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Bought from John Lewis nearly three years ago, at which time it was sold as the iPad with retina display, so just before the air one came out. I got the three year warranty with it so that expires in January.
In the last couple of months Safari has got a bit crashy on it, just randomly closes,won't load some web pages, and the keyboard randomly becomes unresponsive (you type but nothing happens, then ten seconds later the keys flash and everything you types appears, like its lagging behind). They sent me instructions to do some sort of electric discharge thing but that hasn't made any difference.
So I don't know if it's starting to go on its way out and I should send it back for fixing while I still can, or is that more bother than it's worth? I am a bit fussy about things working just so, but I'm not a great IT/technology person, hence I'm not sure what to do 🙂
Send it back.
I know your not asking for technical help - but have you done a hard reset (hold down home and power button until apple logo appears)?
did they (JL) give the tech. advice?
IME contacting Apple is good as well, they will talk through things at length, taking as long as it needs (they'll call you back...) and did the force reboot / reinstall / hard reset stuff.
If your options are a) send it back or b) do nothing then yes, send it back.
Unless it's some kind of hardware fault I'm sure a hard reset or factory reset would fix it though. Be interesting to see exactly what they said re. the "electrical discharge"; that's not something I'm familiar with - what did they think the problem was?
This is what Kyle from John Lewis advised...
'Thank you for your email regarding your Apple iPad. I am sorry to learn that it is no longer functioning properly and that you are experiencing frequent crashes, and I can assure you I will do everything I can to resolve this matter quickly.
In the first instance, we would always suggest performing some troubleshooting steps, such as attempting a static discharge. In order to do this, please follow the below steps:
- Allow the battery to run out until the iPad turns off and will not switch back on
- Hold down the power button for approximately 30 seconds, and then let go
- Charge the battery to 100%, which typically takes about 6 hours
- Turn the iPad back on, and see if the issue is still present.
If the above does not help then, under the service guarantee, your iPad may have to be submitted for repair...'
Hmmm that is a new one for me, never heard of anybody doing or even suggesting that before!
If you feel inclined I would do a factory reset. It's very simple. Just make sure you back up everything first. (You should backup anyway if you send it off as they may just swap for a new or refurb iPad. They might also request you wipe the iPad before sending anyway so any personal data is removed)
TBH, it's a three year old iPad, with insurance (thats effectively what the JL extended warranty is).
They'll struggle to find parts if it's been out of production for three years. It'll cost a bomb for them to repair. And probably take a while.
They'll probably offer you a new one. Or at the very least a sizeable discount against a new one (depends on the T&C).
I'd be sending it back, worst case you get a repaired one back.
Try the proper factory reset first (after backing everything up properly)
Will do. What always makes these things a bit trickier is that it doesn't do it all the time, just intermittently.
To what extent should I sanitise it before I send it back? Full back up and completely wipe it, or back up and remove all the auto fill passwords, history/cookies etc. but leave the rest?
It's a John Lewis warranty, I'd have no qualms about sending it back. You'll either get the money back or a replacement.
The reboot instructions sounds like something we do with our designed kit, it's designed to completely discharge the main battery and any backup batteries so you start completely fresh but in itself isn't going to overwrite anything stored in memory.
If you do a factory or hard reset you are trying to return the ipad back to the same settings it would have when it left the factory.
The problem is that later versions of software have many more features than your actually 4 year old ipad (as it would have been out for a year). You notice it with a lot of It equipment be it phones or PCs that you load a later version of operating system on and things start slowing down.
My missus now refuses to update her phone on the basis as that what crippled her last one.
If you sending it back you'll want to do a full factory reset and wipe everything, it's in the system options somewhere I think.
It's good practice not to leave any data on there as you don't know what's going to happen to it. It might be recycled but you don't want personal details or bank passwords to get into dodgy hands.
Will installing ios9 help? I'm still on 8.4.1 I think.
Tricky to recommend as it should fix that particular problem but I don't know how well iOS 9 runs in general on your iPad. Might be worth googling to find out if there are any general issues i.e. is the hardware up to it.
If you upgrade to iOS 9 there will be no going back. Having said that, if you do send it to JL it will definitely have iOS 9 on it when it comes back to you! You'll also have to upgrade if you do a factory reset.
EDIT: had a quick google and it looks like iOS 9 should run fine on an iPad 4
Thanks
TBH it just sounds like an old machine that's struggling to run with newer software to me.
It's worth a punt with JL. IMO there is a decent shot you do not get compensation or a new iPad.
The safari/keyboard behaviour is consistent with advertisements crashing the machine, clogging up the processor. You may try purchasing an ad blocker (I have PEACE but they've discontinued it) which you can do with iOS9, this makes my Air2 run much better particularly on sites like the Guardian
I guess I may as well send it and see, it's not like I'll end up worse off.
That is a good shout actually, especially if the problem only ever appears on Safari. Some websites are ridiculous in the amount of ads/crap they try to load which an older device especially might not be able to handle.The safari/keyboard behaviour is consistent with advertisements crashing the machine, clogging up the processor. You may try purchasing an freeloading (I have PEACE but they've discontinued it) which you can do with iOS9
Check this out: [url= http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ ]http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/[/url]
The keyboard behaviour is consistent with my iPhones shagged screen (well, the inductive bit of it, but they don't separate) - Apple swapped mine for new. Only 10 months old though, so might be a bit dependant on JL goodwill.
You should definitely factory reset it and try it without installing any additional apps for a while though. You'll get asked to do that sooner or later.
Ok I will try that
Kind of related on warranty things, our iPad is on contract from three, when the screen stopped working after 14 months we had to take it back to apple, who charged for a replacement but three refunded the cost.
Thegreatape ....
I think you and I have the same iPad! Mine in not a Retina display but was a semi paid for replacement two years ago.
It crashes all the time in safari - "there was a problem with loading this page"
However, it also does it it Chrome ....
It has the same typing foibles
And it randomly crashes - the page randomly freezes / drops back to to apps display and pretends nothing has happened.
It started with IOS 8, upgraded to 9 hoping to see a difference but haven't.
I have cleared it totally three times and reloaded, once only as an email / browsing tool. That worked ... For a week or so, then it began to crash in safari. But not with the usual message.
So I have just done the complete reset again, added all the apps back.
And it crashes in safari, and the message is back!
No idea when I got it but me and the blue shirted hipstahs will be having a chat.
That is exactly the same.