iPad Pro Why doesn’t Apple ever significantly improve battery life?

[NewOldStock]

Like saying I will only fill my gas tank to %80 so I dont wear out my engine.

 

[NewOldStock]

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

Depth of discharge is more important than anything and how long you leave it low charged state.
Batteries heat up while charging causes wear if in a deep discharged state too. If my iPad gets warm while charging I will unplug and let it cool off but that normally only happens when I have ran battery really really low like less than 10% battery left and charging it back up.

 

[toobravetosave]

not apples fault

app developers are just garbo

 

[toobravetosave]

replace all your apps with safari/webpage counterparts and see your battery life then

the wrong app can leave the best phones with mere hours of life

edit: i should clarify these don’t need to be high performance apps simple chat apps and glorified web wrappers all of them can tank your phone

 

[Minghold]

Evidently people do want thinner. I just miss my original 1st gen iPad. That was a tank. I still have it somewhere, and it's like new. I want an iPad built like that.

They exist, and they're called "old Macbooks". I have a 2014 15" MBP i7 chip with a 500gb SSD running Mojave in an HFS partition with MRT and Spotlight Indexing disabled (and all other synching and telemetry turned off). The battery lasts for days, and I have twenty times as many apps as a typical iPad.

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

They exist, and they're called "old Macbooks". I have a 2014 15" MBP i7 chip with a 500gb SSD running Mojave in an HFS partition with MRT and Spotlight Indexing disabled (and all over synching and telemetry turned off). The battery lasts for days, and I have twenty times as many apps as a typical iPad.

I suppose I could have kept my old 2012 11” MacBook Air, but I don’t want to cart TWO laptops around, just so one can be an ancillary device!

 

[snipr125]

Apple should have added a AC pass through mode on the M powered ipad pros to resolve this issue especially when using stage manager. The second USBC port on the magic keyboard would be perfect for this.

 

[krspkbl]

I think the battery life is good enough across all products. So I get why they would rather focus elsewhere. That said, more battery life will always be welcome.

The battery life on my Air is insane and I really can't complain about it. I'm also happy with the battery on my watch and iPhone even after almost a year.

 

[johannnn]

"Why doesn’t Apple ever significantly improve battery life?"

Because more people want thinner devices. Including me.

 

[TgeekB]

the wrong app can leave the best phones with mere hours of life

Totally agree with this. Get rid of the garbage and watch your battery life improve.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The reason for these limits is I’m trying to protect my battery health. I don’t want my battery capacity to go down

No matter what you do, capacity will go down over time.

 

[jtgil]

Ok, I find it incredible no one has mentioned the obvious change apart from the increased battery capacity in macs.

Intel cpu vs ARM cpu makes a huge impact in power consumption. Just because your iPad has the same/similar m-cpu as a Mac means ****.

Prior iPads were based already in ARM cpus which means the biggest impact in battery life is already optimised here, (other than making smaller processors).

My M2 MacBook averages around 15-18W in high power mode/max brightness/light load compared that to my prior intel i7 MacBook was 30w or more (I dont remember exactly)

So yeah. You get what you get. I’m tired but I keep telling people Apple cannot bend physics.

 

[HouseLannister]

They had the option of longer battery life, or thinner. They chose thinner.

It was able to go thinner this year because it's OLED and those components take less space.

The 11" actually has a bigger battery this year. However, the 13" has a slightly smaller battery than the M2 12.9"

M4 (2024)
13": 10290 mAh (38.99 Wh)
11": 8160 mAh (31.29 Wh)

M2 (2022)
12.9": 10758 mAh (40.88 Wh)
11": 7538 mAh (28.65 Wh)

 

[john123]

Do people really want ever thinner and lighter iPads? If I had a 13" Pro, I'd be worried about it flexing like my iPad Air 2 does. I take care of it, but have had to bend it flat a few times.

Give me something a bit thicker, with a better battery, and more structural rigidity!

I DO! And yes, many people do. If I could trade my 12.9 M2 for a 13”, I’d do it in a heartbeat. If you pick them up in an Apple Store, you’ll see why.

 

[Marswarrior462]

I DO! And yes, many people do. If I could trade my 12.9 M2 for a 13”, I’d do it in a heartbeat. If you pick them up in an Apple Store, you’ll see why.

Then why don’t you? I have a fully maxed out 13” M4 iPad Pro and I think it’s worth it, other than Apple’s ridiculous storage prices

 

[TheWraith]

I just miss my original 1st gen iPad. That was a tank. I still have it somewhere, and it's like new. I want an iPad built like that.

Ok, let's do the math—that ipad was 1.5 lbs. The current pro is just about 1 lb.

An equivalent would be wishing that a 16" MBP today, instead of being 4.7 lbs, would be 7 POUNDS.

I'm sure some people would want this. I just don't think it's nearly as many who want the lighter tablet.

 

[john123]

Then why don’t you? I have a fully maxed out 13” M4 iPad Pro and I think it’s worth it, other than Apple’s ridiculous storage prices

I should have added if it made economic sense. It doesn't, at least for me. I can't justify the losses I'd take selling my $1299 M2 retail + AppleCare + Apple Pencil + Magic Keyboard to upgrade to the 13" with all of these things.

Edit: doing the math based on eBay and Apple MSRP, we'd be talking about me getting back ~$800 and an outlay of ~$1950 for the same setup. Ouch.

 

[ignatius345]

To make things worse for the battery (but better for battery health overall), Apple introduced a long-overdue toggle to limit charging to 80%. I keep that setting on all the time. The problem is that the iPad doesn’t even last 10 hours. Once you factor in the 80% charge limit, and the fact that it‘s not recommended to ever let your device fall below 20%, that brings the battery life of the iPad down to 2-5 hours, which is pathetic. Is anybody else bothered by the lack of battery improvement in the iPad Pro? Why doesn’t Apple want to give the iPads (or at least the Pros) decent battery life?

If you're babying your battery so much that you only use it in this box between 20-80%, you have no real standing to complain about battery life. The battery is a consumable and can be replaced when it wears out. If you want to make "battery health" your hobby, I guess go for it but don't come whinging about how it doesn't last long enough because you're inflicting this on yourself.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am content with getting anywhere from 10-13 hours (or more) usage with my iPads. If I think I will need more usage when away from home, I will carry a battery charging backup.

 

[JoeDezibel]

Maybe they are already working for a long time on new battery's and they do t want to spent more money on the „old“ technology?

 

[sparksd]

Maybe they are already working for a long time on new battery's and they do t want to spent more money on the „old“ technology?

I doubt Apple does much at all with battery development - leave that to the specialized suppliers.

 

[Marswarrior462]

If you're babying your battery so much that you only use it in this box between 20-80%, you have no real standing to complain about battery life. The battery is a consumable and can be replaced when it wears out. If you want to make "battery health" your hobby, I guess go for it but don't come whinging about how it doesn't last long enough because you're inflicting this on yourself.

I guess I shouldn’t be babying my battery so much to the point where it impacts my enjoyment of using my iPad Pro, especially since I have AppleCare and I can have the battery replaced for free when it falls below 80% health. I just want to make my iPad last as long as possible because I spent almost five grand on it in total including taxes

 

[sparksd]

I guess I shouldn’t be babying my battery so much to the point where it impacts my enjoyment of using my iPad Pro, especially since I have AppleCare and I can have the battery replaced for free when it falls below 80% health. I just want to make my iPad last as long as possible because I spent almost five grand on it in total including taxes

You pay a real premium in Canada. I have 80% enabled on my 13" Pro as I leave it plugged in with the MKB for extended periods of time. If I think I'll be needing that extra battery time, I'll just turn the limiter off and let it charge. Use it as what works best for you - and that includes peace of mind.

 

[ignatius345]

I guess I shouldn’t be babying my battery so much to the point where it impacts my enjoyment of using my iPad Pro, especially since I have AppleCare and I can have the battery replaced for free when it falls below 80% health. I just want to make my iPad last as long as possible because I spent almost five grand on it in total including taxes

That's my take on it! The device is working for me, not the other way around

 

[JoeDezibel]

I doubt Apple does much at all with battery development - leave that to the specialized suppliers.

This is also a specialty of Apple. The buy this specialist's 😬