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All iPads Why do the new iPads use different battery?

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Bubble99

macrumors 65816
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Mar 15, 2015
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Why does the new iPad Pro and iPad Air use different battery? There is talk going around that the new batteries should be charge to 80% so it does not over charge it.

There is talk going around if it over charges it by going over 80% that the battery will get destroyed. And last only 2 or 3 years.

Why did Apple put in this new battery? The other iPads did not have this problem.
 
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Almost all batteries have this problem. Ie being fully charged is slightly worse for battery longevity than keeping max charge below some limit.

I highly doubt this indicates the new batteries are worse in some way

idk why apple cant turn on this software feature on older iPads to help extend their battery longevity also, but they haven’t.
 
Lithium polymer cells chemically degrade with use and over time. So charging to 80% keeps an optimal balance inside the cells.
 
Bubble99 said:
Why does the new iPad Pro and iPad Air use different battery? There is talk going around that the new batteries should be charge to 80% so it does not over charge it.

There is talk going around if it over charges it by going over 80% that the battery will get destroyed. And last only 2 or 3 years.

Why did Apple put in this new battery? The other iPads did not have this problem.
Click to expand...

Point me to this talk you are referring to please. Nothing so far seems out of the ordinary with regards to the new batteries.
 
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iPad Pro and iPad Air have always used different batteries. They are two entirely different designs with different style logic boards.
 
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The 80% limit option has been available on Macbooks for years.

It’s there because some people use them plugged-in all the time. The 80% limit is especially useful in that case.

I guess Apple just put it on the new iPads because the camera is now in landscape mode, and they assume more and more people are prone to use it with the magic keyboard, plugged-in all the time as well.
 
Plx32 said:
The 80% limit option has been available on Macbooks for years.

It’s there because some people use them plugged-in all the time. The 80% limit is especially useful in that case.

I guess Apple just put it on the new iPads because the camera is now in landscape mode, and they assume more and more people are prone to use it with the magic keyboard, plugged-in all the time as well.
Click to expand...

I thought iPadOS can detect if the battery is 100% and shut it off so it does not over charge it?
 
Plx32 said:
The 80% limit option has been available on Macbooks for years.

It’s there because some people use them plugged-in all the time. The 80% limit is especially useful in that case.

I guess Apple just put it on the new iPads because the camera is now in landscape mode, and they assume more and more people are prone to use it with the magic keyboard, plugged-in all the time as well.
Click to expand...

There is still no 80% limit on MacBooks. There is only Optimized Battery Charging. That's the same as iPhone 14 and earlier.

iPadOS has had Charge Management since 11.3. Apple realized people use it plugged in a long time ago and added it in 2018.

About iPad and iPhone charge-management feature - Apple Support

iPadOS and iOS include a charge-management feature to maintain battery health when iPad or iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, or later is connected to power for prolonged periods of time.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
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nappes said:
Almost all batteries have this problem. Ie being fully charged is slightly worse for battery longevity than keeping max charge below some limit.

I highly doubt this indicates the new batteries are worse in some way

idk why apple cant turn on this software feature on older iPads to help extend their battery longevity also, but they haven’t.
Click to expand...
If Apple 'backported' a new feature, such as the 80% charge limit, it might have an impact on sales of new devices. This feature, for example, certainly was a consideration when I decided to upgrade. I am sure that it can be 'backported', but Apple have deliberately chosen not to.
 
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JPack said:
There is still no 80% limit on MacBooks. There is only Optimized Battery Charging. That's the same as iPhone 14 and earlier.

iPadOS has had Charge Management since 11.3. Apple realized people use it plugged in a long time ago and added it in 2018.

About iPad and iPhone charge-management feature - Apple Support

iPadOS and iOS include a charge-management feature to maintain battery health when iPad or iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, or later is connected to power for prolonged periods of time.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
Excuse me if I’m wrong but for me the Optimized Battery Charging option on iPhone and iPads is an option that learns from your habits, stop charging at 80% then resume on time so that it’s at 100% when you need it. Did it really have the ability to always keep your iPad under 80% battery ?

On Macbooks it does have that behavior (always staying under 80%), of course it’s a device more prone to really be used plugged-in all the time.
 
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I don't believe the OP is talking about Optimised Charging. There is a new feature in some 2024 iPads and the iPhone 15 range that you can actually set a charge limit of 80%. This is in additional to the Optimised Charging option.
 
JPack said:
The problem is not overcharging, but rather a high state of charge. Li-ion doesn't like staying at 100% for extended periods of time.
Click to expand...

Also, iPads are not like laptops in one important way. The internals are powered in one way only, by the battery.
With all Windows laptops I'm familiar with, you can pull the battery, plug the device into the wall, and still use it due to having an extra power rail that bypasses the battery.

With iPhone and iPad, the only option is to power the device by the battery, so you're constantly cycling the battery if you use it plugged in or leave it plugged in all the time as I do.

If you're a person that always or primarily uses the iPad plugged in, then the option to limit the charge to 80% could keep the battery healthier longer.
 
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Wizec said:
Also, iPads are not like laptops in one important way. The internals are powered in one way only, by the battery.
Click to expand...
How do you know this to be true? Isn’t it very possible that if it’s plugged in and the battery is at max capacity or 80% (if that’s what you’ve set) that the device stops pulling from the battery and just pulls from the charger directly
 
nappes said:
How do you know this to be true? Isn’t it very possible that if it’s plugged in and the battery is at max capacity or 80% (if that’s what you’ve set) that the device stops pulling from the battery and just pulls from the charger directly
Click to expand...

He said Lithium-ion batteries don’t like charging to 100% even 90%.

It best to charge it to 80%

Not sure why the chemical reaction is different in that case?
 
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Bubble99 said:
He said Lithium-ion batteries don’t like charging to 100% even 90%.

It best to charge it to 80%

Not sure why the chemical reaction is different in that case?
Click to expand...
I was referring to wizec‘s last post where they claimed that, when plugged in, an ipad still pulls power from the battery instead of directly from wall And thus the battery always gets wear even when plugged in. I’m asking how wizec knows this.
 
nappes said:
I was referring to wizec‘s last post where they claimed that, when plugged in, an ipad still pulls power from the battery instead of directly from wall And thus the battery always gets wear even when plugged in. I’m asking how wizec knows this.
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It’s just the circuit design. I believe that the iPad and iPhone as well are only powered by their batteries, at least without modding. For a long time laptops have generally been able to run without a battery. I bet it costs a few extra cents though for the additional circuitry and components to enable running from either the battery while unplugged, or from the wall source once the battery is at a certain level, or arbitrarily say to only run from the wall and just top off the battery, which I believe a lot of laptops can do, depending on circuitry and battery management system design.

With the right knowledge and a soldering iron it looks like you can power it from the charger though:

 
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I also read today that allowing the iPad or iPhone to drop below 20% before putting it on the charger is bad for battery health. And allowing the iPad or iPhone to drop to 1% or 0% will really destroy the battery health.
 
I just follow the 30% to 80% rule. I still get 1 1/2 days on my iPhone 15 PM and 2 days on my AWU2 using that method. But I'm wandering OT now so I'll shut up!
 
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