iPad mini iPad mini 4 Excessive Battery Drain

[Buadhai]

I have an iPad mini 4 that drains the battery very rapidly. I replaced the battery about a year ago. According to Coconut Battery the Full Charge Capacity is the same as the Design Capacity (5124 mAh). I have turned off Background App Refresh for all but the most essential apps. Location Services is off for almost everything. I have set mail and other similar stuff to fetch rather than push. Still, I only get a few hours use out of each charge. I read the newspaper in the morning (about an hour). When I'm done the battery is usually down to about 70%. I set the iPad aside until the evening. When I pick it up again the battery percentage might be 40%; even though it has been idle for the last five hours. Where did that 30% go?

As a result, I've gotten into the habit of putting the iPad on the charger when I'm not using it in the afternoon.

Even then I only get a couple of hours use out of it in the evening when I'm reading Flipboard, Apple News, The New Yorker or a Kindle book. I have post-cataract lens implants, so, by necessity, I keep the screen brightness down or use dark mode, depending on the app.

One other observation: Even when the iPad has been idle, it feels very warm to the touch. Coconut Battery reports the average battery temperature at about 50ºC while my iPhone XR averages about 30ºC.

It seems that something is going on here, but I don't know what it is.

 

[AutomaticApple]

I have set mail and other similar stuff to fetch rather than push.

I believe fetch uses more battery than push.

 

[Buadhai]

There are differences of opinion:

https://www.cultofmac.com/238746/fe...mize-battery-life-speed-of-delivery-ios-tips/

I’ll change back to push and see if things improve.

 

[dmk1974]

On my iPad Mini 5, I have been getting massive battery drain the past week or so. Even if just sitting closed all day. Maybe something in 14.2.2? I used to be able to go a week or so with moderate use and just letting it sit before having to plug in the charge cable.

 

[Digitalguy]

My mini 5 is on 14.3 and has no battery issues... My mini 4 battery is almost dead, but the device is too old to spend 100 dollars to replace the battery so I am letting it just die (battery now lasts 20 minutes of screen on time)

 

[muzzy996]

First thought when reading OP is what does battery statistics in Settings say when excessive drain is observed. If it were me, after a full charge I'd screenshot battery statistics before doing a complete restart of the device. Then I'd unlock it and then set it aside having not launched anything first. After several hours I'd come back and look at battery level and battery statistics, comparing app usage values to what was observed before the reset. Hopefully by then there'd be some clue as to what app might be consuming processing time by way of statistics reported during standby.

 

[Burebista]

I've been using my Mini 4 almost on daily basis for the last 3+ years, still original battery. If I turn the brightness down at night I can still occasionally get 10 hours of screen on time on a single charge while reading ebooks. With a more intense use and brightness closer to 50% I can get maybe 4-5 hours SOT.

My guess is that the new battery you got installed is a faulty one. Even if you changed it directly at Apple it's not impossible.

Instead of installing a new battery you should've put that money towards Mini 5 - a much better investment.
Even with a new battery you won't get anywhere near original battery life from when the Mini 4 was new, because iOS 14 is way more taxing on its older chip than the iOS 9 was.

 

[Buadhai]

First thought when reading OP is what does battery statistics in Settings say when excessive drain is observed. If it were me, after a full charge I'd screenshot battery statistics before doing a complete restart of the device. Then I'd unlock it and then set it aside having not launched anything first. After several hours I'd come back and look at battery level and battery statistics, comparing app usage values to what was observed before the reset. Hopefully by then there'd be some clue as to what app might be consuming processing time by way of statistics reported during standby.

Thanks. I've started doing just that: Screenshot, reboot, unlock, set aside.

My guess is that the new battery you got installed is a faulty one. Even if you changed it directly at Apple it's not impossible.

Instead of installing a new battery you should've put that money towards Mini 5 - a much better investment.

You're probably right about the battery. It was not an Apple battery and only cost 1000 baht (US$30).

I had thought of buying a new Mini, but, to be perfectly honest, I find that it is much easier for me to read books, newspapers and magazines on my iPhone XR. I can read a Kindle novel on my XR without reading glasses. But, with the Mini 4 I need glasses; even though they have the same ppi. AFAIK, the Mini 5 has the same display as the Mini 4.

So, I decided to wait for a conveniently sized iPad that I could read without my glasses.

BTW, I switched from Fetch to Push for email and, after three days, have noticed no discernible difference in battery consumption.

 

[Buadhai]

As stated above I did a reboot of the iPad at 6:00 AM yesterday, unlocked it and set it aside. I didn't use it all day/night. So, the screen was off all the time except for when I logged in. No apps were running. When I checked it this morning at 7:30 AM, the battery was completely dead. After I charged it enough to start it up, I checked Battery and took a couple of screenshots. Oddly it shows Music as being played for 19 minutes. I never, ever play music with my iPad and certainly music was not playing when it was sitting unused on my desk overnight.

Any thoughts?



Here's what Coconut Battery says:

 

[Buadhai]

First thought when reading OP is what does battery statistics in Settings say when excessive drain is observed. If it were me, after a full charge I'd screenshot battery statistics before doing a complete restart of the device. Then I'd unlock it and then set it aside having not launched anything first. After several hours I'd come back and look at battery level and battery statistics, comparing app usage values to what was observed before the reset. Hopefully by then there'd be some clue as to what app might be consuming processing time by way of statistics reported during standby.

I did what you suggested. Any reaction to the results?

 

[muzzy996]

Odd behavior from Music app and not sure why. Is it up to date?

I too do not use Music app and it does not show up at all on my activity/usage statistics even for the last 10 days on my iPad Pro. Do you have an Apple Music library? If you don't use it on the iPad perhaps go into settings for Music app and just turn off library sync as a test. Not sure what else to suggest - these things can sometimes be a process of elimination thing.

 

[Buadhai]

This is going to be long, but I need to get my thoughts around it.

Yesterday I was otherwise engaged so didn't get a chance to use my iPad as usual. But, I did notice that there seemed to be much less battery drain than before I let the battery completely drain and the iPad shut down.

This morning I checked the iPad just before 6:00 AM. It was at 100% so I removed it from the charger, force rebooted it, logged in and set it aside. When I was ready to read the newspaper, just after 10:00 AM, I was pleased to see that in over four idle hours, the battery had only gone down to 98%. This is a major improvement over what I have been experiencing for the past few months.



When I got to the coffee shop where I planned to read the newspaper I popped in my AirPods first thing. I was so surprised that music immediately started playing. I looked at my Apple Watch but it said "Not Playing" for both the watch and my iPhone. I checked the iPod and sure enough, it had started playing a piece by Charli Parker. Odd, because I don't normally listen to jazz in the morning. I checked the play history on the iPad and was very surprised to see a list of songs I mostly don't know by artists, some of whom I've never heard of.

I have no idea where this weird playlist came from or why my iPad started playing it. (I would have thought that if the iPad were playing music before I put on the AirPods I would have heard it from the iPad speakers. There was nothing.)



Frank Sinatra singing "Jingle Bells"? Well, maybe, but not in April.

I stopped Music, read the "Bangkok Post" and drank my cappuccino. That took about an hour. At the end of that hour the iPad was down to 67% battery. That's more in line with what I've been experiencing lately.

Such an eclectic and strange collection of songs with these weird repeats.