iPad Air iPad Air 2024 (M2) Battery Life Question

[RazvanClaudiu1]

Hello,

I want to purchase the Air 2024. However, many people say the battery life is bad, way under the advertised ten hours. For those who own it, what has been your experience, battery wife, with this iPad? Also, what has been your experience in general?

 

[Bromio]

I don’t own this iPad, but I’ve read those claims for all iPad generations. I guess it depends on many factors like what you do with the iPad.

 

[Populus]

I don’t own an Air, but I’ve been using an M2 iPad Pro for more than a year, and the battery life has always been great. I don’t know if battery capacity is smaller on the Air (you can check that out), but if it’s similar, I would bet it has a good battery life because the M2 in the iPad Air has one less GPU core, hence, it should drain less battery. In theory.

 

[joeblow7777]

As others have said, I don't own this particular iPad, but in my experience with a number of other models, if anything the 10 hour claim for iPads is an underestimate.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

That’s a loaded question because it all depends what how you are using the device, screen brightness levels and other factors. Every iPad I have owned, I usually average around 8-9 hours. Coincidentally my M2 Air showed up today and it had 93% battery life and it’s now down to 80% with 1 hour of screen time. That includes a software update.

 

[Populus]

That’s a loaded question because it all depends what how you are using the device, screen brightness levels and other factors. Every iPad I have owned, I usually average around 8-9 hours. Coincidentally my M2 Air showed up today and it had 93% battery life and it’s now down to 80% with 1 hour of screen time. That includes a software update.

Usually, a recently updated iPhone or iPad will show more background activity. Well, it won’t directly show it, as iOS is pretty cryptic in that regard, as it doesn’t have an Activity Monitor or apps like iStats Menu. But you’ll notice it warmer or even hotter if you’re in a warm region like me. Give it a few days.

Regardless, taking one hour to consume a 12% of battery is pretty close to the 10h claimed mark, and using the iPad for the first time is not the best indicator. I know you’re not complaining, but a gain, I would expect around 11 to 12h from an iPad with a new battery. My M2 Pro is more than one year old with daily usage, and it still hits the claimed 10h mark, or even surpass it.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Usually, a recently updated iPhone or iPad will show more background activity. Well, it won’t directly show it, as iOS is pretty cryptic in that regard, as it doesn’t have an Activity Monitor or apps like iStats Menu. But you’ll notice it warmer or even hotter if you’re in a warm region like me. Give it a few days.

Regardless, taking one hour to consume a 12% of battery is pretty close to the 10h claimed mark, and using the iPad for the first time is not the best indicator. I know you’re not complaining, but a gain, I would expect around 11 to 12h from an iPad with a new battery. My M2 Pro is more than one year old with daily usage, and it still hits the claimed 10h mark, or even surpass it.

Yeah, i'm not complaining and the usage time goes way up if i'm listening to music with the screen off. Prior to Apple making changes in the app as to how they calculate the battery metrics in iOS i.e., iOS 8/9 would show battery life of 20 plus hours. Now that they calculate things differently, all I can go by is screen time. Still, I have no complaints with battery life of an iPad, especially since they use a much smaller battery than my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus with it's OLED display. But as we all know, battery life on an iPad has so many variables with screen brightness, background push notifications etc.

 

[Aka757]

By all accounts, the new iPads (both Pro and Air) get anywhere from 10-12 hours with mixed usage. Obviously you can stretch it with lighter usage and burn it with heavier usage. I think 10 hours is a good estimate for just about any iPad (and I know that this is the estimate that Apple has provided from the very beginning).

 

[jz0309]

I’ve owned a 13 iPad Air now for 2 weeks, running iPadOS 18 and battery life is fine..

 

[Populus]

Yeah, i'm not complaining and the usage time goes way up if i'm listening to music with the screen off. Prior to Apple making changes in the app as to how they calculate the battery metrics in iOS i.e., iOS 8/9 would show battery life of 20 plus hours. Now that they calculate things differently, all I can go by is screen time. Still, I have no complaints with battery life of an iPad, especially since they use a much smaller battery than my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus with it's OLED display. But as we all know, battery life on an iPad has so many variables with screen brightness, background push notifications etc.

I just checked my 11” M2 iPad Pro battery health using Coconut Battery: after one and a half -1.5- years of regular use, it shows it is at 89% battery health of its original capacity, and I still manage to squeeze at least 10h on average. Now, for instance, battery percentage is at 65% and the screen on time since I unplugged it is 4h30m