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Apple May Replace Your Broken Fourth-Gen iPad With an iPad Air 2 Where Necessary

Monday April 17, 2017 5:59 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers now have the option of replacing a customer's broken fourth-generation iPad with an iPad Air 2, according to an internal memo distributed by Apple last week.


An excerpt of the memo obtained by MacRumors:
Starting March 30, iPad 4th generation whole unit repairs may be substituted to iPad Air 2 models. Apple's repair and order management tool will indicate for each repair if a substitution will take place. Please note the substitute part’s color and capacity to ensure the customer understands what their replacement iPad whole unit will be.
The fourth-generation iPad was released in November 2012, so when a customer needs a replacement model, it's likely easier now for Apple to just give them a newer and more widely available iPad Air 2 in most cases.

Not every broken fourth-generation iPad will be replaced with an iPad Air 2. The decision will ultimately be decided on a case-by-case basis, likely depending upon availability of each tablet in the affected customer's region.

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[ 45 comments ]


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thisisnotmyname
26 months ago

so... do they also replace old accessories that may be useless due to a different form factor?


how do I continuously underestimate the forum's ability to find the negative in absolutely everything?
Rating: 26 Votes
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Wildkraut
26 months ago

so... do they also replace old accessories that may be useless due to a different form factor?


Of course not, you should be grateful to have a new reason to buy new accessories.
Rating: 6 Votes
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konqerror
26 months ago

how do I continuously underestimate the forum's ability to find the negative in absolutely everything?


Given that businesses buy these things, it's a real issue if you have things like kiosk stands, cash register mounts, a mount and certification for your Boeing 767... It can easily cost more than the actual device. This is why real enterprise hardware companies like Dell and HP guarantee parts availability for 5 years after last sale date.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Abazigal
26 months ago

Are any fourth gen iPads even still under warrantee??

Unlikely. So after paying for the repair, you don't really save all that much compared to just getting a refurbished iPad Air 2. Better than nothing, but I also can't imagine anyone wanting to pay that much to repair such an old device (a 4-year old device!) vs just spending the money on brand new device.

It's really more for convenience to Apple than anything else.
Rating: 2 Votes
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macs4nw
26 months ago

Are any fourth gen iPads even still under warrantee??

I was wondering if I was missing something here too..... those are 4½ year old tablets.....
Rating: 2 Votes
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macTW
26 months ago
Where's my hammer?
Rating: 2 Votes
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thisisnotmyname
26 months ago
cue people intentionally breaking old iPads hoping to get a new one only to find out they just get a repair bill.

edit: as someone pointed out I used the wrong homophone.
Rating: 2 Votes
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macsrcool1234
26 months ago
What about the forgotten 3rd gen?
Rating: 2 Votes
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stevemiller
26 months ago
Are any fourth gen iPads even still under warrantee??
Rating: 2 Votes
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NinjaHERO
26 months ago
Sounds good. Now update the 12.9 Inch please.
Rating: 2 Votes

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