76.1% Battery Health after 201 cycles on iPad Pro 10.5

[aakshey]

Hi guys,

Is this normal?

iPad Pro 10.5 LTE 256 GB Silver bought in late June 2017.

Acc to Coconut Battery Plus:

Currently at 201 cycles.

Battery health 76.1%.

Always charged using official Apple 29W charger and cable bought from an Apple store.

Lasts 4-5 hrs at 30-40% brightness browsing and watching videos, on WiFi. Sometimes less than that.

Already being throttled according to Geekbench 4.

What should I do?

Still under 2 yrs AppleCare but they say this is fine.

UPDATE:

Apple Covent Garden made it right for me!

I went to Apple Covent Garden in London yesterday.

The Apple genius there said that the degradation wasn’t normal even if the health of 87/94% respectively is correct.

So he got both my Pros swapped out for new refub pieces. No charge at all.

This is why Apple is Apple and everybody else is only pineapples. And I hate pineapples.

[doublepost=1524466375][/doublepost]Reserved 1.

 

[Johnny365]

I got distracted by the number of unread emails O_O

 

[aakshey]

I got distracted by the number of unread emails O_O

 

[ventmore]

I’d try to speak to someone a little higher at Apple.

Their page used to say that the batteries should retain 80% of their original capacity for 500, or 1000 charges I think it was depending on the product. It now says:

“Apple lithium-ion batteries are designed to hold at least 80 per cent of their original capacity for a high number of charge cycles, which varies depending on the product.”

It’s a little less specific, but if it were me, I’d definitely be be speaking to them if my device was only holding 76% after 200 cycles.

 

[aakshey]

They’ve done the Mobile Resource Inspector test and their test shows 87% at 201 cycles.

Do they have any other tests in UK? In India they don’t.

 

[Whoakapi]

You need to provide a bit more info about you use the iPad. As a start, using a 29W charger will generate more heat than the standard 12W charger. As a rule of thumb: the less heat the better. Other battery-killing factors would be:

- Typically charging from 0 to 100%?
- Using a cover/case that traps heat in the device?
- Storing the iPad in warm rooms or a hot car?
- Running CPU/GPU intensive apps that drain the battery quickly?

 

[ventmore]

They’ve done the Mobile Resource Inspector test and their test shows 87% at 201 cycles.

Do they have any other tests in UK? In India they don’t.

Ah...ok...so the test you ran was inaccurate.

If you can prove it’s being throttled, then I’d still pursue it.

 

[aakshey]

The battery doesn’t even last 5 hrs with 30% brightness just doing Safari and mail. So obviously Apple’s diagnostic is wrong.

And ya, Geekbench is down to 8000 for multi core compared to 9300. But they don’t acknowledge third party benchmarks. And they haven’t created one of their own yet.

 

[ventmore]

Not sure what to say then. If you think it’s definitey not right, then maybe try restoring as new just as a test. Make sure to grab a full encrypted backup first though so you can restore it after you’ve tested it.

If that doesn’t make any difference, then keep trying Apple. Persistence and politeness are the key.

 

[aakshey]

Not sure what to say then. If you think it’s definitey not right, then maybe try restoring as new just as a test. Make sure to grab a full encrypted backup first though so you can restore it after you’ve tested it.

If that doesn’t make any difference, then keep trying Apple. Persistence and politeness are the key.

I have done multiple DFU restores.

Did one again today.

 

[fatlardo]

Dang, that sucks. I hope apple will do right.

 

[rui no onna]

Note, as mentioned fast charging is kinda bad for battery. That was one of the reasons I decided to skip buying the 29W charger + USB-C cable.

I don't have a Mac so no access to Coconut Battery but per Battery Life app (yes, it's not as accurate), my 2nd gen iPP 12.9 is still at 100%. I just charge with a 12W charger.

For iPads, it's 80% battery at 1000 charge cycles so 76% at 201 cycles should definitely be eligible for battery replacement. Problem is Apple's software reports 87% so sorry, can't help there. Have you tried contacting online support with remote diagnostic?

 

[ericwn]

I have done multiple DFU restores.

Did one again today.

Did you set it up as a new device to make sure no old backup or settings are affecting the test? How long does the battery hold in standby alone when set up as new device?

 

[aakshey]

Haven’t checked standby usage.

87% is as per the remote diagnostic itself.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Remote diagnostic done by Apple takes the average health over the last 2 weeks when determining the number. Coconut battery is real time health. So if the battery has failed in the last 2 weeks, then it wont show up on Apple's test. Give it 2-3 weeks and contact back. The battery is definitely failing or has already failed.

 

[aakshey]

It has been under 80% for over a month.

In India they can only do a remote diagnostic.

When I visit London ill try for a more accurate test at Covent Garden.
[doublepost=1524499731][/doublepost]Here’s my other iPad Pro 10.5. Bought the same time.

80% at 203 cycles.

 

[RichardCraig]

Hi guys,

Is this normal?

iPad Pro 10.5 LTE 256 GB Silver bought in late June 2017.

Acc to Coconut Battery Plus:

Currently at 201 cycles.

Battery health 76.1%.

Always charged using official Apple 29W charger and cable bought from an Apple store.

Lasts 4-5 hrs at 30-40% brightness browsing and watching videos, on WiFi. Sometimes less than that.

Already being throttled according to Geekbench 4.

What should I do?

Still under 2 yrs AppleCare but they say this is fine.
[doublepost=1524466375][/doublepost]Reserved 1.

TIP FOR ALL APPLE USERS: ALWAYS let your battery DRAIN COMPLETELY before charging it if you want to maintain battery life, don't just charge it when it starts to get low, if you can let it drain completely and then plug it in and charge it to full without unplugging it.

 

[ericwn]

TIP FOR ALL APPLE USERS: ALWAYS let your battery DRAIN COMPLETELY before charging it if you want to maintain battery life, don't just charge it when it starts to get low, if you can let it drain completely and then plug it in and charge it to full without unplugging it.

And say after the expected use period of 1-3 years what effect do you think you will see on the battery life with your approach? Can you share any data points to support the claim? Thanks in advance.

 

[Johnny365]

It's just to calibrate the battery reporting (resetting it) so the % is displayed correctly.

 

[JPack]

TIP FOR ALL APPLE USERS: ALWAYS let your battery DRAIN COMPLETELY before charging it if you want to maintain battery life, don't just charge it when it starts to get low, if you can let it drain completely and then plug it in and charge it to full without unplugging it.

That’s such bad advice.

It goes against all current recommendations from major Li-ion manufacturers including Tesla. If you want to kill your battery health, let it discharge to extreme levels.
[doublepost=1524937230][/doublepost]

And say after the expected use period of 1-3 years what effect do you think you will see on the battery life with your approach? Can you share any data points to support the claim? Thanks in advance.

Yeah don’t listen to that guy. Li-ion cells do not like extreme charge or discharge levels. Ideally, you want to maintain your battery level between 80-20%.

 

[ericwn]

That’s such bad advice.

It goes against all current recommendations from major Li-ion manufacturers including Tesla. If you want to kill your battery health, let it discharge to extreme levels.
[doublepost=1524937230][/doublepost]

Yeah don’t listen to that guy. Li-ion cells do not like extreme charge or discharge levels. Ideally, you want to maintain your battery level between 80-20%.

That’s sort of my line of thinking too. I’m happy to listen to the rather unconventional advice as soon as he / she can back it up properly.

Other than the obvious things that common sense tells one not to do to a battery I don’t think it makes a significant difference in real life if you just keep charging when needed.

Plus you can get the battery replaced at a later stage even after the warranty is done.

 

[Mlrollin91]

TIP FOR ALL APPLE USERS: ALWAYS let your battery DRAIN COMPLETELY before charging it if you want to maintain battery life, don't just charge it when it starts to get low, if you can let it drain completely and then plug it in and charge it to full without unplugging it.

That is the WORST advice ever. Letting your battery completely die is the second worst thing you can do to it. Heat is number 1.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[ventmore]

I have a Motorola VHF radio with a smart Li-ion battery and charger combination. If I run it to almost empty before recharging, then everything works fine. However, if I top the battery off regularly, after about 2-4 weeks, the radio will complain that the battery needs reconditioning. Next time I charge it, the charger will recondition the battery by fully discharging it before recharging.

I can stop the reconditioning process if I don’t have the 12 hours needed for the reconditioning, but if I put it off for too long, the battery meter will be all over the place, and eventually I have problems with operation.

Just saying, that some Li-ion batteries definitely do need a full discharge every now and again.

 

[Mlrollin91]

I have a Motorola VHF radio with a smart Li-ion battery and charger combination. If I run it to almost empty before recharging, then everything works fine. However, if I top the battery off regularly, after about 2-4 weeks, the radio will complain that the battery needs reconditioning. Next time I charge it, the charger will recondition the battery by fully discharging it before recharging.

I can stop the reconditioning process if I don’t have the 12 hours needed for the reconditioning, but if I put it off for too long, the battery meter will be all over the place, and eventually I have problems with operation.

Just saying, that some Li-ion batteries definitely do need a full discharge every now and again.

A full discharge every now and then is not even remotely close to every single time. Apple used to recommend doing it once a month to calibrate the battery percent in iOS. They no longer recommend it.

 

[sracer]

Note, as mentioned fast charging is kinda bad for battery. That was one of the reasons I decided to skip buying the 29W charger + USB-C cable.

I've been using the 29W charger on my 12.9 Pro for over 2 years. Neither the charger nor the iPad ever got hot (or warm) while charging. Maybe my experience is an anomaly. Battery life had been fine until the day I upgraded to iOS 11. It hasn't been the same since.