lemon batteries in a row are very low.
Apple will also be suspicious if you keep needing a battery replaced, and will look closely for any signs of tampering, liquid damage or other signs of abuse, which they can then use to reject the battery replacement under warranty.
Can You Replace iPad Battery by Yourself?
It is possible to undertake the repair yourself, which may be your only option if you don’t want to return the iPad to Apple or can’t find a repair service you trust.
You’ll want to be fairly confident with miniature technology repairs and have the appropriate tools. Previous experience in a DIY sense is recommended, as any iPad repair or replacement is going to be fiddly and easy to break.
The procedure involves the careful prying of the display off and then disconnecting small cables. The battery is glued into the device, so you’ll need to remove the components holding it in and then carefully extract the battery.
You can do this with the careful use of a heat gun to loosen the glue.
You should also look at getting a spudging tool set. The First Choose 11 Piece Universal Repair Opening Tool Kit is perfect for an iPad battery repair.
After prying off the display, be careful to not pull on it too hard as it is still connected. Then remove the screws off the cable connector and the four screws on the rectangular panel in the middle. This will allow you to fully remove the display.
There will then be two rows of screws holding down the middle panel. On either side of this are the two flat battery packs that can then be removed after removing some of the parts holding it down.
