Leave iPad plugged in full time?

It will be detrimental to the health of the battery if the battery isn't cycled at least once a month. That's the only problem you'll encounter when doing that.

jrcsh6 said:

Any reason I should not do this? It's started living by my computer but was wondering if for any reason I need it to be unplugged from the computer for whatever reason.

Don't flame me for this. I'm sure there is another thread, I just didn't see one.

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Why would anyone flame you?

Quoting from Apple's site: https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

Plug in and power on your computer to charge your device.
Make sure your computer is plugged in and powered on when you’re using it to charge your iOS device via USB. If your device is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, your device’s battery may drain.

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jrcsh6 said:

People have a tendency to get upset when "dumb" questions are asked.
I'll have it off the computer once a month. It just kinda wound up sitting on the desk which it's not before.

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Screw people who get upset at frequently asked questions or whatever. Most of us don't mind at all.

But yeah, make sure to run it off battery at least once a month until it gets to around 40% to 60%. This will let the battery cycle and work a little bit which is good for it. Maybe even a few times a month if possible.

Weaselboy said:

There is no need to do that. If you read Apple's latest information on batteries here there is no longer any mention of that battery "exercising" business.

Just a guess, but I suspect Apple figured out this just added needless charge cycles without really improving battery life.

OP> You can leave it plugged in all you want and it won't hurt anything.

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Unless Apple found some magical way around the basic chemical composition of lithium batteries weakness, they should still be cycled.

iPads are meant to be free and untethered.....and carried around from place to place, used when needed and so on. All three of my devices (iPhone and two iPads) sit on my computer work station when I'm at it and the only time I plug any of them in is if a charging is needed. Otherwise they sit untethered so that I can grab them when I want to use them.

I'm just saying that Apple can't break the laws of physics and change how lithium interacts within a lithium ion battery.

Long story short, by the time the iPad battery fails you will have seen 4-5 generation of iPad's introduced. Seriously, these batteries are rated at 1000 charge cycles and even after the 1001 charge cycle it will maintain 80% of it's original charge. The failure rate of the types of batteries used is ultra low and if you need a bettery replaced Apple charges around $99 for the service.

It's not healthy for the battery to be at a cconstant max level.

Hmm, I thought I read somewhere that there's some built-in cycling of battery power if left constantly plugged in.

I still have my iphone4 that I've been using as a clock by my TV (and backup photo storage). It's pretty much been plugged in since the iphone5 first came out. I started using it again recently when I bought a Yamaha electronic drum set (DTX400) as Yamaha has some great drum apps made for this and the iphone4 has the 30 pin docking port that I need for my cable. I have not noticed any battery problems when it's connected to the drum module, which does not charge it.

You can. It won't like kill the battery significantly. But it's better if you run the battery down fully once a month.

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Weaselboy said:

There is no need to do that. If you read Apple's latest information on batteries here there is no longer any mention of that battery "exercising" business.

Just a guess, but I suspect Apple figured out this just added needless charge cycles without really improving battery life.

OP> You can leave it plugged in all you want and it won't hurt anything.

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It's not mentioned by Apple because it's not significant anymore. But that doesn't mean nothing happens. Battery chemistry and management technology has improved drastically over the last few years so that the harm is relatively insignificant.

The way the battery works today (for Apple stuff at least) is that once it reaches 100%, it will stop charging and let the battery run for a little bit and then charge it back up. This negates the cycling issue because it "works out" the battery slightly over time. Back in the day, overcharging was a real problem and so was cycling and all that. But technology has improved. But again, you still should cycle it once a month, it won't really waste cycles since it's 12 per year and Apple designs their batteries for 1000 cycles before significant capacity degradation. It would take many years before the once a month cycling makes any kind of appreciable impact. And if you're already actively using it, you don't need to do the once per month. So either way, it all works out.

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St8kout said:

Hmm, I thought I read somewhere that there's some built-in cycling of battery power if left constantly plugged in.

I still have my iphone4 that I've been using as a clock by my TV (and backup photo storage). It's pretty much been plugged in since the iphone5 first came out. I started using it again recently when I bought a Yamaha electronic drum set (DTX400) as Yamaha has some great drum apps made for this and the iphone4 has the 30 pin docking port that I need for my cable. I have not noticed any battery problems when it's connected to the drum module, which does not charge it.

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It does. But depending on your usage pattern, that built-in cycling may or may not be enough. I recommend just actively using it and not worry about it. If you actively use the device, the battery will get enough use so you don't need to manually cycle it.