What to do if your iPad screen is broken?

iPad screen

Owing an iPad is still a costly affair as they are not cheap to buy and to maintain them is your responsibility. But what if some mishap happens and your iPad screen is broken. Remember that Apple’s one-year warranty doesn’t cover accidental damage, so unless your iPad’s screen has a hairline crack due to defective glass and no obvious sign of drop impact, you then get ready to bust out your credit card. So lets see what to do if such an unfortunate thing happens with your iPad.

Get it replaced by Apple

Getting your screen replaced by Apple is pretty cheap — if you have AppleCare. AppleCare costs $AU129 dollars for two years and it covers two incidents of accidental damage for a AU$49 service fee. It’s available upon purchase, but you also have 60 days after purchase to buy it. (at the time of writing)

You can also use  Express Replacement Service to get a replacement even before sending your iPad. You can check if you have AppleCare+ by entering your iPad serial number.

If you don’t have AppleCare, it will cost about the price of a refurbished iPad to fix your screen. Apple charges money to fix a broken iPad screen, depending on the model. That’s a lot, especially compared to AU$208.95 to AU$229.95 to fix an out-of-coverage iPhone 7 screen. (at the time of writing)

If you can’t get to an Apple store, you can mail your device to Apple for a shipping fee of AU$19.95. (at the time of writing). Apple is one your best choices, as the repair won’t void your warranty. In fact, it will extend your warranty from that day by 90 days.

Can choose to visit a non Apple repair shop

If you wish you can have a third party fix it as there are lots of other places to get your iPad screen fixed, but choosing a non-Apple repair shop will void your warranty. Note that Apple can tell if a non-Apple employee has opened up your iPad. But if you’re out of warranty anyway, there’s a number of third-party Apple repair places that can fix your iPad’s shattered screen.

Also if you go to look out for a good repair company to fix your iPad screen you should first ask the cost it will incur, the time it will take to repair and the warranty of that and from where they will procure the replacement parts.

Since the third-party company will be voiding your Apple warranty, you want to make sure they’ll stand behind their work and parts — the last thing you want is a crack-free but defective screen.

You can try out local mom-and-pop computer repair stores that often a good place to try for a third-party repair. Just check for reviews and get a solid quote up-front. You will find on search many of such shops in Australia and USA which specialize in Apple repairs.

Do not opt to go for DIY

Many people are out there that love to fix things by themselves, may be many know the way to but it is always advised not to do it yourself. You can find glass replacement kits and dense DIY tutorials online that show you how to fix your iPad screen yourself, but it is always advised to you that don’t want to do this yourself. Replacing the glass is much more difficult than replacing the entire touchscreen, because you will need to separate the glass from the touchscreen and then glue the new piece of glass onto the old touchscreen. That’s something you should leave to professionals.

If you really want to give it a shot, keep in mind that a touchscreen replacement kit, including the LCD screen and digitizer, can cost between $30 and $400, depending on which components you need and the model.  Also with the DIY approach, you will void your warranty and have nobody but yourself to blame if something goes wrong. Replacing the screen will cost you as much, if not more, than simply taking your device to the Apple store.

Let it be till you get the option to deal with it

The best thing is to let it be till you get the best way to deal with it. Because if you’re short on cash, or are simply dealing with a small crack, you can also try to make the best of what you got. It won’t look pretty, but you don’t need to replace your screen when it cracks. If the cracks are around the edges of the screen and don’t interfere with actually using the phone, or if you have one or two large cracks that run across the screen, a glass screen protector such as Zagg’s glass screen protector (US$30-$50) so you don’t cut your fingers as you swipe.If your screen is absolutely shattered, a glass screen protector will keep you from getting cut, but your iPad may still be unusable.

Sell it if you do not like a cracked screen

Though just because your iPad screen is shattered does not mean it is worthless. But if you thinks so then go out and sell it. You will find that eBay is the one online site that accepts cracked screen iPad to display for selling. So you may find it is better to sell the broken iPad and then use the cash gained combined with the cost a screen repair would have cost to buy a replacement. You might even be able to use the cash for the broken iPad to buy a more powerful iPad for less than that screen replacement.

Now  with all the above suggestions as what to do when your iPad screen is broken it is best to care for your iPad and handle properly. Take no risks with kids and if you allow them to play with your iPad then keep a watch on them as they might drop it. If in disease prevention is better than cure so does it applies for our tech gadgets.