So I have an iPad Pro that has a degraded battery life after 4 years. Really, that's the only issue with it and we've determined that it's not software. It just lasts much, much less than it did a year ago. So I tried to get the battery replaced as I was willing to pay Apple for it. An Apple tech hooked it up and got a battery health report and basically came back and said, the battery wasn't degraded enough to qualify for the battery replacement service ($99). So my only option is, full device replacement ($375-ish).
I was told that the battery has to qualify for battery replacement on some devices. That's because they don't replace batteries on an iPad Pro - they always replace the entire device so unless you quality for the battery program, your only option is device replacement. Which they will do if I want but at a much greater cost. That's almost 1/2 the cost of what I originally paid for it.
I was told this directly by an Apple store employee this week. He said he literally can't select the battery replacement option unless he can prove that it is the battery and without the health report saying so, he doesn't know any way he could.
Try mail-in AppleCare. In my experience the retail "Genius Bar" and AppleCare policies and processes (or at least their implementation) have subtle differences. I had good luck with it with an old 1st gen iPad Pro. Just did it last week and expected to get a battery replacement but got a whole device replacement, which was interesting since I did not think they still make such devices in 2020--the serial number indicates they do and the device was made in the latter half of 2020. End-to-end it took probably 3-4 days.
If that doesn't work out, easiest thing is probably to sell on Craigslist with some disclosure and buying a new one.
Because they charge pretty high prices for battery swaps. For my two year old Airpods they would charge 55€ per pod + another 55€ for the battery in the case, which means that getting new batteries costs as much as the Airpods cost in the first place. (Prices in Austria) I hope my second pair lasts longer.
For the Airpods Max they currently list a price of 87€, but as far as I understand there's only one battery to swap. But 87€ every few years is still a high maintenance price, hoping they don't increase that price.
Also, Apple only offers service for a few years. I have a few bloated Macs that would need a new battery but Apple just doesn't service them anymore.
For many devices you can get replacement batteries from 3rd party sellers, but quality is hit or miss -- there's no guarantee the replacement battery is going to last (but in my experience Apple's replacement batteries are also unreliable sometimes).
Most of my Hifi gear is more than 15 years old. I doubt any of Apple's new audio products will last that long.
For how long depends how long till the designate the model "Vintage/Obsolete".
Typically 5 years if their computers/iphones/Beats headphones are anything to go by.
You can always try your luck on the third party market after that.
