This post is here to make it easier to get help fixing an iPad I bought from Backmarket a couple of years ago. Last week I left it in a bag with a water bottle that leaked, and I’m hoping that being able to share pictures and links should help me find someone to fix it, instead of being forced to buy a replacement.
First of all, let’s run through a few common questions that someone who wants to help me would ask.
What is it?
The device I am hoping to fix is an Apple iPad Mini 6th Generation. I have the 256GB storage version. I’ve had it since August 30th 2022, and I use(d) it all the time. Here’s a good, in-depth review from Ars Electronica, when it was first released the year before.
What happened?
I was cycling home one day. I had my laptop, my ipad a cable bag, and what I thought was a sealed water bottle in the bag. When I got home, I realised the bottle was not as sealed as I had thought, and there was a small amount of water in the bag 😬.
Thankfully the laptop’s ports were high enough to avoid any water damage but the port for the iPad is at the bottom.
The iPad seemed to work fine at first, I wiped away any water I can find, and I left it a while to dry off.
However when plugging a USB-C cable in to recharge I saw the dreaded “water detected in USB-C” socket message. After this, no cable I have plugged in has provided charge – so I basically had an iPad with a few minutes left to live.
Did you try to fix it already?
I took it to Cyberport on Freidrichstr, because they managed to refurb an older Macbook I had, before. They confirmed the problem was the USB-C module, but said I need to buy a new iPad, probably for 400 EUR upwards (!).
This is less then the repairs for the Apple macbook when I replaced the entire motherboard with them a few or two earlier.
Let’s step back for a second. This is a really powerful device, a wonder of modern technology, and because the cheapest bit is dead, I have to bin it and buy a whole new one?
This represents so much that’s wrong with how modern physical devices are designed, and why we have a growing right to repair movement – the status quo right now sucks.
Considering my options
Fixing it myself
Looking online, I found a guide on iFixit showing how to replace the water damaged USB-C port. I also found out they sell nifty kits full of repair tools – something that’s stopped me wanting to try repairs myself before.
I also found a video showing someone carrying what I think is exactly the repair need:
This was somewhat promising, but TBH, it would involve buying a bunch of kit I’ve never used, and while the idea of being an empowered self-repair wiz is sort of appealing, my goal here is fixing the iPad so I can used it again more than self-improvement. I’m not that confident messing with the internal of electronics I rely on daily.
Finding someone else to fix it
Another option is find someone else. I reckon I could either go directly, or go through a service to connect me to a provider. Hopefully this would reduce the risk associated with getting repairs, because there might be some kind of rating system or vetting of providers I would send my stricken, but still expensive and valuable device to.
Going via Repair Circle
I’ve known Ugo Vallauri of the Restart Project from my Cleanweb London days, and he mentioned a cool new startup called Repair Circle, based in Berlin. Here’s a screenshot of their website – it gives a good idea of what they’re about:
The model is really nice – they match people with devices that need to be fixed with repair shops and technicians who know how to fix them, and presumably arrange the deliver and connection.
I like this option:
- it’s a recommendation from someone I trust
- I want this model to succeed because repairs are good
- I have other stuff I need fixing that I’ve put off because I can’t find someone I trust
I’ve contacted them.
This is a new service though, and there’s no mention of iPads / tablets on their website. It might not actually be the right fit.
Hunting around myself
The option is trawling around search engines and asking for recommendations. This is where I am at, so if you have had recent personal experiences getting repairs in Berlin, particularly for an iPad, I would love to hear from you.
If you do this kind of repair work, I’ve also shared all this to help communicate what I think I need. I am committed to spending money to get this iPad repaired instead of replaced, and I am looking for someone to spend it with. There’s no way I won’t spend money now – I normally use this device daily – the question now is with who.
If you’d like to get in touch, the easiest way to get in touch with me is on my about page.
If I ever get this device fixed, I’ll be sure to share an update here for others. Ta!
Update 2022-09-11: Replacement ports are really around 40 EUR?
so, I’m reasonably confident now that the USB-C port, (or ladeport, in German) is not an expensive part. It’s available for about 30-35 EUR on Parts4repair.de, and it looks like the image below.
This is waaaay cheaper than I have seen quoted. If I was do to this myself, buying a speciliased tool kit from iFixit to open up devices would likely be more expensive.
Update 2022-09-15 – repair is more accessible due to smart policy in Berlin
In Berlin city there is now a scheme, called “Berlin Repair Bonus”, which effectively halves the cost of getting repairs like the one I’m describing above. It’s limited for a few months, and there is a finite amount of cash allocated 1.25m EUR. There is a good english description on the Repair Circle blog post describing the scheme.
Update 2022-09-28 – wait, it’s not bricked?
Weirdly I took the iPad yesterday, after not using to Prenzil Repair in Berlin. It started charging when the staff plugged it in to diagnose any problems!
I was then able to charge it at the office I work at for the afternoon – enough to update it, and have enough charge in the system to confirm with apple via a remote diagnostic that there are no internal issues.
Thing is, today at home, no USB-C cable (USB-A to USB-C, Apple macbook USB-C to USB-C, etc) I use, regardless of what it’s connected to (apple charger, regular wallward to USB-C, etc) seems to charge it.
So, I’m much more confident it’s a problem with the USB-C power port, but I’m not sure why it might charge sometimes and not charge other times. On phone calls with Apple, I’ve found out that the the cost of a replacing the charge port would be around 400 EUR, and Apple are not part of the Repair Bonus scheme, so I do not think I’d be able to claim half the cost of repairs with them. Prenzl Repairs charge around 250 EUR for the same replacement, and they were able to explain the scheme, so with the repair bonus, might be closer to 125 EUR. This still pretty pricey but but much more managable. But it would be really nice to understand why it worked yesterday but not today – I’m back to guesswork as to why this is not working as expect. Sigh. If I make any progress, I’ll update here for anyone else in a similar position in future.
Update 3: USB-C the different forms of power delivery it offers, and finding a workaround.
Ok, on a hunch, when cycling past my office, I tried popping in to plug the stricken iPad into the charge cable there, juuuust in case. It worked!
The faster charging cables (i.e. the USB-C to USB-C cables I use with my macbook) still do not charge. So, there must be something specific about the power delivery cables that charge faster (i..e the macbook charger I was using before).
This 4 minute video about USB-C charging seems to confirm my suspicion – it explains the slow charging default, as well as the faster charging PD 3.0 standard. For people who want to dive into this deeper, there’s also a good 20 minute video from Electromagnetic Field, called Demystifying the USB Type C Connector by Tyler Ward going into more detail about how USB-C works.
I now think the water damage has done something to knock out faster charging, but otherwise the iPad works. This is annoying, but much less annoying than paying 400 EUR to replace the iPad, or conducting a risky self repair, with the relatively affordable replacement charge port.
Slow USB-A to USB-C cables are not too hard to find – I have a few already – so this will likely be my workaround for the forseeable.
Conclusion: compromised but not bricked
I no longer think this iPad is bricked, which is a huge relief. The loss of faster charging is a nuisance, and it’s a frustrating that repairing the iPad involves so many nerve recking steps, which effectively stops it being an option for self repair for most people.
I’m really glad the Berlin Repair bonus exists though, and I really like that it’s targetted at smaller repair shops. This would be my default option if I chose to get a repair done.
There is 1.25m EUR allocated to it, and if the money doesn’t get used, I worry that it might not end up being seen as a successful scheme and that there isn’t demand for this. If you have a repair you’ve been putting off and you live in Berlin, I’d recommend taking up the offer if you can, as 50% off is pretty good, and it’s not clear how long it’ll be around in future.