iPad battery drains quickly? Here’s what you can do!

There is nothing more frustrating than picking up your iPad to discover a dead battery. Or you’re just sitting around playing a game and the “battery still 5% notification comes into your screen. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to extend battery life or fix the problem completely. In this blog, we share helpful tips to make sure your iPad doesn’t let you down when you need it most.

We discuss the following topics:

• iPad battery drains quickly
• iPad breaks down while battery is not dead
• A particular app or setting uses too much power
• Battery dies quickly due to cold
• Battery condition iPad

iPad battery drains quickly

You take your iPad out of the charger at 100%, you barely use it, and a few hours later it’s down to 10%? This often indicates battery wear, in which case a new battery is normally the only solution. It could also be the case that water damage or a defective component in the device causes a short circuit that causes the battery to drain quickly. This chance is less with an iPad than with an iPhone that you carry outside more often. To rule this out, stop by a professional repair company, such as ThePhoneLab. Our specialists can perform a free diagnosis to see which problem with your battery is the culprit.

iPad breaks down while battery is not dead

It sometimes happens that an iPad fails at, say, 20%. You then think your battery was still at 20% charge when in fact it is not: your iPad shows an incorrect percentage. You can try calibrating the battery in this case so that the percentage becomes more accurate again. Follow these steps to calibrate your iPad battery:

1. Use your iPad until the battery dies completely and the iPad shuts down.
2. Put your iPad on an official Apple charger of at least 12 watts. The 5 watt iPad charger does not have enough power. Wait for it to boot up again.
3. Perform a hard reset until the Apple logo appears. In the text below, we explain how to perform a hard reset. The battery is now being calibrated.
4. Charge the battery to 100%.
5. When the battery is at 100%, leave the iPad on the charger for at least another 60 minutes.

A hard reset is done as follows:

iPad without Home button (e.g. iPad Pro 2018 and newer):

1. Briefly press the button to increase or decrease the volume.
2. Then quickly press the volume down button.
3. Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Release the button as soon as you see the logo.

iPad with a Home button (e.g. iPad 9 and older):

1. Press and hold both the top (or side, depending on the model) power button and the Home button.
2. Hold them down until you see the Apple logo appear. This can take as long as 20 seconds.

Once the Apple logo appears, you can release both buttons. Your iPad will then reboot.

A particular app or setting uses too much power

If your iPhone’s battery drains quickly, it may be due to a particular app that consumes an unreasonable amount of power. This can be checked in the iPhone’s settings:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to Battery

Under “Battery,” you can see a list of apps that use the most energy. A list of how much power each app uses now appears on the screen. If there is an app among them that draws a lot of power, but which you hardly use, this could be the cause of the problem. To fix this, you can uninstall and reinstall the app.

Don’t you see anything crazy here? Then try the following 5 additional tips!

1. Adjusting screen brightness: The brightness level of your screen has a significant impact on battery life. Reduce brightness to a comfortable level, especially in low-light environments. You will not only save energy, but also reduce the strain on your eyes. A reduction from 100% to 80% brightness can mean up to half the power consumption!
2. Turn off location services: Some apps continuously use location services, which significantly reduces battery life. Go to “Settings” > “Privacy” > “Location Features” and disable location services for apps that do not urgently need them.
3. Update to the latest software version: Make sure your iPad is always running on the latest available software version. Manufacturers often release updates that optimize performance and improve battery life. Check regularly for updates in ‘Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Software Update’.
4. Turn off push notifications and updating in the background: Push notifications and automatically updating apps in the background can drain battery power. Go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Notifications’ to customize push notifications and disable ‘Refresh apps in the background’ in ‘Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Refresh apps in the background’.
5. Use airplane mode when needed: If you are not actively using your iPad, turn on airplane mode. This prevents unnecessary power consumption from wireless connections and makes your battery last longer.

Battery drains faster due to cold

Does your iPad screen keep dropping out and is it very cold outside? If so, the cold might be the cause. Read more on this topic in our blog on what the cold is doing to your battery.

Battery condition iPad check

You can also check the maximum capacity of your battery. You do this by going through the following steps:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to Battery > Battery Condition
3. See Maximum Capacity

If you want a battery that works at its maximum, this percentage should be as close to 100% as possible. If you want to be assured of this, we recommend replacing your iPad battery after two years or if the capacity is less than 80%. In addition, it is important to always use an original Apple charger. Prefer not to use a cheap power bank or unofficial chargers as they can cause damage to the battery.

Unfortunately, did the above steps not help you? We then recommend going to a professional repair shop (for example, ThePhoneLab – check here for a branch near you). At ThePhoneLab, we always do a free diagnostic first. After this, you are not required to proceed to repair, but of course you can. Make your appointment here: