Should I replace the battery or buy a new iPad 8?
Should I replace the battery in my iPad eight or is it better just to buy a new iPad?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPad, iPadOS 16
Question marked as
It may come down to how current you like your OS version. Based on past ipadOS update patterns, the iPad 8 is likely to receive only one more iOS update, in late 2025.
If that is a concern for you, then you need to buy a new iPad.
However, if you are content to keep using the iPad 8 using a slightly older OS version, a new battery may make sense. When Mrs AJ's iPad 5 had a battery failure, we bought her a new one but had an Apple battery service for the old one, which I took over. It is now stuck on iOS 16, its max, but all apps and functions still work well enough to do what I need four years after the battery service.
BIG ISSUE: If you do not live where you can get Apple-direct service, do not have a third-party provider to install a battery. That seldom ends well.
Apple will not change the batteries in-store because iPad is too hard to work on in a retail setting. They will send it to a centralized Apple refurbishment facility where it will be evaluated and, if the battery is worn out, will replace it in kind with a fully refurbed iPad sporting a new battery and outer shell. That's what we did and I could not be happier with the outcome.
WHERE you are in the world makes huge difference in your decision. Buy new unless you have access to Apple factory refurbishment, either using an Apple retail store for drop-off or Apple's ship-in/mail-in service.
