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New iPad 12.9inch battery drain, can barely charge it

ApplFundamentalist

ApplFundamentalist

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2017
6
26
Just received my iPad today, new 12.9. Its truly a beauty and the 120 hz is just awe-some.
Anyway I am fully distracted from enjoying it since I can't seem to be able to charge while using it. I installed iOS 11, set brightness to medium and disabled a few automatic refresh stuff, but it still drains it while im using it.

Mind you that I'm using the charger that came with it and everything properly attached.
Does anyone else get this? Is it only an iOS 11 issue? I can't work like this since I'd be forced to go on a break every 5 hours or so.

Thanks
 
It's been over 5 hours since I got it I think. Should've finished indexing by now. Also there's nothing to index, I started a new iPad from scratch, not restored.

Yeah the iOS install wasn't my brightest idea ever. I'm hoping others have this on iOS11
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Just received my iPad today, new 12.9.
I installed iOS 11
I can't work like this
Click to expand...
I guess you already figured out your mistake, so I won't beat the dead horse. You might be able to downgrade it to iOS 10, though.

I have some charging issues on my iPad Air 2 (iOS 11 beta 1) as well. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. The iPad just becomes really slow and even though it's plugged in to the charger it still keeps draining the battery. I don't know why or when it happens, but it seems to work more often when I try to charge it with my Mac.
 
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ApplFundamentalist said:
Just received my iPad today, new 12.9. Its truly a beauty and the 120 hz is just awe-some.
Anyway I am fully distracted from enjoying it since I can't seem to be able to charge while using it. I installed iOS 11, set brightness to medium and disabled a few automatic refresh stuff, but it still drains it while im using it.

Mind you that I'm using the charger that came with it and everything properly attached.
Does anyone else get this? Is it only an iOS 11 issue? I can't work like this since I'd be forced to go on a break every 5 hours or so.

Thanks
Click to expand...

It is a known issue that the included charger's capacity barely allows it to charge while the iPad 12.9 is in use. In fact if running sum CPU intensive apps/games will see it stop charging and may even lose some percentage.
 
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Newtons Apple said:
It is a known issue that the included charger's capacity barely allows it to charge while the iPad 12.9 is in use. In fact if running sum CPU intensive apps/games will see it stop charging and may even lose some percentage.
Click to expand...

Barely charging it is fine but if it either stagnates or drains while just light surfing or typing stuff in notes then I'd call that a pretty serious issue.

I'll try a rollback and see if that fixes it.
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Barely charging it is fine but if it either stagnates or drains while just light surfing or typing stuff in notes then I'd call that a pretty serious issue.

I'll try a rollback and see if that fixes it.
Click to expand...

There are several threads about this and in the end the charger's capacity is marginal. I do not consider it a serious issue as I charge at night while sleeping. For you it might be different. There a more costly alternatives available.
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Just received my iPad today, new 12.9. Its truly a beauty and the 120 hz is just awe-some.
Anyway I am fully distracted from enjoying it since I can't seem to be able to charge while using it. I installed iOS 11, set brightness to medium and disabled a few automatic refresh stuff, but it still drains it while im using it.

Mind you that I'm using the charger that came with it and everything properly attached.
Does anyone else get this? Is it only an iOS 11 issue? I can't work like this since I'd be forced to go on a break every 5 hours or so.

Thanks
Click to expand...


hey could you please post the geekbench 4 i really like too see if they kept the ram at 4GB or bump it up too 6 or 8GB of ram on the new 12.9"
 
The 12.9 is a power hog. I would recommend getting the 29w usb-c charger and cable. It's the only charger I've found that will actually charge it while using it. The 12w one Apple gives us is a joke for the 12.9 model, only good for charging it when not in use.
 
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dohspc said:
The 12.9 is a power hog. I would recommend getting the 29w usb-c charger and cable. It's the only charger I've found that will actually charge it while using it. The 12w one Apple gives us is a joke for the 12.9 model, only good for charging it when not in use.
Click to expand...
THIS. Before buying the 29W charger, I would resort to powering the 12.9 Pro off completely to speed up charging (every bit helps).
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Barely charging it is fine but if it either stagnates or drains while just light surfing or typing stuff in notes then I'd call that a pretty serious issue.

I'll try a rollback and see if that fixes it.
Click to expand...
Yea with my original 12.9 Pro when i charge it while using, even watching youtube it wont drop, but charge realllll slow.

So yea thats a problem.
 
Most likely a combination of 11 and the anemic 12w charger


Point is: It's probably not your iPad hardware itself
 
Last edited:
My current 12.9 from last year has iOS 11 and the battery drains fast and charges slowly. Glad I am not a power user so I do not to use it all day.

I just let it charge overnight, I monitored it once back when before I went to sleep and it only charges about 5% in a half hour.
 
The charger that comes with the iPad Pros take forever to charge and are pretty much useless if you're using the iPP while charging. Instead, get this and this.
 
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dohspc said:
The 12.9 is a power hog. I would recommend getting the 29w usb-c charger and cable. It's the only charger I've found that will actually charge it while using it. The 12w one Apple gives us is a joke for the 12.9 model, only good for charging it when not in use.
Click to expand...

Ive spent as much money on the pro ipad as a starter macbook pro. One would think they would supply us with proper chargers. Thank you for this tip! Will check it out now and bleed some more money.

EDIT: can't seem to find a 29w on their website. Any links? I'd rather its Apple certified. Don't want fires. I hate dying in a fire horribly.
 
Even though ios11 is still in beta now, I don't think even the final version will be much better in terms of power draw.

The 12W charger is inadequate and Apple should have bundled better.

I'm not saying they needed to package the 29W charger with it, but the 12W is a joke. No ones is laughing though.

Apple fail.
 
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I thought it was pretty well known that the included charger could not charge the device while in use? Probably not the OS's fault.
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Ive spent as much money on the pro ipad as a starter macbook pro. One would think they would supply us with proper chargers. Thank you for this tip! Will check it out now and bleed some more money.

EDIT: can't seem to find a 29w on their website. Any links? I'd rather its Apple certified. Don't want fires. I hate dying in a fire horribly.
Click to expand...

Buy MacBook 29w charger and Apple usb-c to lighting cable and you should be good to go.
 
ApplFundamentalist said:
Ive spent as much money on the pro ipad as a starter macbook pro. One would think they would supply us with proper chargers. Thank you for this tip! Will check it out now and bleed some more money.

EDIT: can't seem to find a 29w on their website. Any links? I'd rather its Apple certified. Don't want fires. I hate dying in a fire horribly.
Click to expand...

If you want to save $13, you can buy an Open Box Apple 29W charger from Best Buy. Just a heads-up on how to reduce the cost.

Everything else about running early beta software has already been said.

Congrats on the new iPad!
 
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Like others have said; It is not the OS that is the issue. It is the underpowered charger that comes with the iPad Pro. The first Gen iPad Pro has the same issue. You need to use Apple's 29 watt USB-C charger.
Apparently the Anker 30 watt linked above will fast-charge as well.
Don't forget, you also need a USB-C to Lightning cable too.
 
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