I am using a 5th Gen. iPad Pro 12.9. My battery loses 40% in two hours of light use—reading and typing. It seems to me I need to either replace the battery at ~$200 or the iPad. My dilemma is that newly redesigned M3 iPad Pros, perhaps with mini-LED screens, are rumored to be coming in late 2023 or 2024. I don’t like the idea of purchasing a new current version only to have a significant redesign show up a year later (incremental upgrades would not concern me). But how long do I deal with a degrading battery?
If you are keen to play the waiting game (always dangerous … rumours can’t be trusted ) maybe consider getting a mobile battery pack to get another few hours of use? These at least are much cheaper than a new battery. (NB: I don’t use one so I don’t know about charging speeds).
Considering that the 5th generation is a fairly recent iPad it might make more sense to replace the battery.
At the very least, even if you decide to upgrade to a rumoured new iPad down the road a new battery will extend the usefulness of your current iPad for someone else rather than turning the majority of it it into e-waste. It takes a lot of natural resources just to make a single iPad - current estimates for a smartphone puts about 80% of the environmental damage occurs during manufacturing - and I suspect it’s about the same for a tablet give or take.
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“If you keep your phone in active use then that’s 90 kg of mining waste that’s delayed, 14,000 liters of dirty water that’s delayed, 60 kg of CO2 that’s delayed.”
5th gen. iPad Pro is very new still (as far as iPads go). Doesn’t Apple replace the battery of a device drops below 80% within 2 years? In any case, I’d absolutely get the battery replaced.
That is a good thought. We repurpose used iPads that are in good shape so they don’t end up as e-waste until they are no longer servicable.
Upon reflection, I think I’ll replace the battery. That will extend the iPad’s useful life while I wait for new iPads to be released. Even though I use the iPad less after the M1 MBPs were released, I still use it frequently, especially for annotating my reading and for writing.
Take it into a local Apple Store and let them look at it. It sounds like the battery is not performing correctly. Even if it’s slightly out of warranty they may replace the battery for free.
Given the price difference between the two options (those 12.9’’ are expensive!), if your tablet is currently useful for your use cases I’d go for the 200$ battery replacement and wait.
Got all the way through this thread and then wondered why I’d just taken this line as truth without reconsidering it. Go for the battery replacement and you might end up pleasantly surprised if the rumours don’t pan out. Very glad I did that when the M1 MBA came out - the next device with Apple Silicon wasn’t released for 11 months, far longer than the rumoured 5-6 months.
I was in a similar situation a while ago. I bought a new M1 iPad to replace my 2018 12.9, and kept my old one to see the difference. There were no new features that interested me and I couldn’t even notice a speed difference. The only difference I could perceive was in the battery life.
I ended up returning the M1 and getting a battery replacement (saving €1400). I couldn’t be happier with the decision!
Heh, I would replace the battery (I agree you might get a free one.) But I did the same test as Rob and my M1 was significantly faster, and better at juggling multiple large apps. My net out of pocket was $600 once I sold the old one, or $20/mo over the time I owned the 2018. I skipped the M2 though.
Battery, no question. I’ve replaced (through Apple) batteries in laptops and iPads and they reinvigorate new life into them. Definitely the way to go if you want to see what the next round of iPad upgrades look like.
The decision is about what makes you happiest – an iPad that works, or avoiding future regret. Which makes you happiest? Put it another way, in 18-24 months when the rumors magically come true, will you regret spending that $200? What if the wonderful new iPad in 18-24 months is not as wonderful as you thought?
) maybe consider getting a mobile battery pack to get another few hours of use? These at least are much cheaper than a new battery. (NB: I don’t use one so I don’t know about charging speeds).
