“Up to 10 hours” of battery?

[eicca]

Just bought a 2017 9.7 standard WiFi-only iPad, iOS 11.3.1. I haven’t charged it in about three days, I’ve put just over five hours of usage into it between mostly Safari and Microsoft Word, and I still have 76% of my battery left as I type this. Solidly on track for at least double of what Apple advertises.

Totally not complaining. Also wondering if others are getting as good of battery life.

My old MacBook barely makes it 4 hours anymore.

 

[casperes1996]

My iPad Air still lasts me about a week, though granted, I mostly listen to podcasts on it, since it's not powerful enough for anything else anymore.

 

[rui no onna]

Just bought a 2017 9.7 standard WiFi-only iPad, iOS 11.3.1. I haven’t charged it in about three days, I’ve put just over five hours of usage into it between mostly Safari and Microsoft Word, and I still have 76% of my battery left as I type this. Solidly on track for at least double of what Apple advertises.

Totally not complaining. Also wondering if others are getting as good of battery life.

My old MacBook barely makes it 4 hours anymore.

View attachment 760524

Yep. 32Wh battery + Apple A9 (iPhone) chipset makes for very good battery life. Last time I had an iPad with battery life this good was the iPad 4 (43Wh + Apple A6X). I can imagine the A10-based 2018 iPad doing just as well if not better.

I find battery life was one of the things that suffered in the pursuit of thinness. Never to the point where it's actually bad (or below 10 hours of onscreen time), just no longer quite as amazing as previous models.

iPad 4 > Air > Air 2 ~= Pro 9.7

 

[profets]

For iPads I’ve used (Pro 12.9, 9.7, Air, mini 4) I’ve always remembered getting excellent battery life - most of the time upwards of 20 hours with 2-3 days of standby. I feel like 10 hours is very conservative.

 

[XT550]

Same model on 11.2.something.
But with heavy usage I constantly get around 12 - 13 hours.

 

[Beelzbub]

My iPad 2017 model gets excellent battery life. I just pulled it out of bag to stream some talk radio, used it this morning to login to the office to check on a couple things.

 

[joeblow7777]

On my 2018 iPad, I typically get around 12-13 hours of usage over about 2 days of standby.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Battery life on devices like the iPad is hard to measure. Our 3 year-old Air gets charged about once a week, and we use it to play music about 8-10 hours per day from the internal speaker. In that case, there is very little "display on" time, so it blows the 10 hour estimate out of the water. I think that 10 hours is based off continuous movie playback until it dies. If you can keep display brightness under 50% and keep it to light tasks (non-gaming), you should easily exceed that 10 hours. And if there's one thing the iPad does incredibly well, it's standby. Windows and Android tablets just can't compare. An iPad can seemingly sleep for an eternity.

 

[eicca]

Huh, it’s a shame my iPhone 6S with the A9 barely makes it to the 10 hour usage quote on the average day...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Huh, it’s a shame my iPhone 6S with the A9 barely makes it to the 10 hour usage quote on the average day...

Smartphones have an even harder time. Screen brightness varies more, and if you're outside it's at max brightness. Cellular data is affected by signal quality. Calls seem to draw down the battery more than anything. Have you had the battery replaced? My 6S usually holds up through a day of fairly heavy use, but I replaced the battery late last year. Before that, battery life was pretty bad.

 

[rui no onna]

Huh, it’s a shame my iPhone 6S with the A9 barely makes it to the 10 hour usage quote on the average day...

The iPhone 6s only has a 6.4Wh battery. Even the iPhone 8 Plus only has a 10.3Wh battery. I've yet to use an iPhone with onscreen time as good as my worst iPad's (Pro 9.7 LTE). Use case: primarily web browsing and ebook reading, wi-fi, bluetooth and cellular radios all on, brightness 0-20%.

Personally, it seems the battery life estimates for iPads are very conservative while the estimates for iPhones are too generous.

 

[eicca]

Yeah I can get a day of usage out of it ok. I’ve never found myself stuck with a dead battery but the numbers in the battery section of Settings are always a little short of 10 hours.

 

[FeliApple]

The iPhone 6s only has a 6.4Wh battery. Even the iPhone 8 Plus only has a 10.3Wh battery. I've yet to use an iPhone with onscreen time as good as my worst iPad's (Pro 9.7 LTE). Use case: primarily web browsing and ebook reading, wi-fi, bluetooth and cellular radios all on, brightness 0-20%.

Personally, it seems the battery life estimates for iPads are very conservative while the estimates for iPhones are too generous.

Agree. 10 hours on iPhone 6s? I have gotten it only once, the entire cycle with Wi-Fi, and indoor-like brightness (15%). I like its battery life a lot because as it is on iOS 9, it easily reaches 8 hours, but 10 is almost impossible without background music. As I said, I got it once, and it was... 10 hours and one minute.
The 7+ I was using before returning to the 6s was always on iOS 10, and that battery life was good. It reached 11 hours easily or 10 with LTE and not heavy use, of course - still lower than my 9.7 Pro on iOS 9 - but it was decent.
I'm curious - I am happy with my 9.7 Pro battery. How much were you getting? I recall you saying it was still on iOS 10 so it should have been fine, or at least not crippled by iOS updates.

 

[rui no onna]

Pro 9.7 back when it was new on iOS9, around 10-11 hours onscreen time with usage and settings described above. Less now but I reckon it still does at least 8 hours of onscreen. Harder to gauge since I alternate usage between multiple iPads when one of them needs charging (iPad Pro 9.7 LTE, Pro 12.9 2nd gen LTE, Air LTE, and mini 4 Wi-Fi). Per Battery Life app, the Pro 9.7 is at 89% of original capacity.

 

[FeliApple]

Pro 9.7 back when it was new on iOS9, around 10-11 hours onscreen time with usage and settings described above. Less now but I reckon it still does at least 8 hours of onscreen. Harder to gauge since I alternate usage between multiple iPads when one of them needs charging (iPad Pro 9.7 LTE, Pro 12.9 2nd gen LTE, Air LTE, and mini 4 Wi-Fi). Per Battery Life app, the Pro 9.7 is at 89% of original capacity.

Weird. My iPad 4 did not decrease in battery life even with 700 cycles and 77% battery health. 89% and iOS 10? Should be better. These things never make sense, though. They just work however they want to.

 

[rui no onna]

Weird. My iPad 4 did not decrease in battery life even with 700 cycles and 77% battery health. 89% and iOS 10? Should be better. These things never make sense, though. They just work however they want to.

Technically not weird. A drop in battery life when capacity drops is expected behavior. That's most apparent on iPhones which have smaller batteries.

The iPad 4 had crazy good battery life in the first place that it was probably just hard to notice a decrease. Iirc, I was getting 16+ hours on my iPad 4 (I think it might even be 20). For me, a drop from 20 hours to 16 hours wouldn't be noticeable because that's still more than what I'd use in a day.

However, below 16 means I'd need to swap iPads or top up the charge at some point during the day so that actually registers with me. Again, harder for me to keep track now since I'm using both Pro 12.9 and Pro 9.7 as primary.

Mind, I still have an iPad 4 which I believe is also at around 88% capacity. Even with the reduced capacity, it still has longer battery life compared to Air 2 (95%?) and Pro 9.7 (this one, even back when it was at 100%). Among the iPads in our household though, nothing touches the 2017 iPad.

 

[FeliApple]

Technically not weird. A drop in battery life when capacity drops is expected behavior. That's most apparent on iPhones which have smaller batteries.

The iPad 4 had crazy good battery life in the first place that it was probably just hard to notice a decrease. Iirc, I was getting 16+ hours on my iPad 4 (I think it might even be 20). For me, a drop from 20 hours to 16 hours wouldn't be noticeable because that's still more than what I'd use in a day.

However, below 16 means I'd need to swap iPads or top up the charge at some point during the day so that actually registers with me. Again, harder for me to keep track now since I'm using both Pro 12.9 and Pro 9.7 as primary.

Mind, I still have an iPad 4 which I believe is also at around 88% capacity. Even with the reduced capacity, it still has longer battery life compared to Air 2 (95%?) and Pro 9.7 (this one, even back when it was at 100%). Among the iPads in our household though, nothing touches the 2017 iPad.

The 2017 or 2018 would be a good one to get only for battery life itself. As a fun experience, I am using a 5c on iOS 9.3.3 too and its battery life is... 4 hours. Worst battery life on a iOS device I have ever seen. Heck, my iPod Touch 5G on iOS 6 beats it.
No idea about health, but it has been used by multiple people before I used it (hence why it isn't on iOS 7) and it must have... 700 cycles? 800? More or less.

 

[rui no onna]

The 2017 or 2018 would be a good one to get only for battery life itself. As a fun experience, I am using a 5c on iOS 9.3.3 too and its battery life is... 4 hours. Worst battery life on a iOS device I have ever seen. Heck, my iPod Touch 5G on iOS 6 beats it.
No idea about health, but it has been used by multiple people before I used it (hence why it isn't on iOS 7) and it must have... 700 cycles? 800? More or less.

The 5c was released back in, what, 2013? Assuming one full cycle per day (for iPhones, I expect that's fairly common), I wouldn't be surprised if it's up to ~1500 cycles by now and well below original capacity. Might be even 50-70%.

Tempted by the 2018 iPad to see how it compares with the 2017 model in terms of battery life but none of our current iPads need updating at the moment (2x Pro 9.7, Pro 12.9 2nd gen, 2017 9.7 and Air 2).

 

[FeliApple]

The 5c was released back in, what, 2013? Assuming one full cycle per day (for iPhones, I expect that's fairly common), I wouldn't be surprised if it's up to ~1500 cycles by now and well below original capacity. Might be even 50-70%.

Tempted by the 2018 iPad to see how it compares with the 2017 model in terms of battery life but none of our current iPads need updating at the moment (2x Pro 9.7, Pro 12.9 2nd gen, 2017 9.7 and Air 2).

It definitely does not have 1500 cycles nor does it go through one cycle a day. I have no idea about its health, as I said, but will check when I can.
It was unused for quite a while as it was a backup phone just in case something happened with any of my family's main iPhones. It was heavily used before that, but for like two years no one touched it. As I said earlier, if I had to throw a guess it's between 700-800 cycles.
I use it as a backup phone with a prepaid SIM card without Internet. So I don't even use it that much. Yesterday I finished with 50% and 1h 50 min of usage. If I used it as my main phone it would be dead by... 1 PM? Maybe earlier. And again by 8PM. I would have to charge it thrice a day.

 

[aakshey]

If it’s any consolation.

My friend’s 6s used to get 7-7.5 hrs when new. After 1.5 yrs just 4.5 hrs.

My 7 used to get 9 hrs or so when new. After 11 months just 6 hrs. 92% health.

My iPad Pro 10.5 (2 of them) used to get 10-12 hrs when new. After 10 months just 6-7 hrs. 88-94% health.

My current X bought less than 20 days ago still gets like 9+ hrs of usage.

My mother’s iPhone 7 used to get up to 9+ hrs on iOS 10. On iOS 11 it’s more like 6 hrs. 89% health.

My dad’s SE used to get 12-14 hrs on iOS 9. On iOS 10 9-10 hrs and now on iOS 11 like sub 7 hrs or so. 97% health.

My old iPhone 5s after 2.5 yrs in service ended up giving 1-2 hrs usage.

My 3 or so years iPad Air had 50% battery health and would give 4 hrs or so.

My iPad Mini 2 will 90% health around 7-8 hrs or so. Again 3 yrs old or so.

 

[FeliApple]

If it’s any consolation.

My friend’s 6s used to get 7-7.5 hrs when new. After 1.5 yrs just 4.5 hrs.

My 7 used to get 9 hrs or so when new. After 11 months just 6 hrs. 92% health.

My iPad Pro 10.5 (2 of them) used to get 10-12 hrs when new. After 10 months just 6-7 hrs. 88-94% health.

My current X bought less than 20 days ago still gets like 9+ hrs of usage.

My mother’s iPhone 7 used to get up to 9+ hrs on iOS 10. On iOS 11 it’s more like 6 hrs. 89% health.

My dad’s SE used to get 12-14 hrs on iOS 9. On iOS 10 9-10 hrs and now on iOS 11 like sub 7 hrs or so. 97% health.

My old iPhone 5s after 2.5 yrs in service ended up giving 1-2 hrs usage.

My 3 or so years iPad Air had 50% battery health and would give 4 hrs or so.

My iPad Mini 2 will 90% health around 7-8 hrs or so. Again 3 yrs old or so.

If they were all updated to iOS 11 there you have what iOS updates do to devices. No, health and use isn't everything. I keep devices on older versions and the drop in battery life isn't even noticeable. I do pay attention to that, so it isn't that I do not realize.
I have a nice anecdote: my iPod Touch 5G is still on iOS 6. I ran a battery test with 20% brightness on 2015. It gave me 6 hours of on-screen use. (The iPod was bought on 2012, so it had 3 years, and battery life was unchanged from the beginning. Lasted the same on 2012).
Performed yet another battery test on February this year. 20% brightness. Guess how long did it last? 6 hours, and 15 minutes. Unchanged. Used like crazy for the first 3 years as a camera with full brightness. Drained battery like crazy, of course. Charged it three times a day, a lot of times. It must have like 800 cycles (cannot check on iPod Touches) and battery life remained like-new.

 

[aakshey]

The 5s was on iOS 9 when it retired. The iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 iOS 10.

 

[FeliApple]

The 5s was on iOS 9 when it retired. The iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 iOS 10.

The iPad mini should have gotten more, maybe. The Air with 50% health, I'm not sure you could expect much more. Though, why was it so low? Too many cycles?
Regarding the 5s, I had it on iOS 8, it came on that version, and although it's battery was decent, if I used it with light use (let's say, Whatsapp mostly, light browsing, and maybe a few calls) but I cranked up the brightness outdoors (let's say, on full sunlight I use it with 80-100%, and of course, LTE) it dropped a lot (4-5 hours at most, whereas indoors with far lower brightness, it would get 7 without issues). If I used it outdoors with a heavy app... It's battery was non-existent. I tried a tennis serve measuring app (that didn't work...) with full brightness and it dropped to 80% in 37 minutes.