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Extend M4 iPad Pro Battery Lifespan With This New Feature
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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:
How to Set an 80% iPad Battery Charge Limit
- Open the Settings app on your M4 iPad Pro or M2 iPad Air.
- 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
Wait so the new batteries only go up to 80% ? And the batteries only last three years?
The thing is, the same type of non-user-replaceable batteries can be found in so many devices today, and most aren’t failing in a year, let alone 3+ years. There just isn’t the need to make user-replaceable batteries that there once was. Ask me how I know - I’m old enough to have been an adult when the first bag phones, then handheld cell phones came to market. I’ve owned so many including multiple phones where I did have extra batteries I had to carry with me while traveling for work. It was bad enough that most of these batteries lasted just a couple of hours, but to add insult to injury, when you were opening the back case to get the battery out on a regular basis, that back stopped locking in place, eventually failing and then requiring tape to hold it on. And this was within a year of far less use that phones get today.
For the VAST majority of people, the battery isn’t the sole or main reason they upgrade to a new device, it’s often the fact that the device is so old that it doesn’t do what new devices can. Sure, for some, the battery doesn’t last as long, after 3-4 years of daily use, but it still doesn’t make as much sense to get a new battery installed, compared to upgrading to a new device, so that you can get a device that is more powerful, offers better screen and cameras, and also lasts the whole day of use.
laptops have fairly replaceable batteries precisely because companies know they can’t sell you a new one every 1-2 years
phones have reached a level of performance where they should be kept much longer but companies, for the purposes of selling you more things more often, both designed them to be highly disposable and poured significant resources into financial and media programming encouraging 1-2 year buying cycles
in turn phone apps have become increasingly bloated and inefficient with even the newest iphones dying in hours if you use some apps because manufacturers will simply put a more powerful processor in the next year phone that you will still buy 1-2 years after your last
the current state of affairs was not a guarantee but the result of an uncreative race to the bottom of product design.
a world where banking apps that simply check a website could be several hundred megabytes large and your phone needs a computer grade processor to “keep up” within several years
Why is this a feature of only the M4 Pro and M2 Air? I just bought an 2022 M2 Pro a couple of days ago. Would like to have this feature on my new iPad.
I can’t see using this on my iPhone, which usually needs me to charge it constantly. But the iPad battery lasts a long time and you are not typically using it as much. I might use it for an hour or so in the evenings or occasionally for longer on weekends. It’s the ideal device to have that setting. It’s stupid that they have a software feature implemented only on the new models.
I can’t see using this on my iPhone, which usually needs me to charge it constantly. But the iPad battery lasts a long time and you are not typically using it as much. I might use it for an hour or so in the evenings or occasionally for longer on weekends. It’s the ideal device to have that setting. It’s stupid that they have a software feature implemented only on the new models.
I think he was trying to say is Lithium batteries have memory and over charging it mess up the memory of the battery. So the battery start charging it and stop at different charge cycle.
The device isn’t limited if you don’t need to use 100% of the battery between charges. This is the crucial point a lot of people seem to be missing. If I wake up with 80% and put the device on charge at night with 30%, my experience has not been limited, but my battery has experienced less stress. Also, if you need 100% occasionally you can just charge it to 100% in those cases.
I’m typing this on an iPhone XS which is coming up to 6 years old. My next phone will last another 6 years. My phone has a minor crack in the screen which would need to be repaired in order for Apple to replace the battery. I have no interest in an aftermarket battery which probably has less capacity than my degraded battery.
It makes literally zero sense for me to charge the battery more than I need, pay for screen replacements, pay for battery replacements, when I can extend the life of my battery for free with zero limitations.
…and we also need it for all iPhones. Not only iPhone 15. Would be great, will not happen. 🙄😑🤷♂️
Well that is what some one was saying to me that overcharging was thing of the past the same with undercharging.
Because it’s doing whatever it wants. The limit is a fixed limit, decided by the user. I‘d really like to have it. But I would never trade in the size of my 13 Mini for it 🤣.
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Also my outlook on the matter. My phone is almost exclusively kept between 40-80% yet I still only ever need to top it up every second or third day. Thus rarely boosting it past 80% is of no consequence to me other than that I'm less likely to ever need the device to be opened up with a heat gun and glued back together again. iPhone 13 mini still reporting 100% health so I'm comfortable that what I'm doing is worthwhile.
This is unusual, something is wrong with your battery.
My iphone 14 pro from day 1 is now down to 95 percent and I’ve been going through full charge cycles ever since (i. e. 100 percent to almost 0 percent, then charging over night). Using energy saving mode most of the time, the phone will easily last for 2 days on a full charge.
The only thing worse than this deliberate feature rationing is knowing that Apple knows you know and doesn't care what you think.
I wish I had this on my iPad Pro. It would also be nice if they offered an intermediate option, such as 90%, that would help reduce strain over time but without impacting daily battery life so much.
I think the battery tech has improved this year as well, as evidenced by them upgrading the charge cycles post-launch. I do not have this feature turned on, and mine is at 97% since launch. I'd rather have the extra battery life, and utilize the iPhone Upgrade Program annually, so I have no need. But this is great for people who keep their phone for 4-6 years.
I think the battery tech has improved this year as well, as evidenced by them upgrading the charge cycles post-launch. I do not have this feature turned on, and mine is at 97% since launch. I'd rather have the extra battery life, and utilize the iPhone Upgrade Program annually, so I have no need. But this is great for people who keep their phone for 4-6 years.
People saying "just don't worry about your battery and simply replace it in 2 years" clearly don't understand few things.
1.Replacing a battery still costs 89$ (iPhone15) - not everyone is willing to throw away that money (which is a lot for some people) for a device that already costs a lot, I'd expect after spending so much money that Apple uses high quality cells that can last at least 1000-1500 or even 2000 cycles without the need to worry about "stop charging at 80% and dicharging below 30%". The know how how to produce such cells is already out there and used by some large companies in China. This is just Apple screwing us over (by the way, older iPhones lasted way longer than the 14 - it was rumored that Apple switched to cheaper cells, there were also reports about that - but knowing how Apple always finds ways to maximize profit, I doubt that they are just rumors.
2.Some don't want Apple to open their phones to replace the battery. Whenever you hand over your device and someone opens it to replace something, there is always a risk of screwing things up.
1.Replacing a battery still costs 89$ (iPhone15) - not everyone is willing to throw away that money (which is a lot for some people) for a device that already costs a lot, I'd expect after spending so much money that Apple uses high quality cells that can last at least 1000-1500 or even 2000 cycles without the need to worry about "stop charging at 80% and dicharging below 30%". The know how how to produce such cells is already out there and used by some large companies in China. This is just Apple screwing us over (by the way, older iPhones lasted way longer than the 14 - it was rumored that Apple switched to cheaper cells, there were also reports about that - but knowing how Apple always finds ways to maximize profit, I doubt that they are just rumors.
2.Some don't want Apple to open their phones to replace the battery. Whenever you hand over your device and someone opens it to replace something, there is always a risk of screwing things up.
Always... you phone loses the water resistant ability... My friend learnt the hard way, despite having his phone repaired by Apple...
No, their testing changed but the battery remained the same type. Imagine if there was new tech that doubles battery endurance from one year to the next, this would be major news.
In reality all Apple did was realize that their arbitrary 80% health limit can still be accomplished after 1000 cycles which isn't surprising because at 80% the battery is long done for already. No iPhone battery is in great shape after 500 cycles but it will usually still be above the useless 80% threshold.
Does Apple give out how many charge cycles before the battery starts losing its health?