Extend M4 iPad Pro Battery Lifespan With This New Feature

[MacRumors]

Apple's new M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air models feature a battery health setting that is new to iPads and when enabled prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times, which can extend battery lifespan.

When the 80% hard limit is enabled, the iPad will never charge beyond that percentage, except on rare occasions to "maintain accurate battery state-of-charge estimates," according to Apple. Apple says reducing the time that a battery is fully charged can reduce the wear on the battery and improve its lifespan.

From Apple's support document:

Reducing the time that your iPad spends fully charged reduces the wear on your battery. With iPad Pro (M4) and iPad Air (M2), you can choose to limit charging at 80 percent, which can help prolong your battery's lifespan. When you choose 80% Limit, your iPad will charge up to about 80 percent and then stop charging. If the battery charge level gets down to 75 percent, charging will resume until your battery charge level reaches about 80 percent again.

How to Set an 80% iPad Battery Charge Limit

1. Open the Settings app on your M4 iPad Pro or M2 iPad Air.
2. Tap Battery ➝ Battery Health.
   Tap the switch next to 80% Limit to turn on the feature.

Note that from the new Battery Health settings menu you can also view the manufacture date of your iPad's battery, as well as the month and year on which it was first used.

On M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air models, you can also find out the cycle count of your device's battery. To learn why this matters, be sure to check out our dedicated how-to article.

Article Link: Extend M4 iPad Pro Battery Lifespan With This New Feature

 

[W£S]

Great. It worked really well to maintain the health of my iPhone battery. Glad they extended to IPad

 

[Neil Harrison]

Great. It worked really well to maintain the health of my iPhone battery. Glad they extended to IPad

Absolutely. My 15pro has just gone to 99% after 8 months..usually it would be like 95%

 

[contacos]

Absolutely. My 15pro has just gone to 99% after 8 months..usually it would be like 95%

Not saying I don’t have it enabled either but by using this feature we are basically using a phone with 80% battery life health 😅

 

[Chiromac81]

So you are saying that in order for my phone or iPad to last longer I can only have 4/5 of the battery life every single day??

I don't know if having the device last longer is worth losing 20% of the length of how long I can use it before it dies every day...seems like a bad idea to me

 

[pksv]

So you are saying that in order for my phone or iPad to last longer I can only have 4/5 of the battery life every single day??

I don't know if having the device last longer is worth losing 20% of the length of how long I can use it before it dies every day...seems like a bad idea to me

Not only that, but you also shouldn't go below 20% (that's what they recommend) so effectively you have 3/5 of the advertised battery life.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

I just use it as intended and if it needs a battery replacement so be it.

 

[NastyMatt]

Why not make batteries that have an extra 20% we never "see". So 100% is basically 80%.

 

[CJM]

Why not make batteries that have an extra 20% we never "see". So 100% is basically 80%.

A car manufacturer has tried that. Can’t remember which one but I saw it on a YouTube recently. They didn’t make it public that was what they’d done though. It was worked out by the rated kWh and when it finished charging. With undisclosed features like this, I can see people being mad about it.

 

[CJM]

Not only that, but you also shouldn't go below 20% (that's what they recommend) so effectively you have 3/5 of the advertised battery life.

Just like EVs. Depending on battery chemistry. It’s fine for day to day, but with a phone, unless the efficiency is awesome you might find yourself needing to charge.

 

[infinitejest]

I'm glad it's only available on the latest iPads. Would be a shame if they gave this to older models as well.

 

[kiranmk2]

So you are saying that in order for my phone or iPad to last longer I can only have 4/5 of the battery life every single day??

I don't know if having the device last longer is worth losing 20% of the length of how long I can use it before it dies every day...seems like a bad idea to me

This option means that should a day come when you need to charge to 100% (for example you will be travelling) the battery still has the health to do it. Without this feature* the battery might have degraded to 90% health after a year or so of heavy use so getting the full "100%" battery life would be impossible.

*I've heard that Apple actually used batteries with more robust health in the iPhone 15 range so this could also help sustain battery health even without using the feature.

I'd love a way to set the charging limit myself (e.g. a hard limit of 90%), but this is better than nothing.

 

[MTShipp]

I think the individual will be making their decision to use this based somewhat on how long they keep their iPad.

The “lifers” that hold onto their iPad for many, many years would certainly benefit from this.

Those of us (myself included) that buy the lastest model every release cycle or, at most, every two cycles, may not enable this feature knowing they probably would not tax the battery health near 80% of it’s lifespan.

My current usage is to charge overnight, use all day, and unless I get a 10% warning, I just plug it in when I go to bed. Else I plug it in for 30 minutes or so and go back to using it until bedtime.

 

[newyorksole]

I just use it as intended and if it needs a battery replacement so be it.

my philosophy as well lol.

preserving battery is nice and all, but for my use case I don’t need to worry about that and always get AppleCare.

 

[bLackjackj]

I'm spending 3k on a device Apple,..I want to charge it 100%! 🤦‍♂️...just like my iPhone. Setting off!

 

[Shifts]

New feature? Isn't this an old feature already present in iOS?

However, I would like to have this on macOS, iOS, iPadOS for the units I already own. Having the units docked until I need them without having to worry about any charge cycles would be lovely.

 

[Nezben]

Biggest waste of time/battery power.

I used this feature with my new Iphone 15 PM from day one and after 3 months was already down to 97% after 35 cycles!
Got an iPhone SE through work over a year ago and charged it as and when needed to 100% and it still shows 100% capacity.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Biggest waste of time/battery power.

I used this feature with my new Iphone 15 PM from day one and after 3 months was already down to 97% after 35 cycles!
Got an iPhone SE through work over a year ago and charged it as and when needed to 100% and it still shows 100% capacity.

Wow my 15PM is on 104 cycles and still on 100% and never had battery enabled

 

[smythey]

Why not make batteries that have an extra 20% we never "see". So 100% is basically 80%.

There's a Spinal Tap reference here somewhere....

 

[McWetty]

Been using this on my 15Pro. I’d say it’s ok if you charge during the day, but not great otherwise. I plug into CarPlay so that gives me a bump charge mid day. But if I don’t drive that day, I’m at 20% before dinner. Not ideal. I’m still trying to decide if I like the feature, or if I’m just going to get a battery replacement in 2 years.

 

[Nclaire44]

We need this for the Mac: Automatic, off and 80% charge limit. The current automatic setting works surprisingly badly compared to iOS.

 

[MrGimper]

Why not make batteries that have an extra 20% we never "see". So 100% is basically 80%.

But then they'd not be as thin as a razorblade, which is all that matters

 

[toobravetosave]

the battery neuroticism needs to end

maybe design devices so the one disposable part can be replaced more easily?

 

[nfl46]

Nope. I’m charging to 100%.

 

[Houpla]

Not only that, but you also shouldn't go below 20% (that's what they recommend) so effectively you have 3/5 of the advertised battery life.

No, youcan extend battery life by using 3/5 of its capacity. When you need full capacity, you can of course charge to 100% and drain to 0%. But most of the time it's not needed.