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

VaruLV

macrumors 6502a
Mar 25, 2019
636
561
That does make a big difference. I prefer to run my iPad 12.9 Pro at 100 percent brightness in the day and it just kills battery life. Seems like it has gotten worse though lately.
For how long have you had your iPad? It might be that its battery simply is degrading due to many discharge/charge cycles.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
For how long have you had your iPad? It might be that its battery simply is degrading due to many discharge/charge cycles.
It‘s not a matter of health. New iPads can’t sustain the load due to the screen’s energy impact. New iPads get 4 hours or less at full brightness even while new and on their original iOS versions. I distinctly recall reports from the 1st gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro back when it was new: users at 100% brightness got around 4 hours, and recent tests of the Air 5 have shown that number hasn’t changed: an iPad on its original iOS version will get 4 hours at most with full brightness.

Besides, for reasons I stated on my previous comment, battery health isn’t relevant at all, especially on iPads.

If the user wants to use the iPad at full brightness, they should be prepared for constant recharging. That’s how it always has been. There is nothing they can do. To add an even clearer argument, the commenter you replied to mentioned a 5th Gen iPad Pro. Like I said, its not that it matters, regardless, but that iPad is new.
 

nordique

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2014
1,996
1,607
Revisiting this thread, it is interesting how the M1 iPads (at least 12.9”) dont have the same amazing battery life that they gave the laptops

My M1 12.9” Pro is stable, no bugs, good with idle battery but when using it, anything from web surfing for a few hours to typing, the battery can go from 100% -> 60% which in the span of 2 hours on a M1 MBA would maybe take it 90% at worst.

Too much power for the device perhaps? @FeliApple has a great breakdown above which makes sense, but I dont recall my 3rd gen iPad Pro 12.9 draining quite this much, to this extent. If it is related to brightness, is it the mLED display?
 
  • Like
Reactions: bloomfeld and GDF

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
Revisiting this thread, it is interesting how the M1 iPads (at least 12.9”) dont have the same amazing battery life that they gave the laptops

My M1 12.9” Pro is stable, no bugs, good with idle battery but when using it, anything from web surfing for a few hours to typing, the battery can go from 100% -> 60% which in the span of 2 hours on a M1 MBA would maybe take it 90% at worst.

Too much power for the device perhaps? @FeliApple has a great breakdown above which makes sense, but I dont recall my 3rd gen iPad Pro 12.9 draining quite this much, to this extent. If it is related to brightness, is it the mLED display?
My findings are different: battery life on M1 iPads is absolutely outstanding, and it’s the best it has ever been, with light usage.

My theory for why people dislike battery life on more recent iPads? Heavy usage. The M1 is more efficient, but it has more power, too. iPads have smaller batteries. So, light usage: the M1’s efficiency shines through. My iPad Air 5 gets 25 hours of screen-on time with light use on iPadOS 15. That is more than every other iPad before it, by far. People have reported that heavy use, like I said, isn’t good. So, high brightness and forget about having good battery life, heavy usage? Battery life will be poor, too. Whatever efficiency was there has been offset by reduced battery sizes, that coupled with what I said earlier about heavy workflows not being too good for the battery on iOS (run any iPhone on any iOS version - even the original - at full brightness and heavy LTE, and battery will be abhorrent as well), means that go heavy enough, and no processor and battery size combo thus far will be enough for any half-decent runtime.
 

GDF

macrumors 68000
Jun 7, 2010
1,511
1,598
Revisiting this thread, it is interesting how the M1 iPads (at least 12.9”) dont have the same amazing battery life that they gave the laptops

My M1 12.9” Pro is stable, no bugs, good with idle battery but when using it, anything from web surfing for a few hours to typing, the battery can go from 100% -> 60% which in the span of 2 hours on a M1 MBA would maybe take it 90% at worst.

Too much power for the device perhaps? @FeliApple has a great breakdown above which makes sense, but I dont recall my 3rd gen iPad Pro 12.9 draining quite this much, to this extent. If it is related to brightness, is it the mLED display?
I agree. Just web surfing like you said, drains the battery so quickly. My M1 Macbook Pro does not do that. Seems like it just sips the battery with same type of usage. M1 iPad 12.9 Pro is really disappointing with battery life. I hope next one is more like the Macbook Pro’s. Should be able to last all day web surfing.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
I agree. Just web surfing like you said, drains the battery so quickly. My M1 Macbook Pro does not do that. Seems like it just sips the battery with same type of usage. M1 iPad 12.9 Pro is really disappointing with battery life. I hope next one is more like the Macbook Pro’s. Should be able to last all day web surfing.
It doesn’t last all day web browsing? How high is your brightness?
 

VaruLV

macrumors 6502a
Mar 25, 2019
636
561
I think that miniLED and M1 consume more power than regular IPS and A-series chip, especially if you turn up brightness and/or start throwing demanding'ish tasks on M1.
That as well as fact that iPads have far smaller batteries than Macbooks do.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.