I was casually walking back to my car when my right ankle buckled. In order to prevent me from twisting my ankle, my body reacted by falling appropriately. Unfortunately for me, I was holding my new 3rd generation iPad (64GB with 4G) at the time.
Long Story, Short On How It Happened
Earlier that day I was on a sailboat and I bent my right ankle in an awkward way when helping tie one of the lines to the dock. This made my ankle weak for the rest of the day.
When I was walking back to the car, I stepped down from a grass area to a parking lot when my ankle buckled and I started going down. When the iPad flew out of my hands, it was like watching it in slow motion when it hit face-down on the pavement.
Good News / Bad News
The good news is that the iPad still works. I can still use it but not too much unless I want shards of glass in my fingertips. What’s more important is I can back it up before having to bring it to the Apple Store.
The bad news is that no warranty covers this, which means I’m going to have to pay Apple more money to get it “fixed”. They don’t technically fix iPad’s in this condition. They give you a refurbished version of the same model with a new warranty.
The Apple Store
Not even 10 minutes after dropping the iPad, I used my iPhone to make an appointment for the next morning at the Apple Store. Some quick Google searching revealed that Apple has a flat price for repairs; which is $299 in my case.
This means no matter what the damage, even minor, you pay $299. This seems to be standard for some hardware companies; I know Nintendo does this as well. There’s bad sides to that system, especially if you only have a small crack in your screen. The flip side is that you can practically take a sledgehammer to the iPad and only pay $299. (DON’T ACTUALLY DO THIS!) 
Lesson Learned
That slip and fall in the parking lot cost me $299 + tax, but it also bummed me out to the point where I couldn’t do any productive work for the rest of the day.
I did turn the negative into a positive by writing a blog post about it. The big lesson here is simply be more careful when handling your devices, and be prepared by having recent backups, and a little money saved up for times like this.
David Kanter
1 year ago
Man that sucks, sorry to hear that. what kind of case (if any) were you using?
Josh Jones
1 year ago
Just the standard Apple magnet cover.
Turt99
1 year ago
I wouldn’t count all as lost just yet. Take it to the genius bar and just explain your situation you may end up being lucky. When I was having issues with my MBA I was waiting at the genius bar and witnessed several people explain to the genius that the phone was dropped. They wanted to know their options, it turned out their option was to walk out with a new device.
Josh Jones
1 year ago
Already done (see “Apple Store” section). Basically my options were pay $300 for refurbished (which I can argue are better than new) or $900 for a new one.
That’s a big jump.
Janene Pappas
1 year ago
I did the same thing. I ended up paying for a new one, the replacement cost of $299, but added Apple Care + to it, for $99 and they discounted the iPad $50. Total of $350 but if I drop it again, it’s far less to replace.
I promptly went out and bought padded case for it and forbade myself to walk around with it unprotected.
Josh Jones
1 year ago
Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
Brian Hanifin
1 year ago
FYI, the part that you broke appears to be the touch screen glass which sits on top of the actual LCD screen (this part is called a digitizer). For about $100 on eBay you can buy a new digitizer and replace it yourself. I have used the instructions on ifixit.com to preform a similar surgery on several iPhones and laptops. For those that are inclined to do it yourself this is a great option.
Josh Jones
1 year ago
I considered this option but some of the guts underneath were also sticking out and I needed instant fix gratification. I also don’t trust myself doing a good job, getting dust underneath the glass, etc.
But I’d recommend this for anyone looking for a cheaper solution.
Patrick
1 year ago
I broke mine today it sucks, but i still works, i have an appointment tomorrow with the apple store , yes 300$
Josh Jones
1 year ago
Good to know I’m not alone in this adventure. Thanks for replying!