Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MrUNIMOG

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 23, 2014
654
424
Hamburg, Germany
Hi folks, I just discovered that my half-year-old 10.5" iPad Pro takes quite a bit longer to boot than my old iPad Air 2. Both devices were clean installed via iTunes two days ago, no backup restored, should be like new.

One thing I noticed is that on the iPad Pro, the power button has to be pressed for some seconds to for the Apple logo to show up, as opposed to how other iOS devices behave, but I've read this is normal.

However what I don't believe to be normal is the very long time it takes to boot up – The Apple logo is showing for a whopping 38 seconds before the lock screen appears, much slower even than on my iPad Air 2. I believe back when I got the iPad Pro, startup wasn't as slow, however I'm not 100 % certain of that.

Now I'm wondering, what boot up times are you getting for your iPad Pro?
 
After I tried my brother's iPad Pro (10.5", 256 GB, same as mine) and got a boot time of merely 24 seconds, I decided to to another clean install of my own iPad.

Didn't help though – boot time's even a little worse now.

So either there's something wrong with my iPad or there's a bug in 10.2.1 only affecting some devices.
 
I turn mine off several times a week. Maybe to disconnect from the web or just to turn it off. It really doesn’t need to run 24/7. Every device I will turn off. Why have everything running.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrUNIMOG
Well, there have been these reports that starting with 11.2.1 Apple changed the power management system to reduce the load on weaker batteries by throttling back peak CPU activity. I wonder if that is what is kicking in on your iPad, now that it is on 11.2.1. I had assumed that this applied only to phones, but perhaps it applies to iPads as well. You could do a little digging into this by downloading the coconutBattery app (I think it is on the macOS app store), and then seeing what it says about the present capacity of your iPad battery versus what it was when it was new (you plug the iOS device into your computer, then start up coconutBattery and choose iOS tab). I believe that the cutoff for throttling is devices that have less than 80% of original capacity.

In any case, you should make sure that you're doing an apples-to-apples comparison with both devices running the same version of firmware (presumably 11.2.1).
 
Well, there have been these reports that starting with 11.2.1 Apple changed the power management system to reduce the load on weaker batteries by throttling back peak CPU activity. I wonder if that is what is kicking in on your iPad, now that it is on 11.2.1. I had assumed that this applied only to phones, but perhaps it applies to iPads as well. You could do a little digging into this by downloading the coconutBattery app (I think it is on the macOS app store), and then seeing what it says about the present capacity of your iPad battery versus what it was when it was new (you plug the iOS device into your computer, then start up coconutBattery and choose iOS tab). I believe that the cutoff for throttling is devices that have less than 80% of original capacity.

In any case, you should make sure that you're doing an apples-to-apples comparison with both devices running the same version of firmware (presumably 11.2.1).

Those power management measures are only affecting iPhone 6, 6s and SE from iOS 10.2.x onwards and have been extended to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, no mention of iPads or other devices.
Also, my iPad is merely half a year old and the battery still has 93 % of its original capacity (unusually big loss of capacity for its age, but still).

I've just again testet it against my brother's iPad Pro (same spec, same age), his takes just above 20 seconds to boot and mine now over 40 seconds. Both on iOS 11.2.1, mine has been clean installed twice last Sunday which didn't help.

I guess I'll wait for the final release of iOS 11.2.5 and if nothing changes I'll have to call AppleCare or take it to the store.
 
Update: I went to the Apple Store, they acknowledged the extremely slow boot, and after another iTunes restore didn't help they replaced my iPad for free under warranty.

The replacement unit takes a mere 16 seconds to boot – now we're talking!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TinyChip
I have same problem. My iPhone 7 Plus boots 30seconds! My friends and people on internet have iPhones 7 Plus and boot time on iOS 12 is 16 seconds.
 
I have same problem. My iPhone 7 Plus boots 30seconds! My friends and people on internet have iPhones 7 Plus and boot time on iOS 12 is 16 seconds.

Try a full restore via iTunes. If that doesn't help, take it to Apple. If still under warranty, you'll get it replaced for free.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.