Premature iPad Air 2 battery deterioration

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I noticed the battery in my iPad Air 2 (Nov 2014) does not seem to be lasting a whole day's intermittent use like it used to. Coconut Battery for Mac, can now look at an attached iOS device and check the battery status. My Air 2 battery is only showing 56.7% health (233 cycles) and that is after doing a battery recalibrate. The current capacity figure from Coconut, is 4145 mAh against a total design capacity of 7340 mAh of which 6982 mAh is commonly usable. I know Apple have extended the warranty on other devices, which have suffered premature battery deterioration. I wondered if others were having the same problem

 

[TheRealAlex]

I noticed the battery in my iPad Air 2 (Nov 2014) does not seem to be lasting a whole day's intermittent use like it used to. Coconut Battery for Mac, can now look at an attached iOS device and check the battery status. My Air 2 battery is only showing 56.7% health (233 cycles) and that is after doing a battery recalibrate. The current capacity figure from Coconut, is 4145 mAh against a total design capacity of 7340 mAh of which 6982 mAh is commonly usable. I know Apple have extended the warranty on other devices, which have suffered premature battery deterioration. I wondered if others were having the same problem

Totally lithium ion chemistry is very unforgiving. You either had a bad cell or it's possible you let t drain to 0% too much. Either way the Genius Bar people are very nice same thing happened to me I was out of warranty and the Apple diagnostic showed the battery had an Abnormality. As a courtesy 6 months no warranty no Apple Care they gave me a replacement iPad Air 2 on the spot.

Before leaving I had them run the same battery diagnostic on the replacement iPad and it too was bad into the bottom red of the diagnostic graph. So the second replacement Air 2 was ok the cell was replaced. These Lithium ion cells degrade over normal use.

That's why with Apple care or not when my warranty is almost up I go in for a full diagnostic. Sold that iPad Air 2 for $300 right before they dropped the prices and released the iPad Pro 9.7

The 9.7 Pros have newer Lithium ion cells which are not as delicate as previous ones.

 

[Leo90]

Totally lithium ion chemistry is very unforgiving. You either had a bad cell or it's possible you let t drain to 0% too much. Either way the Genius Bar people are very nice same thing happened to me I was out of warranty and the Apple diagnostic showed the battery had an Abnormality. As a courtesy 6 months no warranty no Apple Care they gave me a replacement iPad Air 2 on the spot.

Before leaving I had them run the same battery diagnostic on the replacement iPad and it too was bad into the bottom red of the diagnostic graph. So the second replacement Air 2 was ok the cell was replaced. These Lithium ion cells degrade over normal use.

That's why with Apple care or not when my warranty is almost up I go in for a full diagnostic. Sold that iPad Air 2 for $300 right before they dropped the prices and released the iPad Pro 9.7

The 9.7 Pros have newer Lithium ion cells which are not as delicate as previous ones.

9.7 Pro battery is exactly the same, the inly difference is that it charges slower which tends to increase battery lifespan

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Totally lithium ion chemistry is very unforgiving. You either had a bad cell or it's possible you let t drain to 0% too much. Either way the Genius Bar people are very nice same thing happened to me I was out of warranty and the Apple diagnostic showed the battery had an Abnormality. As a courtesy 6 months no warranty no Apple Care they gave me a replacement iPad Air 2 on the spot.

Before leaving I had them run the same battery diagnostic on the replacement iPad and it too was bad into the bottom red of the diagnostic graph. So the second replacement Air 2 was ok the cell was replaced. These Lithium ion cells degrade over normal use.

That's why with Apple care or not when my warranty is almost up I go in for a full diagnostic. Sold that iPad Air 2 for $300 right before they dropped the prices and released the iPad Pro 9.7

The 9.7 Pros have newer Lithium ion cells which are not as delicate as previous ones.

Alex,

Thanks for that info. I am just about to go down to my French house for the summer, so I might wait until I get there, before arranging an appointment at the local Apple shop. I always take Applecare on my Macs but the various iPads and iPhones we have had in the family, have been 100% reliable, other than accidental damage, up to now, so we don't bother on those. I might give Apple a call in the UK but arrange for the iPad to be dropped in at the Apple repair centre in France. I am driving though Aix-en-Provence, where my local repair centre is, in a few days and they know me, which is always an advantage.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Alex,

Thanks for that info. I am just about to go down to my French house for the summer, so I might wait until I get there, before arranging an appointment at the local Apple shop. I always take Applecare on my Macs but the various iPads and iPhones we have had in the family, have been 100% reliable, other than accidental damage, up to now, so we don't bother on those. I might give Apple a call in the UK but arrange for the iPad to be dropped in at the Apple repair centre in France. I am driving though Aix-en-Provence, where my local repair centre is, in a few days and they know me, which is always an advantage.

I don't know if its the same for Europe as in the States, but if you bought it with a MasterCard or Visa, they will typically double the standard warranty. So if Apple decides that it is a faulty battery and they charge your $79(?) to replace it, you can just contact Visa or MasterCard and file a claim. They will reimburse you.

 

[ACG12]

Is there an app that I can use on my Air 2 to determine battery health? Mine is draining quite fast now after 13 months of use.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Is there an app that I can use on my Air 2 to determine battery health? Mine is draining quite fast now after 13 months of use.

There is a free one called Battery Life. Also, if you have a Mac you can download Coconut battery for your Mac and plug in your iOS device. It will show you the health.

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Apple ran their remote diagnostics and said the battery showed up OK on that but I suspect that it is not a super critical examination. They suggested I reinstall the OS. For some reason it wanted a password to reinstall from my Mac back up. I have never put in a password nor have I ever encrypted the back up, so I don't understand this. Others have had the same problem and said they were able to use their Apple ID password but all in lower case, however this did not work if there were special characters in your Apple password, which of course, there were in mine. Yet another little Cupertino Quirk. I did a total clean install, which other than being a huge waste of time, did nothing for the battery life or the condition showing up in Coconut Battery App.

I bought on an Amex card but sadly credit card Co's are much more difficult about handing any money back in Europe than I understand they are in the USA. I will probably soldier on until I get back to the UK in the Autumn, as the nearest Apple Shops to me in France are both around an hour and half away, with horrible parking in either (central Nice or central Aix-en-Provence). I will update the Apple Tech who did his best to help and make sure the file is left open.