My mum is 86 years old. She has an old 2014 MacBook Air and an iPad Mini 6th Generation. She doesn't use the MacBook so much anymore but she loves her iPad. It is her third now. She uses them pretty hard! Almost 24/7. Her faithful iPad mini (6th generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular) started to behave badly last week when it failed to take charge anymore. I took it home and verified there was a problem with it. Fortunately I was able to back it up. I thought about binning it and buying another one, but decided to take it to the Apple Store to see what could be done.
TL:DR – Apple replaced it with a new same model iPad for the charge for a battery repair. Only Apple behave this way, at retail outlets worldwide. They stand by their products and help customers if at all possible.
Contents
- Previous history with Apple Service and support
- AirPort Base Station (Graphite)
- Fast forward to the Apple Store support experience in 2025
- Problem Description/Diagnosis
- Functional test
- Should I have just bought the new iPad Mini
- Next day turnaround
- Replaced at the battery rate
- Happy customer - 20p a day if it last for two years
Previous history with Apple Service and support
Apple have always been good at customer service for me. I've had an entire top case for a MacBook at the batter rare and a hinge repair for an iMac completely free of charge in the past but the standout was three free AirPort Base Station replacements.
AirPort Base Station (Graphite)
A long time ago I bought three original graphite Airport base stations in the USA from a clearance aisle in a computer store. I got them home, made sure they were correct for UK power, and unfortunately they were all faulty. I was fed up but called Apple UK to see if there was a way to reset them. After confirming they were all faulty, and that I had a Mac computer with AppleCare and even though I bought them from a clearance aisle in another country they sent me three new ones and a box to send the broken ones back to them.
That was twenty years ago and I still talk about it because it is such an unusual behaviour from a technology company over their products.
(Pic: By George Kelly from Oakland, United States - AirPort base station, CC BY 2.0)
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Fast forward to the Apple Store support experience in 2025
The Genius bar person was clearly an absolute iPad expert. They explained the iPad was out of warranty which I knew. I explained it was my mums and she couldnt be without it so I'd have to buy a new one if it couldn't be repaired. They were able to start the iPad and went through a comprehensive diagnostic test using an internal Apple testing app.
Problem Description/Diagnosis
Issue: Customer reports for about a week now, the iPad has not been responding to charge. The iPad will vibrate when plugged in but the actual device will stay on 0%
Steps to Reproduce: Verified at the Genius Bar.
Functional test
Left the iPad on charge through a known good cable and plug for a few minutes, no luck.
Ran MRI - no issues found, battery health check is 55%.
Cosmetic Condition: Display is functional when it’s turned on. Multi touch is functional. Rear back is free from damage. All buttons are functional
Proposed Resolution: Advised we can replace the iPad at the battery rate.
Customer is aware of possible upgrades in the future.
Should I have just bought the new iPad Mini
Sure the new iPad Mini is better but the differences don't matter to my mum. The screen, form factor and battery remain the same. Latest iPadOS is supported.
| Differences between the iPad Mini (6th generation) and the ipad Mini (A17 Pro) | |
| iPad mini (6th generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular) | iPad mini (A17 Pro) (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| Introduced September 2021 | Introduced October 2024 |
| iPad14,2, A2568 | iPad16,2 A2995 |
| 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Apple Pencil | Apple Pencil Pro |
| A15 bionic, 2.9 GHz 5nm | A17 Pro, 3.8 GHz/2.1GHz 3nm |
| 4 GB LPDDR4X | 8 GB LPDDR5 |
| Apple GPU | Apple G16G |
| One External Display up to 4K/60Hz | |
| USB-C | USB-C USB 3 |
| WiFi 6 | WiFi 6e |
| Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.3 |
| nano SIM | eSIM |
Obviously my mum wouldn't know about any of these things but it was interesting to compare in detail.
Next day turnaround
I don't know why but I expected it to take a few days for the new iPad to be ready to pick up but it was less than 24 hours. I drove over last night to get it and sure enough its a brand new, recently manufactured replacement identical model. Apple logisitics always amaze me, and the spares and replacement service that must need to be in place worldwide to be able to deliver like this is truly unimaginable to me.
Replaced at the battery rate
The full replacement cost was similar to the cost for a new WiFi model so wouldn't be economic to do, but the Genius bar were able to replace the iPad at the rate for a new battery. Obviously far less expensive.
| IPAD/MINI/AIR-BATTERY RATE CHARGE-RETAIL | |
| Purple, 64 GB, iPad mini 6th Generation, Cellular, INT | |
| Price | £95.83 |
| VAT | £19.17 |
| Total | £115 |
Was it new though or refurbished?
I was annoyed a bit at the formulaic negative replies on Threads so I did some investigatng of the new iPad myself. Coconut Battery 4 indicates to me that this is a brand new iPad!
- It was manufactured this February, in 2025
- It has no charge cycles
- The case and screen are perfect
- It was in a service part box, not a retail box
Importantly, my mum is going to love it!
Happy customer - 20p a day if it last for two years
Am I happy, you bet. I posted about it on threads to a largely positive response but I don't get the "You will be replacing it again in less than 2 years now . Never let apple touch anything." response. It was £115. If it lasts two years it will cost less than 20p per day. Sony took months to repair anything and lost a friend's laptop back in the day and accused a him of deceit by sending pictures of an entirely different model of computer. Samsung's repair website pointed me at an endless list of broken links and dodgy back street vendors. Microsoft? they closed all their shops.
Am I an Apple fan boy. Probably. I've been using Apple technology since the 1980s and was probably born before the genius bar person I interacted with. But when I'm spending for myself I conclude that Apple have retail stores all over the world quietly delivering the best technology product support and service that exists today for end customers. Thats it. Thats the conclusion. If that makes me a fan boy so be it.
