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iPad Battery Life

C

Chimpware

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2007
157
0
I have had my WiFi iPad since launch and initially I was getting 10+ hours of battery life. It seems recently i am getting much less, on the order of 7 to 8 hours of surfing, reading, games and video use. My usage pattern is essentially the same, and I have run the battery down all the way just in case of memory, but i still seem to be getting about 20 to 30% less battery life.

Anyone (not Antonella, as iPad spelling chose), else? Ideas?
 
I haven't noticed a change. Are you sure useage is the same? ie are you playing music in the background now and before you weren't, are you using different wireless networks or using a different browser now than before?

If your useage patterns really are the same, this sounds like a defect.
 
Well my name isn't Antonella, but have you look into what you've installed that may be pushing notifications or the mail account settings? As you get to use your ipad more and more things you install and email accounts you set up may affect it. It should be marginal though. Perhaps restoring your iPad and testing the battery that way may help. I did that with my iPhone once and found the battery was better than I thought.
 
i'm experiencing the same thing. my battery life is at around 70%-80% compared to when i first got it. i do have alot more apps now and use Atomic Browser almost exclusively.

Can certain apps use pull more juice from the battery?

Antonella, now that is a beautiful name.
 
patp said:
i'm experiencing the same thing. my battery life is at around 70%-80% compared to when i first got it. i do have alot more apps now and use Atomic Browser almost exclusively.

Can certain apps use pull more juice from the battery?

Antonella, now that is a beautiful name.
Click to expand...

Take this with a pinch of salt, but I read somewhere that the Atomic Browser is causing battery drain issues.

I cannot say this with experience as I don't have my IPAD yet (From UK so Friday) but I read there is problems with the Atomic Browser, I will try and find and link it.
 
OreAird said:
Take this with a pinch of salt, but I read somewhere that the Atomic Browser is causing battery drain issues.

I cannot say this with experience as I don't have my IPAD yet (From UK so Friday) but I read there is problems with the Atomic Browser, I will try and find and link it.
Click to expand...

Well Atomic does use safari to operate so it would seem to make sense that battery life would be worse, your using more process power at a time. Plus the fact that atomic doesn't reload your tabs must require some kind of energy.
 
spikefood said:
Well Atomic does use safari to operate so it would seem to make sense that battery life would be worse, your using more process power at a time. Plus the fact that atomic doesn't reload your tabs must require some kind of energy.
Click to expand...

Presumably it is cacheing them in some manner, so you'd get some power drain running them into and out of storage. But would it be more than reloading them over the air? Seems unlikely.
 
Chimpware said:
I have had my WiFi iPad since launch and initially I was getting 10+ hours of battery life. It seems recently i am getting much less, on the order of 7 to 8 hours of surfing, reading, games and video use. My usage pattern is essentially the same, and I have run the battery down all the way just in case of memory, but i still seem to be getting about 20 to 30% less battery life.

Anyone (not Antonella, as iPad spelling chose), else? Ideas?
Click to expand...

Do you constantly have it on?
 
I do have a lot more Apps installed, but use only Safari for browsing. I have turned off notifications to see if that makes a difference. I do not have it on constantly.
 
Try a soft reset. Press and hold the Power+Home and wait for the Apple logo to loop twice, then blank screen. Then turn on again and see if the battery usage last longer.
 
patp said:
i'm experiencing the same thing. my battery life is at around 70%-80% compared to when i first got it. i do have alot more apps now and use Atomic Browser almost exclusively.

Can certain apps use pull more juice from the battery?
Click to expand...

Bing bing bing. We may have a winner. I recently installed Atomic Browser for the reason of cached tabs, and no reload times. The warning was that it would use more memory, and the theory more power. Apple claims that the caching with Safari is so that memory can be swept and processes ended to save battery power.

If this is true, it could be a reason. But, as stated, above, the more apps we install, the more notifications process that run, the more graphics and I/O we load through screen swipes while playing games, the more power that is consumed. I know I'm running it through more and more all the time.
 
Zazoh said:
Bing bing bing. We may have a winner. I recently installed Atomic Browser for the reason of cached tabs, and no reload times. The warning was that it would use more memory, and the theory more power. Apple claims that the caching with Safari is so that memory can be swept and processes ended to save battery power.

If this is true, it could be a reason. But, as stated, above, the more apps we install, the more notifications process that run, the more graphics and I/O we load through screen swipes while playing games, the more power that is consumed. I know I'm running it through more and more all the time.
Click to expand...

Having many apps installed doesn't affect the battery one bit unless they are running. Having 20 apps with push notifications turned off is the same like 1 app with push still off.

Much of the reasons people are noticing battery drain is that now with more apps in the store, people are essentially running and trying out a lot more apps.
 
It all depends on usage. I go from days of 6 to 7 hours up to 9. With bt on and 3G it sucks juice and I am in the 6 hour area requiring a mid day charge.

I expect that over time like any device we will see a drop in battery life --- IMO what we are seeing now is due to usage and services we have enabled.
 
Compile 'em all said:
Having many apps installed doesn't affect the battery one bit unless they are running. Having 20 apps with push notifications turned off is the same like 1 app with push still off.
Click to expand...

Ya, I wasn't clear. We are installing more apps and using more we didn't have in the first few weeks. We set up more mail accounts etc. More stuff running, connecting, etc. Not more simply installed. Unless one is installing only thru the app store from the iPad. In short usage patterns have most likely changed.
 
Zazoh said:
Ya, I wasn't clear. We are installing more apps and using more we didn't have in the first few weeks. We set up more mail accounts etc. More stuff running, connecting, etc. Not more simply installed. Unless one is installing only thru the app store from the iPad. In short usage patterns have most likely changed.
Click to expand...

Yep. Wait till we get the new OS. Soundslike multiple apps open will drain more juice.
 
Scott, you are so right. I have the OS 4.0 on my phone (legitimately) and when I use more than one app it does a number on the 3GS battery. Of course, we all know the 3GS isn't a great battery saver to begin with.
 
I thought I was seeing less battery life until I realized I was just using the iPad more :). I usually keep the brightness turned down ( except all the way- kills my wifi connection). Been getting about 11 hours that way.
 
Southern Dad said:
Scott, you are so right. I have the OS 4.0 on my phone (legitimately) and when I use more than one app it does a number on the 3GS battery. Of course, we all know the 3GS isn't a great battery saver to begin with.
Click to expand...

Is it that bad? wasnt the great thing SJ said in the keynote was that they managed to do it in a way that would preserve battery life, i.e background apps no longer drawing memory and being essentially paused?
For the Ipad to be a successfull device, as an "always on" device I completly understand why such a focus on battery life, and decisions made with the browser for example. I think its essential and totally can see what background apps have not been allowed until now.
 
I believe a lot depends on what apps are in use. As for dimming screens turning off WiFi or 3G, etc. I'm just not going to dumb down my devices to save on the battery life. One of the reasons I bought this iPad was for the brilliant display.

For my phone I do carry a battery "Jolt" in my car that can bring the phone from 10% to about 35% in about 15 minutes.
 
My battery life is pretty much awesome since day one and has not changed with the introduction of jailbreak, backgrounder and others...

In my opinion, anyone experiencing 'poor battery life' is simply not configuring things correctly, or doesn't understand that the nature of something like backgrounder + atomic + leaving an auto-refresh web page open.
 
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