It has been reported recently that if someone who owns an iPad 4 sends it in for a service or repair, they will be given an iPad Air 2 as a replacement device until their tablet returns. The report suggested that this was due to low stock of the iPad 4 which has been discontinued which was why Apple would replace units in for service or repair with an iPad Air 2. According to a new report, that’s not a universal policy and will only be done in certain conditions.
The report claims that even though there have been many reports about this, there’s actually no official Apple policy that mandates iPad 4 service replacement with an iPad Air 2.
Apple is leaving it up to store managers to decide if they’re going to replace an iPad 4 with an in-stock iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, and even in some rare cases the 2017 iPad. AppleInsider hears from sources inside Apple stores that iPad 4 service stock “arrives in fits and spurts” after it’s depleted.
Basically, Apple has allowed stores to make this swap if they have no service stock available of the fourth-generation iPad. Some stores have been without service stock of this tablet for quite some time now so even though it’s not official policy yet, users may experience this change at some point if they take in their iPad 4 for a service or repair.