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nph

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 9, 2005
1,049
214
I have Air 2 and after iOS15 it is slow as molass and battery life dropped like a rock, despite battery still being good.
Thinking of Air 4 or 5 but which one will have best battery life?
Reading some tests online it seems best battery life is iPad 9 with 12 hours.
 
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fwmireault

macrumors 68020
Jul 4, 2019
2,288
9,705
Montréal, Canada
We will need to see some real world test before jumping to conclusions but my bet is that iPad Air 5 will have slightly worse battery life than iPad Air 4, due to a more hungry M1 chip. M1 iPad Pro users noticed a difference in battery life compared to the previous gen. It could be caused by many factors, but the M1 seems like the most important one
 

BigBlur

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2021
826
972
FWIW, Apple lists all three of these having the same battery life. There may be a slight difference between the models, but I don’t think it’s going to be anything drastic. I’ve gotten at least 12 hours on my M1 iPad Pro 11” too.

 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
13,544
26,168
FWIW, Apple lists all three of these having the same battery life. There may be a slight difference between the models, but I don’t think it’s going to be anything drastic. I’ve gotten at least 12 hours on my M1 iPad Pro 11” too.


FYI, Apple lists the exact same battery life for every single iPad All the way back to the OG iPad.

It is one of those cases where Apple doesn’t test battery life except basically say, “it’s good enough.”
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,191
1,074
I have iPad Pro 2020 and 2021 (M1), and it looks the M1 need more power slightly. I didn’t really measure that anyway.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
FYI, Apple lists the exact same battery life for every single iPad All the way back to the OG iPad.

It is one of those cases where Apple doesn’t test battery life except basically say, “it’s good enough.”

Agreed. Mind, they did list 10+ hours battery life on the iPad 4th gen, iirc. With my typical usage and settings, I got around 15+ hours on that.
 

Saturn007

macrumors 68000
Jul 18, 2010
1,595
1,480
I received a two-hour battery hit when I upgraded to iOS 15. It seems somewhat better under 15.3.1.

But there has been NO slow down in performance, whatsoever.

To the OP, which apps or operations are now “slow as molasses”?! I haven't seen it…
 

boltjames

macrumors 601
May 2, 2010
4,876
2,852
So I just watched some YouTube battery test videos, about 6 of them, and in all cases the M1 iPad Pro 11" had significantly better battery life than the A14 iPad Air 4. And the iPad Air 4 has a slightly bigger battery than the Pro 11" too.

In a series of mixed usage tests at 50% brightness, the M1 iPad Pro got around 12 hours of battery life and the iPad Air 4 10 hours.

So....wouldn't one expect the new M1 iPad Air 5 to have significantly better battery life than the outgoing A14 iPad Air 4 seeing that it too will have the M1 chip and 8gb of RAM just like the Pro 11"?
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
So I just watched some YouTube battery test videos, about 6 of them, and in all cases the M1 iPad Pro 11" had significantly better battery life than the A14 iPad Air 4. And the iPad Air 4 has a slightly bigger battery than the Pro 11" too.

Iirc, Apple tech specs list the Air 4 with 28.6Wh battery and the 2021 Pro 11 with 28.65Wh battery.


In a series of mixed usage tests at 50% brightness, the M1 iPad Pro got around 12 hours of battery life and the iPad Air 4 10 hours.

So....wouldn't one expect the new M1 iPad Air 5 to have significantly better battery life than the outgoing A14 iPad Air 4 seeing that it too will have the M1 chip and 8gb of RAM just like the Pro 11"?

Depends on what's the reason for the better battery life. If it's because the M1 is finishing tasks and going back to idle quicker, then sure. If it's because the ProMotion display is running at lower refresh rate majority of the time, then nope.
 

AlumaMac

macrumors 6502
Jan 25, 2018
394
742
I have a 12" M1 iPad Pro and the battery life is terrible compared to previous iPads I’ve owned.
 

boltjames

macrumors 601
May 2, 2010
4,876
2,852
Iirc, Apple tech specs list the Air 4 with 28.6Wh battery and the 2021 Pro 11 with 28.65Wh battery.




Depends on what's the reason for the better battery life. If it's because the M1 is finishing tasks and going back to idle quicker, then sure. If it's because the ProMotion display is running at lower refresh rate majority of the time, then nope.

 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260

That drain test just gives you the results. It doesn't exactly explain *why* the iPad Pro 11 had better battery life. Air 5 might have gotten the same M1+8GB as the 2021 Pro but there are still differences between the two such as the ProMotion display.

Maybe ProMotion at 24-30Hz with occasional jumps to 60-120Hz uses less power than the Air 5 display running at a constant 60Hz.

We couldn't really make any assumptions until the Air 5 is released and tested.
 

FrozenDarkness

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2009
1,830
1,124
That drain test just gives you the results. It doesn't exactly explain *why* the iPad Pro 11 had better battery life. Air 5 might have gotten the same M1+8GB as the 2021 Pro but there are still differences between the two such as the ProMotion display.

Maybe ProMotion at 24-30Hz with occasional jumps to 60-120Hz uses less power than the Air 5 display running at a constant 60Hz.

We couldn't really make any assumptions until the Air 5 is released and tested.
randomly, you are quite a fan of m1 ipad pros with 5G.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,916
13,260
randomly, you are quite a fan of m1 ipad pros with 5G.

Not really a fan. They just happen to work very well for my usage.

I happen to think the Air 5 is a pretty great device. If not for individual preferences, the base specs (M1, 8GB RAM, 64GB storage) is a good fit for people in my household (well, aside from me since I like having tons of storage for offline media).

With that said, there are enough differences between the Air 5 and Pro 11 that we won't really know how battery life compares until someone actually tests it.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
13,544
26,168
I'd fully expect the Air 5 to have similar battery life as the Air 4. M1 won't move the needle much in either direction.

The display has always been the biggest factor in battery life. We've seen that in iPhone, MacBook Pro, and iPad. ProMotion likely plays a role in the iPad Pro's long battery life.
 

boltjames

macrumors 601
May 2, 2010
4,876
2,852
That drain test just gives you the results. It doesn't exactly explain *why* the iPad Pro 11 had better battery life. Air 5 might have gotten the same M1+8GB as the 2021 Pro but there are still differences between the two such as the ProMotion display.

Maybe ProMotion at 24-30Hz with occasional jumps to 60-120Hz uses less power than the Air 5 display running at a constant 60Hz.

We couldn't really make any assumptions until the Air 5 is released and tested.

Unfortunately, I'm in a situation where I need to return my three-week-old Air 4 before I can take delivery of an Air 5 and so I need to make a decision before I pick it up on the 18th.

I make several international flights per year and need maximum battery life for watching videos. 16 hour flight, I'm used to watching 10 hours of offline Netflix/HBO/Apple video and having 30% battery life still remaining when I land, that was what I had with my Air 2 for the last 7 years. Air 2 battery was toast, bought the Air 4, now have the chance to exchange it for the Air 5.

I don't need the processor or RAM boost. I don't care about Center Stage. I just want the Air with the best battery life.
 

FrozenDarkness

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2009
1,830
1,124
Not really a fan. They just happen to work very well for my usage.

I happen to think the Air 5 is a pretty great device. If not for individual preferences, the base specs (M1, 8GB RAM, 64GB storage) is a good fit for people in my household (well, aside from me since I like having tons of storage for offline media).

With that said, there are enough differences between the Air 5 and Pro 11 that we won't really know how battery life compares until someone actually tests it.
I just meant I don't think I know anyone tha thas both 11" and 13" ipad pros.
 
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boltjames

macrumors 601
May 2, 2010
4,876
2,852
We couldn't really make any assumptions until the Air 5 is released and tested.

So with the preorder deadline for the Air 5 only hours away and the exchange clock ticking on my Air 4, I decided to do a simulation of a long haul flight on my Air 4.

Starting with a battery already run down to 58%, with backlight at 30%, volume at 30%, in airplane mode, running a downloaded video on Disney+ the whole time, I got 10 hours of playback before the Air 4 died. Figuring it would have lasted around 17 hours had I started at 100%.

So with that outperforming my old iPad Air 2 and comfortably satisfying my needs for the typical 16 hour trans-pacific flight, I think I'm just going to stick with the Air 4 and move on from the 5. I will, however, watch closely as the first units of the Air 5 make it out in the wild and battery life tests are published, may change my mind.
 

snipr125

macrumors 68020
Oct 17, 2015
2,011
3,125
UK
Not sure if this video has already been posted (Tech gear Talk):


Basically the Air 4th Gen lost to all the other ipads, including the Mini 6 and M1 Ipad Pro.

Its not clear on the battery condition of the Utubers Air 4 though, but the Mini 6 with the A15 is very impressive, the A15's improved efficiency with video codecs makes a significant difference with battery life.
 

AppleNooble

macrumors regular
May 14, 2021
120
23
So what’s the verdict? 4 vs 5 battery life? Still no tests. Only one YouTube video dedicated a few seconds to this, suggesting 10 for the 4 and 8.5 for the 5. No idea how that was derived however. But no one looks to have tested this definitively still!
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,089
So what’s the verdict? 4 vs 5 battery life? Still no tests. Only one YouTube video dedicated a few seconds to this, suggesting 10 for the 4 and 8.5 for the 5. No idea how that was derived however. But no one looks to have tested this definitively still!
Getting correct battery life assessments for iPads online is extremely difficult, if not impossible. For iPhones, you have battery life screenshots threads for every model, for which, after reviewing hundreds of screenshots with many different usage patterns, you can get an accurate assessment. For instance, I know I typically get more battery life than the vast majority of users, because I am a very light user with my main usage pattern. I can extrapolate my model’s internet results to the new iPhone model and get a pretty accurate idea.

Nobody shares any iPad results, so doing that is completely impossible. The only battery life results I’ve seen are those in which people complain because battery life is abhorrent, and, typically, that is due to full brightness, which throws results very off the mark and makes them irrelevant (for me).

I‘ve repeatedly seen comments saying “well, why do you want other people’s results, when every single usage pattern is different?”, which is not exactly accurate: by extrapolating the patterns in screen-on time difference between models, you can get, I’d dare to say, an extremely accurate idea. It’s very helpful, but iPads are nowhere to be found.

You only have YouTube tests, heavy, continuous runtime. Those tests are irrelevant and incorrect. They never match normal usage patterns; thus, they cannot be extrapolated. Even the percentage difference between models is irrelevant: again, they never extrapolate correctly.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,089
I like my Air 5 but honestly battery life sucks.
My Air 5 is amazing with light use, best battery life on an iOS device ever. Can you share a screenshot of the last 24 hours screen on Settings-Battery? I‘m surprised, unless your usage is heavy and at full brightness.
 
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