iPad Pro iPad losing charge while plugged in?

[ThatSomeone]

I usually only use it while it's plugged in, but I do unplug it for several hours every day to not have it sit in the charger 24/7. But around a month ago, I noticed that I was losing battery charge as I was using my iPad while it was plugged in? I tried unplugging and plugging it back in again, but as soon as it reached 100% it started all over.. The only thing that resolved it was a reboot, and I thought it was just a fluke. But today it happened again, and I have no clue as to why. I'm not doing anything intense that should draw more power than the charger can provide either, just watching videos and using Safari while listening to Spotify. I know that Apple added a feature to prevent battery aging specifically for iDevices always plugged in a few years ago, but I can't figure out if that's the culprit in settings...

And I'm using the included 18W wall charger along with the included USB-C cable, running the latest iPadOS(16.1.1).

 

[rui no onna]

Once it reaches 100%, it usually stops charging, lets the iPad drain to 90-something and then starts charging again.

 

[ThatSomeone]

Once it reaches 100%, it usually stops charging, lets the iPad drain to 90-something and then starts charging again.

I thought most modern OSes "hide" it by always displaying 100% when it's actually silently cycling?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I thought most modern OSes "hide" it by always displaying 100% when it's actually silently cycling?

Yeah that's what's going on. It'll continue to report 100% but cycle the top 5-10% in the background. You can see this if you use a Mac OS app like coconutBattery.

The only iPad that I had actually lose charge while plugged in is a 12.9. That thing on high brightness doing something CPU intensive would actually drop while plugged in. But I didn't use it for too long so I can't speak with a lot of authority on that.

Every other iPad never dropped while plugged in. Most iPads I know of come with the 20w adapter now days and will gladly take a stronger charger if you have it. I often use my 35w or MacBook 61w chargers for my iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

I thought most modern OSes "hide" it by always displaying 100% when it's actually silently cycling?

I've seen my iPad occasionally show "Not Charging" when at 100%. 🤷‍♀️

 

[FeliApple]

I've seen my iPad occasionally show "Not Charging" when at 100%. 🤷‍♀️

My 9.7-inch iPad Pro has occasionally shown “not charging” on iOS 12 (that had never happened on iOS 9). Unplugging it and plugging it back again fixed it. My Air 5 on iPadOS 15 has never done that (so far).

 

[ThatSomeone]

Yeah that's what's going on. It'll continue to report 100% but cycle the top 5-10% in the background. You can see this if you use a Mac OS app like coconutBattery.

The only iPad that I had actually lose charge while plugged in is a 12.9. That thing on high brightness doing something CPU intensive would actually drop while plugged in. But I didn't use it for too long so I can't speak with a lot of authority on that.

Every other iPad never dropped while plugged in. Most iPads I know of come with the 20w adapter now days and will gladly take a stronger charger if you have it. I often use my 35w or MacBook 61w chargers for my iPad.

The weird part is that when I locked it and left it for a while, it went back up to 100%. I tried to see if it'd do it again by having a stream on for a while, but nothing happened and it stayed at 100%. It's nowhere near hot when this occurs either, so I doubt it tries to pull more power than the brick can supply.

Could it be a bug then maybe? I've only ever seen this once before, 8+ years ago with the 1st generation iPad Air, also solved by a reboot.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The weird part is that when I locked it and left it for a while, it went back up to 100%. I tried to see if it'd do it again by having a stream on for a while, but nothing happened and it stayed at 100%. It's nowhere near hot when this occurs either, so I doubt it tries to pull more power than the brick can supply.

Could it be a bug then maybe? I've only ever seen this once before, 8+ years ago with the 1st generation iPad Air, also solved by a reboot.

If I had this happen to me I'd probably look into replacing my charger and cable. If it only happened once I'd just chalk it up to a fluke - maybe a dirty charging port or a rare event. If it happened again I'd probably put more effort into it.

The basics: Make sure you're on the latest iPad OS, etc.

Maybe a bug - I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it happens again (if it was me). There's a lot of stuff behind charging now days.

 

[ThatSomeone]

If I had this happen to me I'd probably look into replacing my charger and cable. If it only happened once I'd just chalk it up to a fluke - maybe a dirty charging port or a rare event. If it happened again I'd probably put more effort into it.

The basics: Make sure you're on the latest iPad OS, etc.

Maybe a bug - I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it happens again (if it was me). There's a lot of stuff behind charging now days.

We'll see what 16.2 does. I hope it's just a software bug, a new charger and cable is $50 here and I'd hate it if that's not the final culprit.