You must have fallen in love with your iPad's performance because it can do almost whatever you do on a computer. However, if your iPad battery is draining fast, it leads to frustration because now you can work on it for longer periods. So, to help you figure out the problem, this article will discuss the primary reasons for this issue and what troubleshooting methods to try before taking your iPad for repair or battery replacement.
If the iPad battery drains fast, this usually happens due to the enabled Background App Refresh feature, resource-intensive apps, software glitches, constant usage with high screen brightness, overheating issues, incorrect charging pattern, or faulty battery.
To stop your iPad battery from draining fast:
Are you watching a movie, preparing a college assignment, or doing work-related tasks on your iPad, and all of a sudden, a low battery warning pops up on the screen? Does this happen after you fully charge the gadget before using it?
Looks like your iPad battery is draining fast, which can be a concern for an average user.
Although it depends on various factors, your iPad battery can last up to 8 to 10 hours with a bit of care on a single full charge.
As mentioned above, your iPad battery can last an average of 8 to 10 hours. But if you frequently play games, watch movies, use high screen brightness, or leave social media apps active in the background, the battery drains in 4 to 6 hours, which is normal.
Wondering why your iPad battery is draining faster than average time? Here’s why:
If your iPad battery is not lasting longer or draining fast, you can tweak the settings a bit or use a few tricks to make the most out of a single charge.
Background App Refresh is a feature in your iPad that allows the installed apps to check for content updates, even if you are not using them. When enabled, this feature can cause your iPad battery to drain faster than usual.
Active Background App Refresh setting uses your iPad battery, Wi-Fi, or data (For iPad cellular models) to update the suspended apps. The more inactive apps installed on your device, the more Wi-Fi and battery it needs to commence the updates, resulting in faster drain.
You can quickly disable Background App Refresh on your iPad with these steps:
Note: If you want, you can also turn off Background App Refresh for specific apps showing in the list.
If you use many apps on your iPad or a lot of system services or notifications are active, a few may be resource-intensive and can cause the battery to drain faster.
The following apps, default features, and services on your iPad can drain the battery faster:
You can restore your iPad battery timing to default by turning off the following system services, default apps, and push notifications.
To find out which apps are draining your iPad battery, go to “Settings” > “Battery” (Wait for a few moments, then tap > “Show Detailed Usage,” and select “Last 7 days” or “Last 10 days” for a complete power usage breakdown.
Let’s assume Spotify or some other app shows it’s taking 7% of the power in the foreground but 40% in the background. This clearly indicates that the particular app is causing your iPad battery to drain faster.
To fix this issue, double tap the “Home” button to bring up the app switcher on the screen. Next, tap on the culprit app and swipe up to force close it. If the battery timing still won’t improve, maybe something has gone wrong with the app. So, it is best to delete it and reinstall a fresh and bug-free version from the App Store.
Your iPad can experience temporary software glitches, resulting in battery draining faster. This also happens if the iOS corrupts due to a virus in the third-party apps installed from App Store.
iPad software glitches or corrupt iOS can lead to faster battery drain as it has to work harder and longer for the processes to perform and show up correctly on the screen. This causes a heavy burden on the processor and consumes enormous battery resources.
Simply restart the device to fix the temporary glitches on your iPad software. If the battery still drains fast, do a force start, and then factory reset the device in this way:
Your iPad will be as good as new after resetting it; most likely, the battery won’t drain faster afterward.
To confirm this, check the health of your iPad battery by heading to “Settings” > “Battery” > “Show Detailed Usage.” If all seems A-Okay, make sure to install only those apps you would like to use regularly that are not dragging the battery.
Note: You may need to seek the help of a professional if the iPad battery keeps draining fast after the factory reset process.
It is possible that you are using your iPad with high screen brightness while watching a movie, browsing YouTube or Google, or doing some work. This affects battery times tremendously and can result in a faster discharge.
Using your iPad screen at full brightness for long intervals drains the battery faster because it constantly exhausts itself to keep the display lit for the desired viewing experience.
Your iPad will also always wake up at high brightness whenever a notification pops up, contributing to less battery time.
To let your iPad drain the battery slower, turn Auto-Brightness on to let the device adjust the screen brightness according to the ambient or room light. To do this, head to “Settings” > “Accessibility” > “Display & Text Size,” and toggle on “Auto-Brightness.”
You can also change your iPad background from light to dark at night for improved battery performance. Simply go to “Settings,” tap “Display & Brightness,” and tap “Dark under the “Appearance” section.
Quick Tip: Turn off “Reduce Motion” to cut down the animations and pop-ups appearing on the screen, causing it to wake up and consume more battery.
If your iPad battery is still draining quickly, turn on Auto-Lock to turn off the screen after a specific time rather than the long default time. For this, again open “Settings,” head to “Display & Brightness, tap “Auto-Lock, and select the number of minutes instead of “Never.”
Another thing you can try is to go to “Settings” > “Accessibility” > Display & Text Size” and drag the “Reduce White Point” slider to make the iPad screen darker than the standard high brightness.
Poor charging practices often result in low iPad battery performance, causing the battery health to start deteriorating slowly and drain faster than usual.
To make your iPad battery last longer and show peak performance, here are some of the best charging practices that can help you in the long run.
To get the most out of your iPad battery, charge it at around 30% capacity and unplug it at approximately 80%.
The iPad Lithium-ion battery has no memory effect like the older Nickel Cadmium batteries, so you can leave the device plugged into the charger all day or night.
However, it is never a good practice to fully discharge your iPad before charging it, topping it to 100%, and keeping it plugged in. Doing this regularly can lead to premature battery demise.
If you have tried all the above solutions and your iPad battery continues to drain faster, it could simply be that the battery is damaged and needs replacing.
Your iPad battery can go bad due to several reasons, including:
Fortunately, you can replace your failing iPad battery instead of investing heavily in a new iPad. If your Apple iPad is under warranty or you have AppleCare+, the company will replace the battery at no cost in case its health is below 80%.
However, you’ll find yourself out of luck when visiting the Apple-authorized repair stores for your out-of-warranty iPad.
Why? Because they have already hiked the price for replacing various iPad model batteries. But there is an alternate route. You can contact an iPad repair professional in your area, get a genuine battery, save on repair costs, and replace it without breaking the bank.
Following are the tell tail signs that your iPad battery needs replacing:
In this detailed guide, we’ve discussed why your iPad battery is draining fast by exploring the most common causes. We’ve also addressed each issue contributing to abnormal battery behavior and what you can do to fix most battery issues yourself through handy hacks.
Hopefully, you have restored your iPad battery health after reading this guide. But if it continues to drain faster, replacing the battery might be your only option.
In the fast-paced world of technology, our devices often build up digital clutter that can reduce their performance over time. The main culprit of this issue is...
Read more
The iPhone X, with its cutting-edge features and sleek design, has become a favorite among many smartphone users. However, like any tech gadget, it can sometime...
Read more
Performing a hard reset on an iPhone 11 is the most common troubleshooting method that can help resolve many minor issues such as an unresponsive screen, freezi...
Read more
Certified technicians in your neighborhood
Convenient service from booking to complete
90 days warranty for parts and labor
My screen was cracked and I called Fixable to get information and they were fast, convenient, and professional. I’m so glad I contacted them!
My iPhone was having problems. Fixable was very helpful. Great response time and communication. The service was great would highly recommend!
Awesome, awesome company and person to do business with. Was extremely helpful in helping me with a minor Microsoft Surface Pro laptop issue. Would love to come here again anytime!
Serving in over 1500 locations across US
