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joewillmott

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 22, 2012
170
0
England
I bought two iPad Mini 4 devices; one on release day, one a few weeks later (at the time, I was running a large development team with a serious iPad shortage). We had many many issues with these devices, but that's another story.

Recently both iPad minis have had absolutely terrible battery life. Even just idling, case-closed, barely any apps installed to drain the power, bluetooth off etc, these things are struggling to last 24 hours. It's not just one; both are doing horribly. They are both running the latest iOS and this problem has kicked up in the last few weeks, so I am wondering if it's a hardware or software issue?

I'm very skeptical about saying it's just "a bad battery" as both devices are having the exact same issue. Anyone else finding the battery life apalling with a bit of age? I'd like to hear from people that are and are not, along with which iOS you are running and hold long ago you got your iPad Mini 4. I'm not just venting and complaining, I would like to understand the reasoning behind it.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,185
9,028
If it's happened no to both devices you're probably right that it's not just a bad battery. That seems like too much of a coincidence.

However, I've had my Mini 4 since a couple of weeks after launch, it's also running the latest OS, and batter life remains as good as ever.

Are they cellular models? Is the wifi connection weak? Constantly trying to connect to a weak signal drains more power than most people realize.
 

joewillmott

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 22, 2012
170
0
England
If it's happened no to both devices you're probably right that it's not just a bad battery. That seems like too much of a coincidence.

However, I've had my Mini 4 since a couple of weeks after launch, it's also running the latest OS, and batter life remains as good as ever.

Are they cellular models? Is the wifi connection weak? Constantly trying to connect to a weak signal drains more power than most people realize.

16GB WiFi models. Constantly connected to home WiFi which is just your standard WiFi.

Not sure if yours being fine makes me feel better or worse about mine.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,185
9,028
16GB WiFi models. Constantly connected to home WiFi which is just your standard WiFi.

Not sure if yours being fine makes me feel better or worse about mine.

When you check the battery stats in the settings what are the main power drainers? Maybe you can post a screenshot?
 

yegon

Cancelled
Oct 20, 2007
3,429
2,028
Do you have a Mac?

If so, Coconutbattery (free) on the Mac can tell you health stats if you connect it via usb.
 

nephron8

macrumors regular
Apr 24, 2012
193
5
I did run coconutbatery app and checked my ipad.
it says cycles used 76 and health is 67% .

what does it mean.

battery is still dropping down from 25% to 0% straightaway and I have removed public beta and did reload 9.3.2 to restore as new device.
 
Last edited:

Channan

macrumors 68030
Mar 7, 2012
2,890
3,119
New Orleans
Just got my iPad mini 4. I'm currently at 94% with over an hour of usage. Glad it's just you, or at least not me. Lol
 

bensisko

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2002
1,471
1,307
The Village
The iPad Mini 4 is a beautiful machine when it comes to battery.

I've noticed that battery life is a little shorter than my Mini 2, but it also charges VERY quickly!
 

Capt T

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2010
971
252
I did run coconutbatery app and checked my ipad.
it says cycles used 76 and health is 67% .

what does it mean.

battery is still dropping down from 25% to 0% straightaway and I have removed public beta and did reload 9.3.2 to restore as new device.

I would set up an appointment at an Apple Store. The mini 4 has not been out long enough for its battery health to be at 67% with only 76 cycles.


To the OP, did you do a reset either iPad, set it up as new, not from a backup?
 

^^BIGMac

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2009
929
596
I was having major battery drain and finally tracked it down to a Stock Market App that was apparently running in the background destroying my battery life. I also turned off bluetooth and app refresh. Somewhere in those things fixed the issue. After deleting that Stock Market App and making other minor changes I did a hard reset.

I'm now getting great battery life. The iPad Pro 9.7 may drop 1% overnight in standby. Previously it was dropping like 30%. :eek:
 

mountain

macrumors 6502
Dec 17, 2007
267
131
Maybe it's just you because my mini 4 has fantastic battery life and it had idled over a week with minimum battery drained.
 
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