iPad advice needed
So my ipad bricked itself this week. I haven’t mistreated it, but it started behaving oddly, then wouldn’t let me do a factory reset, so it’s currently in limbo. The ipad was bought two years ago and has never been dropped or otherwise mistreated. I’m careful with my stuff.
The blog does not depend only on the ipad, although it’s part of how I usually work.
Normally I’d bring it to the Apple store for diagnosis, but obviously not now. The store is still closed.
Just heard on CBC radio that students are likely to need a lot more tablets and laptops to study from home, not to mention all the WFH going on now. So there may be shortages, not to mention difficulties and delays in getting things delivered. As it stands, if I bought a replacement today, I wouldn’t get it for at least two weeks.
So this is partly a request for advice, and a general request.
The advice: do I invest in a new ipad or do I hang on, hoping the existing ipad is just in a coma and needs some Apple hocus pocus to come back to life?
The request: do any of my readers have an ipad they hardly ever use, that they would let go for a reasonable price?
walkerp 16:31 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
Do you have Apple Care? If not, I would suggest taking it to one of the local repair places and have them diagnose it. Could be something reparable and that could be less than $100. Knowing the repair possibility and price will help you answer the question. The guy at La Boutique iZone on Parc and Laurier has done good work for me in the past for a good price. He’s open via appointment if you call him.
https://www.izonemobile.ca/
Phil M 17:03 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
If you have a backup online, or on your computer, you can try a hard reset by holding down the buttons on iPad for some length of time, depending on the model. Just google your iPad model and “hard reset.” (You can also try this if you don’t have a backup, but then you’d lose any unsaved data. Apps can be restored from the App Store.)
Sean 17:06 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
If you do end up buying a new iPad, I highly recommend getting a refurbished one on Apple’s website.
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/refurbished/ipad
I’ve had great experience buying refurbs directly from Apple.
dwgs 18:19 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
Sorry, can’t help with the Apple products thing but the screen on my faithful ten year old Lenovo ThinkPad died on Friday and since I have 2 kids schooling remotely I absolutely needed a replacement ASAP. Spent 3.5 hours yesterday driving around to find a new lappy. Laptops and tablets are indeed scarcer than hen’s teeth at the moment.
Dhomas 18:52 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
If the iPad is only 2 years old, you can probably still get it repaired for free by Apple, even if the manufacturer’s warranty is expired after one year. Thanks to the “legal warranty” provided by Quebec’s Office de la protection du consommateur, anything you buy must last a “reasonable” amount of time (which is generally longer than the manufacturer’s warranty). What is reasonable is somewhat debatable, but 2 years is way too fast for an expensive iPad to fail.
My brother got a straight exchange for his iPhone since it failed within 2 years. He got a refurbished unit, which was fine by him. However, it’s easy to say that an iPhone should reasonably last more than 2 years since it was subsidized by his carrier over a 2 year period.
Google “legal warranty OPC” for more info.
Kate 20:12 on 2020-05-31 Permalink
I don’t have Apple Care on this ipad, but was unaware of the law dhomas mentions, which may be helpful.
I don’t have the ipad backed up, but that’s OK. I can get the apps again and re-copy books and audio from my mac.
walkerp, thanks for the recommendation. I will consult them.
Thanks also Sean for the refurb recommendation. I specifically want a regular full size ipad in Space Grey, which they don’t have at the moment in refurb, but if I find I need to get a new one I will look in refurb first.
Thanks, everybody.
Dhomas 06:10 on 2020-06-01 Permalink
Last thing about the legal warranty. It seems like others have also had similar issues with Apple and have met with varying degrees of success. Here’s an example on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/888n3c/if_you_live_in_quebec_know_that_the_law_claims/
I would try to get the Apple Store to fix it for free by mentioning the legal warranty without going through all the steps the Reddit poster did. Others seem to have set precedent so you may not need to do as much.
Apple acknowledges the existence of the Quebec law, but doesn’t go so far as to detail how it applies to their products:
https://www.apple.com/ca/legal/warranty/
Finally, there is a class action against Apple that you would qualify for as an iPad owner, though it’s not totally related to your issue:
https://lpclex.com/apple-batteries-and-applecare-quebec-class-action/