iPad Pro Coconut Battery vs. Apple Diagnostics

[MarkAtl]

When checking via Coconut Battery my 10.5" iPad Pro shows around 81% battery health and over 500 charge cycles. Thinking I'd get the battery replaced I went to an Apple Store today and they ran a diagnostic.

Their diagnostic showed the battery health at 88%, and even though the charge cycles was "red" everything else passed so I couldn't get the $99 battery service. I need to be below 80% on Apple's diagnostic to be eligible for the battery replacement.

Anyone else get this discrepancy?

 

[AutomaticApple]

Anyone else get this discrepancy?

Coconut battery isn't perfectly accurate, which is unfortunate.

 

[MarkAtl]

Coconut battery isn't perfectly accurate, which is unfortunate.

Indeed. There has been so much focus placed on it but on the bright side if Apple's is more accurate my iPad likely won't need a battery replacement for a while. 26 months of daily use, over 500 charge cycles and only 12% depletion is pretty good.

 

[iPhysicist]

My iPhone 6S battery health is at 88% says the iPhone. While charging it gets hot — while using it gets hot. While not using — well it does not get hot as long as the screen is off. Imazing App tells me 73% battery health which falls in line with all the heat and reuduced battery strength. Maybe it’s the 610 my battery had already — I’m fine with a degrading battery after 3 years of use but I’m not fine with the phone telling me all is ok when it clearly is not.

 

[EugW]

I found that CoconutBattery can sometimes fluctuate 5%+ if the battery is an older one.

 

[akash.nu]

Any battery capacity measuring tool can only show just estimated percentage based on the algorithm used in the tool. One can not be compared to the other as absolute 100% like for like.

 

[MarkAtl]

Any battery capacity measuring tool can only show just estimated percentage based on the algorithm used in the tool. One can not be compared to the other as absolute 100% like for like.

Fair point. I do find it interesting that Apple's diagnostic is "more generous". Not sure if that's because they're more accurate, or because they are more optimistic and want to prevent more battery replacements (under warranty or for $99).

 

[Johnny365]

Well, if you are trying to avoid the bright spot issue by getting your iPad Pro replaced with a more recent manufactured one, and you don't have Apple Care +, then I guess keep using the battery and running it down/charging it again until you can do the battery replacement, which is most likely going to be a recertified replacement.

--Run-on Sentence, Friday the 13th.

 

[zkap]

Fair point. I do find it interesting that Apple's diagnostic is "more generous". Not sure if that's because they're more accurate, or because they are more optimistic and want to prevent more battery replacements (under warranty or for $99).

I think it makes sense that Apple is more generous with their estimates. The reason is what you already said - they don't want a lot of cheap battery replacements.

If your phone doesn't work very well and you see your battery is healthy, you're more likely to assume that your hardware just can't keep up with the software anymore so you start thinking about a new phone. Likewise, if your phone is slow and hot and you see your battery health at 70% or whatever instead of 85%, you're more likely to assume you can fix your issues with a battery replacement. You then go into the expense of getting a new battery which automatically makes you much less likely to decide to get a new phone after that as you already spent money on improving your current one. Not to mention the fact that replacing the battery will most probably fix at least some of the issues you have with your phone.

So I think Apple is trying to avoid battery replacements not because they have to do it for 99 dollars, but because this in turn curtails their plan to sell you a 1.000 dollar iPhone.

Unlike Apple, I don't see what interest a third party would have in inflating your battery health percentage.
Who knows, who knows... I just know that, after the throttling Apple did quietly, I wouldn't believe anything I see on my phone regarding the battery, because that's not the actual health level your phone measured, but rather the number Apple wants to give you.

 

[canuckRus]

When checking via Coconut Battery my 10.5" iPad Pro shows around 81% battery health and over 500 charge cycles. Thinking I'd get the battery replaced I went to an Apple Store today and they ran a diagnostic.

Their diagnostic showed the battery health at 88%, and even though the charge cycles was "red" everything else passed so I couldn't get the $99 battery service. I need to be below 80% on Apple's diagnostic to be eligible for the battery replacement.

Anyone else get this discrepancy?

Same happened to me with my iPhone 6s last Nov. but they replaced my battery no questions asked.

 

[MarkAtl]

Same happened to me with my iPhone 6s last Nov. but they replaced my battery no questions asked.

You got in under the battery program so I suspect they were more lenient. My option was to either wait until battery health was <80% or pay the big charge that applies for any breakage.

 

[milkrocket]

It is absolutely trivial to destroy Li-On batteries. Set it on something that will use the maximum power, i.e. Full Brightness, GPS, Cellular etc etc and let it goto 0%. Rinse repeat, within a month, the battery will be significantly worse. I did this for my Macbook Air

 

[Brammy]

I had a similar problem byt the stats were worse. Cocunut showed my heath at about 53%; Apple at 87%. I was seeing about half battery life on the betas. I trust Apple’s measurements. The tech was helpful and gave me some pointers on what the readings in Cocunut should show in my case to get the replacement.

I think it might be OS related. I was on the beta cycles so I might do an erase all content and set up as a new device. I know on older OS, when I got a new phone something would come down weird from iCloud backups and still affect battery life.

 

[MarkAtl]

I'm honestly not sure I totally trust Apple's measurements. I just upgraded my iPad to iPadOS 13 and started a series of playing a long 1080p YouTube video on WiFi from 100%. It only lasts around 5 hours before shutting down, which seems a lot less than 88% capacity. But maybe it's the OS.

The good news (such as it is) is that I can get 2-3 cycles done per day, which is bound to run down the battery pretty quickly. I'll do it for another week or so and then take back to Apple and see what the diagnostics say.

 

[Brammy]

I'm honestly not sure I totally trust Apple's measurements. I just upgraded my iPad to iPadOS 13 and started a series of playing a long 1080p YouTube video on WiFi from 100%. It only lasts around 5 hours before shutting down, which seems a lot less than 88% capacity. But maybe it's the OS.

Well, Apple has access to the diagnostics that Coconut doesn't. I do wish they had the battery health indicator on iPadOS. The battery life on iOS reminds me of the early versions of Sierra. That is the only shipping OS where I had to back down to El Cap. My MacBook Air had its battery life halved.

 

[MarkAtl]

Well, Apple has access to the diagnostics that Coconut doesn't. I do wish they had the battery health indicator on iPadOS. The battery life on iOS reminds me of the early versions of Sierra. That is the only shipping OS where I had to back down to El Cap. My MacBook Air had its battery life halved.

Agreed - it's odd that you can't see battery health in an iPad.