Odd battery usage

[Wando64]

On my 9.7"pro I have recently noticed the battery started to drain quite fast.
While investigating the possible cause, I have noticed that the Battery Usage metric from the Settings is displaying odd information.
For example, I have fully recharged the iPad yesterday at 18:00 (which resets the metrics) and by this morning at 9am I could see the following:
- Usage 9hrs, 12min (in spite of me having barely used the iPad, maybe 1 to 2 hours max)
- Standby 14hrs, 57min
At the same time, if i look at the aggregate of applications activity over the last 24 hours, they add up to little more than 2 hours.

I have recently started to use TunnelBear VPN (always on), and whilst this could be contributing to the poor battery performance, it should use resources only when another app is trying to access the internet.
I have switched off background refresh for almost all apps.
My iPhone is set-up almost identically as my iPad (including the VPN), yet I don't see the same odd behaviour on it.

I am aware that restoring as a new iPad might solve the issue, but I would immagine the problem would reappear as soon as I repeat what is causing the problem now.

Is there a way to find out what is causing the high usage figures when the iPad is apparently asleep?

Thanks,
S

 

[Math889]

If restore doesn't work , do a full cycle charge again

 

[ericwn]

A restore in troubleshooting makes sense when afterwards you start without applying a backup, start with a fresh empty device. If the issue is still there, it's likely hardware related, if gone it was software or user data related. In that case start fresh without writing the backup back to the device, would be my approach to solving this.

 

[Wando64]

I've done a little more research on this and found that there are many reports on the Pro 9.7" of "Usage" number increasing while on standby (without any relevant App usage information being recorded).
If this is a widespread issue (and I am not saying that it is) going through the pain of a fresh restore as a new iPad seems pointless.
Has anyone else with a 9.7" pro seen their usage going up overnight whilst the iPad should be in standby?

 

[JustinRP37]

I've done a little more research on this and found that there are many reports on the Pro 9.7" of "Usage" number increasing while on standby (without any relevant App usage information being recorded).
If this is a widespread issue (and I am not saying that it is) going through the pain of a fresh restore as a new iPad seems pointless.
Has anyone else with a 9.7" pro seen their usage going up overnight whilst the iPad should be in standby?

Have you tried doing a cold restart (holding the power and home button at the same time)? It could be an app that just didn't close properly. I had a similar issue with One Drive when I first installed it, but everything is fine now. If not then try not using the VPN for a bit and see if the problem goes away. Shockingly I have not heard of any widespread issues with any iPad lately (given the track record with the 2016 releases).

 

[Wando64]

Have you tried doing a cold restart (holding the power and home button at the same time)? It could be an app that just didn't close properly. I had a similar issue with One Drive when I first installed it, but everything is fine now. If not then try not using the VPN for a bit and see if the problem goes away. Shockingly I have not heard of any widespread issues with any iPad lately (given the track record with the 2016 releases).

I have tried a cold restart a few times.
Removing the VPN seems to have made a bit of a difference, however I still cannot explain why the the sum of 24hours apps usage is less than the overall usage since the last full charge, when charging happened much less that 24 hours previously. It should be the other way around.

Either the data displayed is wrong and it is just a bug, or the overall usage takes into account stuff that is not related to Apps, and therefore it is not reported in the 24hours usage stats.

As I believe this to be the cause of the battery drain, it would be useful to find a way of knowing what has caused the usage to go up.

 

[JustinRP37]

I have tried a cold restart a few times.
Removing the VPN seems to have made a bit of a difference, however I still cannot explain why the the sum of 24hours apps usage is less than the overall usage since the last full charge, when charging happened much less that 24 hours previously. It should be the other way around.

Either the data displayed is wrong and it is just a bug, or the overall usage takes into account stuff that is not related to Apps, and therefore it is not reported in the 24hours usage stats.

As I believe this to be the cause of the battery drain, it would be useful to find a way of knowing what has caused the usage to go up.

The overall usage stats do not take into account things like cellular connections, bluetooth, etc from what I have noticed. I have a cellular model and in a low coverage zone just an idle cellular connection can chew up some battery. Otherwise I don't know what could be the issue.

 

[Wando64]

The overall usage stats do not take into account things like cellular connections, bluetooth, etc from what I have noticed. I have a cellular model and in a low coverage zone just an idle cellular connection can chew up some battery. Otherwise I don't know what could be the issue.

My model is wifi only, however I have been observing battery usage after uninstalling the VPN and switching off Bluetooth and so far it looks promising.
Either one of these two has made a difference.
I will continue testing and report back my findings for the benefit of others with the same issue.

By the way, this article reports the same symptoms I have been experiencing:
http://iphone-tricks.com/news/4659-9-7-inch-ipad-pro-suffering-from-battery-drain-issues

 

[JustinRP37]

My model is wifi only, however I have been observing battery usage after uninstalling the VPN and switching off Bluetooth and so far it looks promising.
Either one of these two has made a difference.
I will continue testing and report back my findings for the benefit of others with the same issue.

By the way, this article reports the same symptoms I have been experiencing:
http://iphone-tricks.com/news/4659-9-7-inch-ipad-pro-suffering-from-battery-drain-issues

Yeah it is definitely strange. The article does mention they believe it was from the cellular connection, so WiFi models shouldn't have this issue. But it is bizarre. Last night my iPad died while I was watching a hockey game, but I realized I did not plug it in for two days and I was using it heavily. Keep us in the loop. My bet is it is something with the networking. Something is drawing power. Might want to get an app that can monitor network connections.

 

[MarkB786]

On my 9.7"pro I have recently noticed the battery started to drain quite fast.
S

I noticed the exact same thing over the last three days. While I usually have easily 65% batter left bfore bedtime, it is not getting into the teens. Battery usage tracker says Mail is the culprit, but it still drops like a rock when I kill Mail. No change in usage on my part. There must be an iPad upgrade coming FORM APPLE soon... Kidding aside, I look forward to someone finding a cause/solution.
[doublepost=1483643092][/doublepost]

I've done a little more research on this and found that there are many reports on the Pro 9.7" of "Usage" number increasing while on standby (without any relevant App usage information being recorded).
If this is a widespread issue (and I am not saying that it is) going through the pain of a fresh restore as a new iPad seems pointless.
Has anyone else with a 9.7" pro seen their usage going up overnight whilst the iPad should be in standby?

Yes, my iPad continues to drop relatively quickly and Usage numbers change even when it is sitting idle on my desk.

 

[Wando64]

There is a marked improvement after switching off Bluetooth and removing the VPN.
After 10 hours of standby overnight, the usage has increased by 10min (1min per hour) and Battery level has decreased by 1%.
I consider this to be within normal parameters.

I will wait a couple of days to ensure this wasn't a fluke and then I will try to experiment with either the VPN or the Bluetooth alone so that I can isolate the source.

 

[MarkB786]

There is a marked improvement after switching off Bluetooth and removing the VPN.
After 10 hours of standby overnight, the usage has increased by 10min (1min per hour) and Battery level has decreased by 1%.
I consider this to be within normal parameters.

I will wait a couple of days to ensure this wasn't a fluke and then I will try to experiment with either the VPN or the Bluetooth alone so that I can isolate the source.

I might try to Restore my iPad Pro. I closed all apps last night and left the iPad unplugged. My battery was to 84% by the morning. Maybe my battery is going bad...

 

[Wando64]

I might try to Restore my iPad Pro. I closed all apps last night and left the iPad unplugged. My battery was to 84% by the morning. Maybe my battery is going bad...

Do you see an increase in Usage time while in Standby (overnight) or the battery goes down without the Usage increasing at all?
If the Usage figure increases while on standby (as it was happening to me), then your battery is probably fine but something is keeping your iPad active.
Have you tried to switch off Bluetooth?
Also you might want switch off Background Apps Refresh for all Apps that you don't actually NEED to refresh in the background (they are probably very few).