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MPclk2006

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2013
523
364
Texas
I had the exact same problem with my 2018 11” iPad Pro. It was WiFi only but I had the exact same thing happen to me that you’re describing. When I upgraded to the 2020 12.9” I was still having the problem at first, but after the next iOS update, it seemed to have largely stopped happening. Are you on the latest iOS?
I have the same issue with my 2020 iPad 11 pro
 
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Appleinapot

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2021
38
10
Did you buy it new, from apple, if so return it, tell them the problem, and ask for another one, if you want another one.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
Honestly, ever since iOS 12, all my iPads have had high standby battery drain versus iOS 10 and lower (I skipped 11).

The A#X-series chipsets typically drain at 15-25% every 24 hours standby while the A#-series chipsets typically drain 8-12%. The M1 standby drains similarly to A#-series probably thanks to being 5nm.

Mind, I never turn on airplane mode (use Find My a lot) and I have Send Last Location enabled on Find My settings. I have automatic updates and downloads disabled, though. Almost all notifications except Messages, Phone/FaceTime and a couple of system services are disabled as well.
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,191
1,074
Honestly, ever since iOS 12, all my iPads have had high standby battery drain versus iOS 10 and lower (I skipped 11).

The A#X-series chipsets typically drain at 15-25% every 24 hours standby while the A#-series chipsets typically drain 8-12%. The M1 standby drains similarly to A#-series probably thanks to being 5nm.

Mind, I never turn on airplane mode (use Find My a lot) and I have Send Last Location enabled on Find My settings. I have automatic updates and downloads disabled, though. Almost all notifications except Messages, Phone/FaceTime and a couple of system services are disabled as well.
My iPad Air 3 didn’t have this issue. The battery usage is just flat during standby. That was since iOS 12 until now at 14.8.1. I usually charge it once a week.
The new M1 iPP is also similar (iPadOS 15.2).
You might need to reset or delete all contents and start install from there.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
My iPad Air 3 didn’t have this issue. The battery usage is just flat during standby. That was since iOS 12 until now at 14.8.1. I usually charge it once a week.
The new M1 iPP is also similar (iPadOS 15.2).
You might need to reset or delete all contents and start install from there.

I’ve done that on the Air 3 and iPP 10.5 (setup as new) and standby battery drain is still the same.
 

YanniDepp

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2008
556
132
Some people get lucky with iPad batteries, some don’t.

Most of my iPads drain 3%-5% overnight, including my 11” M1 and Mini 6.

My iPad mini 5 drops 10%-15% overnight. Has done since it was new.

Same apps installed, same settings (background refresh off etc).

My iPod touch 6 also had garbage battery life by my iPod touch 5 was great.
 

dtv4251

macrumors newbie
Dec 30, 2020
12
7
The high standby consumption of my iPad Pro 2018 12.9" has been annoying me from the beginning. We sometimes leave the iPad unused for 3-5 days and it is annoying that it loses 25% or more battery during this time. I have owned the iPad since release and believe that over 50% of the battery cycles that have gone through have only been the result of the high standby consumption, not actual usage.

Since disabling background updates, flight mode, etc. didn't help, I did some more research today and came across the tip to turn off Tap to Wake in the accessibility tools so that the large display isn't permanently electrified.

Since the older iPads have a home button and don't support Tap to Wake, it seemed plausible to me that they wouldn't have high power consumption in standby. My mother, for example, uses my very old iPad Air 2 and it lasts for 2 weeks in standby.

Switched off tap to wake today and unplugged my iPad nine hours ago and it still has 100% battery -> looking good so far.

I hope that this is the solution. I can live without tap to wake since my iPad turns on anyway when I open the lid of my folio case.
 
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spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,499
The high standby consumption of my iPad Pro 2018 12.9" has been annoying me from the beginning. We sometimes leave the iPad unused for 3-5 days and it is annoying that it loses 25% or more battery during this time. I have owned the iPad since release and believe that over 50% of the battery cycles that have gone through have only been the result of the high standby consumption, not actual usage.

Since disabling background updates, flight mode, etc. didn't help, I did some more research today and came across the tip to turn off Tap to Wake in the accessibility tools so that the large display isn't permanently electrified.

Since the older iPads have a home button and don't support Tap to Wake, it seemed plausible to me that they wouldn't have high power consumption in standby. My mother, for example, uses my very old iPad Air 2 and it lasts for 2 weeks in standby.

Switched off tape to wake and unplugged my iPad nine hours ago and it still has 100% battery -> looking good so far.

I hope that this is the solution. I can live without tap to wake since my iPad turns on anyway when I open the lid of my folio case.
Just remember though that going from 100% to 99% takes a lot longer than from 99% to 98%. I only say this because I’ve been through this several times with iPads in the past thinking I finally found the cause but fooled by that very thing.

It’s frustrating for sure. In fact, it’s been my only real hardware frustration with the iPad in general other than the time I kept getting iPad 2 units with dead pixels. I have noticed though that Apple used to tout “standby time” on iPads a lot more in the past, and I think this is exactly why. On the modern iPad, you just can’t expect that kind of standby time anymore. I myself would gladly accept a little more weight for an hour or two more on my iPad mini 6.
 
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htmanning

macrumors newbie
Apr 20, 2009
14
2
I have this issue with a brand new iPad Pro 11 purchased a week ago. I have no email being fetched, and have Background App Refresh turned off. I have no pencil or any other Bluetooth devices connected and I lose about 8% or so per hour on standby and the lid is closed. I have no idea what is causing this drain.
 

SoYoung

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 3, 2015
1,545
955
Since my initial post, I just come to the conclusion that iPad Pro battery is just awful. I bought a brand new M1 iPad pro 11 inch last december and the battery is just as bad as my 2018 one but my old iPad Air 3 can stay in standby for 14 days without using it and it still have 25-30% battery, and when I use it, the battery % won't drain as fast as the iPad pro.

Its not normal that my iPhone 13 pro max have a much better battery than my iPad pro. Because of the poor battery , I don't use my iPad much now because in no time I have to put it back on a charger.
 

jjsuperbadger

macrumors newbie
Jun 24, 2022
1
0
Same issue here. Had an iPad Pro 11 2018, was losing 10% battery on standby per night, had it checked in store and battery was in good health, no fault found. Upgraded to M1 11" Pro in store as I'm sick of trying to solve the problem and have the same issue again. Store insisted it was a software issue caused by corrupted backup. So set up new device as new, no backup restored.

Have narrowed it down though. Suspects were Magic keyboard, and Safari... eliminated Magic keyboard as cause by leaving it on standby with keyboard connected, no apps open. Little to no drain. Opened ONLY Safari and it's lost 5% in 5 hours, zero minutes screen time.

At this stage, I'm thinking I'm going to return it and ditch the iPad completely. I don't use it every day, so consistently come back to it every few days with half empty battery and burning cycles doing nothing. I don't see any of these issues with the MacBook Pro. I don't really want to have to remember to close all my apps or shut down and restart my wifi every time I use it... if I wanted a complicated life I'd just go with Samsung or windows. So annoying. Had iPads for years and they just used to last for weeks on standby.

Only issue is I traded the 2018 model for store credit, so have no idea how the refund situation would work now.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
Same issue here. Had an iPad Pro 11 2018, was losing 10% battery on standby per night, had it checked in store and battery was in good health, no fault found. Upgraded to M1 11" Pro in store as I'm sick of trying to solve the problem and have the same issue again. Store insisted it was a software issue caused by corrupted backup. So set up new device as new, no backup restored.

Have narrowed it down though. Suspects were Magic keyboard, and Safari... eliminated Magic keyboard as cause by leaving it on standby with keyboard connected, no apps open. Little to no drain. Opened ONLY Safari and it's lost 5% in 5 hours, zero minutes screen time.

At this stage, I'm thinking I'm going to return it and ditch the iPad completely. I don't use it every day, so consistently come back to it every few days with half empty battery and burning cycles doing nothing. I don't see any of these issues with the MacBook Pro. I don't really want to have to remember to close all my apps or shut down and restart my wifi every time I use it... if I wanted a complicated life I'd just go with Samsung or windows. So annoying. Had iPads for years and they just used to last for weeks on standby.

In fairness, I get this same issue on the M1 MacBook Air. Probably because I leave it unused for weeks or even months at a time. Even when I shut it down, the battery is often drained and I have to plug in so I can turn the MBA on.

That said, my iPad 3 and 4 used to last a month on standby and still had some juice left for a couple hours of web browsing.
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,191
1,074
Same issue here. Had an iPad Pro 11 2018, was losing 10% battery on standby per night, had it checked in store and battery was in good health, no fault found. Upgraded to M1 11" Pro in store as I'm sick of trying to solve the problem and have the same issue again. Store insisted it was a software issue caused by corrupted backup. So set up new device as new, no backup restored.

Have narrowed it down though. Suspects were Magic keyboard, and Safari... eliminated Magic keyboard as cause by leaving it on standby with keyboard connected, no apps open. Little to no drain. Opened ONLY Safari and it's lost 5% in 5 hours, zero minutes screen time.

At this stage, I'm thinking I'm going to return it and ditch the iPad completely. I don't use it every day, so consistently come back to it every few days with half empty battery and burning cycles doing nothing. I don't see any of these issues with the MacBook Pro. I don't really want to have to remember to close all my apps or shut down and restart my wifi every time I use it... if I wanted a complicated life I'd just go with Samsung or windows. So annoying. Had iPads for years and they just used to last for weeks on standby.

Only issue is I traded the 2018 model for store credit, so have no idea how the refund situation would work now.
I suspect this is software issue. I have same model (Wi-Fi only), also with MK - bought Jan this year. Mine is flat battery when idle. Looking ya your case, iOS 15 seems the culprit, even with its base configuration. FYI, I turn off almost all the background app refresh and turn on notifications only to few apps. I also uninstall built-in Mail and Music app.
 

chfilm

macrumors 68040
Nov 15, 2012
3,424
2,108
Berlin
Same issue here- my 12.9” iPad is not affected but the 11” is badly! For me it’s the find my app that drains the battery like crazy. I deleted the app, turned off everything find my related and did a full fresh reinstall too. Still!! Now under the battery tab it shows “recently deleted app” draining my battery (guess which one that was… find my) at this point I don’t know what else to do?
 
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