Apple Pencil 2 Battery Life

[tekchic]

I can confirm that the pencil sleeps after a certain period of time without being used. I took my pencil off the iPad at some point yesterday and then tried to use it today. It was not functional until I set it in the magnet. The iPad confirmed it still had over 80% charge, and it worked great once I picked it up again. It seemed it needed the iPad magnet to “wake up.”

That's interesting - I'll have to try this at work tomorrow (since my iPad sits for long periods unused). I think that's still better than picking up the original Apple Pencil and having it at 2% battery life almost every time I decide to draw with it. I carried it in my bag with my iPad and always had Bluetooth on -- original Pencil couldn't hold a charge much at all with all the motion.

 

[Mabus51]

I can confirm that the pencil sleeps after a certain period of time without being used. I took my pencil off the iPad at some point yesterday and then tried to use it today. It was not functional until I set it in the magnet. The iPad confirmed it still had over 80% charge, and it worked great once I picked it up again. It seemed it needed the iPad magnet to “wake up.”

I tried this experiment today. If you leave the pencil alone for about 10 minutes it goes to sleep without draining the battery much. Any motion though it wakes up. I left it alone on the desk all day and checked the battery widget until it disappeared took roughly 10 minutes. As soon as I picked it up it activated and was ready to use no connecting it to the iPad to wake it. The odd thing though is last I looked at it was at 88% charge before it went to sleep without connecting it to the iPad, 9 or 10 hours later it was showing 94% charge. So not sure what Apple’s battery algorithm is but something seems off. I dunno what to say seems to be working as intended, wish Apple would release some documentation on it.

 

[Nanotyrns]

Just checked mine and it's at 94% after being on my desk for well over 24 hours. I don't have to magnetically attach mine to get it to connect. I just swipe over to the battery widget and tap the screen with the pencil for it to show me the remaining battery level.

 

[john991]

What is the firmware version after the pencil firmware update?

 

[Never mind]

What is the firmware version after the pencil firmware update?

Settings >general>about>Pencil
Last 4 digits

0056

 

[Perene]

Here's something interesting I discovered:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...s-apple-pencil-2.2155384/page-8#post-26820349

I wonder how that works with the 2nd gen.

Edit: I updated that link. It seems in the 1st Pencil this is a temporary error which will waste the battery while in idle. The error is not happening again. Unfortunately I can't predict when it will happen. Only that when it does the battery will be wasted more quickly while sitting in my drawer.

 

[john991]

How long does the pencil take to charge? I put my pencil on showing 97% and about an hour it’s showing 98% charged. 1% per hour... kinda slow charging.

 

[KPOM]

How long does the pencil take to charge? I put my pencil on showing 97% and about an hour it’s showing 98% charged. 1% per hour... kinda slow charging.

It slows down as it approaches 100%.

 

[john991]

It slows down as it approaches 100%.

Thanks that explains it.

 

[subjonas]

I tapped the screen with the Pencil to 'wake' it.

Any motion though it wakes up. I left it alone on the desk all day and checked the battery widget until it disappeared took roughly 10 minutes. As soon as I picked it up it activated and was ready to use no connecting it to the iPad to wake it.

So how do you wake the pencil? Why do you both conflict? I assume we’re all talking about 2nd gen Pencil. The Apple website for the pencil says “tap to wake” just under “double tap to switch tools”. To me that means a single tap on the pencil will wake it. It could also mean tapping the pencil to the iPad screen will wake it, though if this is the case the wording they chose is very unclear. In any case, motion should NOT wake the pencil. Can someone please confirm exactly how the pencil is woken/not woken from low power mode?

 

[Mabus51]

So how do you wake the pencil? Why do you both conflict? I assume we’re all talking about 2nd gen Pencil. The Apple website for the pencil says “tap to wake” just under “double tap to switch tools”. To me that means a single tap on the pencil will wake it. It could also mean tapping the pencil to the iPad screen will wake it, though if this is the case the wording they chose is very unclear. In any case, motion should NOT wake the pencil. Can someone please confirm exactly how the pencil is woken/not woken from low power mode?

Single tap wakes the Pencil. It’s sensitive enough that touching it is considered a single tap. So lifting it up from the desk wakes it. I’ve never needed to connect it to the iPad to wake it.

 

[subjonas]

Single tap wakes the Pencil. It’s sensitive enough that touching it is considered a single tap. So lifting it up from the desk wakes it. I’ve never needed to connect it to the iPad to wake it.

Thanks. I heard you can’t double tap on the upper part of the pencil—only the lower 1/3 area nearer to the tip. So just to clarify, you could pick it up by the “eraser” end and it won’t wake up the pencil? And of course carrying it in a bag shouldn’t wake it up.

 

[Mabus51]

Thanks. I heard you can’t double tap on the upper part of the pencil—only the lower 1/3 area nearer to the tip. So just to clarify, you could pick it up by the “eraser” end and it won’t wake up the pencil? And of course carrying it in a bag shouldn’t wake it up.

After further testing with it all last week. I would say this is pretty accurate. The 1/3 area though is pretty generous, sometimes it feels like 1/2 will register taps. But I can confirm leaving it in the bag doesn’t wake it as I originally thought it did. Physically touching it does wake it.

 

[subjonas]

After further testing with it all last week. I would say this is pretty accurate. The 1/3 area though is pretty generous, sometimes it feels like 1/2 will register taps. But I can confirm leaving it in the bag doesn’t wake it as I originally thought it did. Physically touching it does wake it.

Great news. Especially about the bag. Having to turn off Bluetooth on my iPad every time was getting annoying. Still I wish it could turn off completely so as to save even more battery, but this is a much better situation than before. (Actually I still haven’t seen anyone mention how long the battery lasts in idle mode—maybe it’s almost as good as completely off, though I doubt it.)

 

[egghead6398]

I have a dead Apple pencil (Gen1) that won't charge anymore. Apparently if you let your apple pencil battery to drain below 3 %, it won't charge anymore. If you google "Apple pencil 3%", you can find lot of people having same issues. I am wondering if Apple pencil 2 has the same problem....

 

[Cosmo_Kramer]

Hi all,

I just found this thread and have the sme problems with the new pencil. I Just tested it. I re-paired the pencil, restarted the iPad and fully loaded the pencil. I deattached it and now it is on 19% battery after sitting 2 hours on my desk (untouched). This can´t be normal.

Did anybody fixed this issue or talked to Apple support about this?

Edit: pencil runs with the latest firmware (.0056).

 

[laurenr]

Hi all,

I just found this thread and have the sme problems with the new pencil. I Just tested it. I re-paired the pencil, restarted the iPad and fully loaded the pencil. I deattached it and now it is on 19% battery after sitting 2 hours on my desk (untouched). This can´t be normal.

Did anybody fixed this issue or talked to Apple support about this?

Edit: pencil runs with the latest firmware (.0056).

I had the same problem, but before the firmware was updated on my pencil. I let the pencil deplete totally, then did a reset of my iPP. Since then, pencil is no longer experiencing rapid power depletion.