Apple To Replace Faulty iPad 4 With iPad Air 2 As Company Runs Out Of Stock For Repairs: Reports

Customers who need to get their iPad 4 repaired might be in for a surprise from Apple —they might get a new iPad Air 2 as a replacement instead, as Apple runs out of stock for the now-discontinued tablet.

Read: iPad 2017 Is Actually the iPad Air Refurbished, iFixit Teardown Reveals

According to an internal Apple memo received by 9to5Mac Saturday, “Starting March 30th, iPad 4th generation whole unit repairs may be substituted to iPad Air 2.”

The memo further asks staff to provide customers information about the color and capacity of their replacement iPad Air 2. The iPad Air 2 comes in a gold variant apart from the regular silver and white ones and offers only 32GB and 128GB models since the 16GB and 64GB have already been discontinued.

Both the iPad 4 and iPad Air 2 have been discontinued by Apple. While the iPad 4 was discontinued in 2014 and replaced by iPad Air 2, the iPad Air 2 was discontinued in March 2017 and was replaced by $329 iPad 2017 model. According to Apple Insider, the iPad 4 could also be replaced by the 2017 iPad in rare cases.

In terms of specs, the iPad Air 2 has a better camera than iPad 4, a better processor, a slimmer form factor and a fingerprint sensor.

Read: New iPad vs. iPad Pro 2

Apple generally supports device repairs up to 5 years after the product is discontinued, which means that iPad 4 user will continue getting support till 2019. Since most Apple Stores do not perform iPad repairs, a replacement is the next alternative.

If you are looking to take advantage of the situation, we would advise you to check your local Apple Store for iPad 4 stock first.