iPad Pro Will “thinner” make for shorter battery life.

[Jackbequickly]

I know Apple is obsessed with thin but am still a little concerned my new iPad Pro may be sacrificing battery size. I know the OLED uses less power, will it make up for the smaller battery? I depend on my iPad for field use.

What do you think? Was thinner really needed?

 

[Traverse]

I feel like the thinness comes from OLED displays vs LED. I think they list the battery size on the tech spec page so you could compare it to older models. At peak power I’m sure the M4 will use more power, but they made it sound like it’s more efficient for casual use

 

[FeliApple]

iPad battery life has always, from the first iPad to the current ones, been entirely dependent on brightness and usage. People complained about the iPad Air 4 and 5's heavy usage battery life. High brightness tests were poor. But I'm an efficient user, and I managed to get - extrapolated - 25 hours of screen-on time. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro on its original iOS version, iOS 9, or one of the largest battery iPads ever, the iPad 4th-gen on iOS 6, weren't able to get anywhere near 25 hours (14 and 16, respectively). Yet people said both the 4th and 5th-gen Air were poor.

The new ones will see no difference, imo. Heavy usage? Poor battery life, even on original iOS versions. If your current iPad is okay, I reckon you won't see much difference.

I've also tested a 6th-gen iPad on iOS 12... same battery life, 14 hours. I can't get more than that.

 

[Digitalguy]

I know Apple is obsessed with thin but am still a little concerned my new iPad Pro may be sacrificing battery size. I know the OLED uses less power, will it make up for the smaller battery? I depend on my iPad for field use.

What do you think? Was thinner really needed?

battery size is smaller 39wh vs 40.9wh, but M4 should offset that

 

[FeliApple]

battery size is smaller 39wh vs 40.9wh, but M4 should offset that

Yeah, it's like the iPhone 6 vs 6s situation. No difference, probably.

 

[fatTribble]

I know Apple is obsessed with thin but am still a little concerned my new iPad Pro may be sacrificing battery size. I know the OLED uses less power, will it make up for the smaller battery? I depend on my iPad for field use.

What do you think? Was thinner really needed?

I’d just go by what the specs say. Trying to gauge more or less battery life based on the screen and processor would just be wild guesses.

 

[FeliApple]

I reckon that until battery technology changes, we have this:

-Light to moderate usage, coupled with original, efficient iOS versions: good battery life.

-Moderate use, original iOS version: decent battery life

-Heavy usage, original iOS version: mediocre to poor battery life.

-Moderate or heavy usage, updated enough: atrocious battery life.


If M processors haven’t precluded this from happening, I wonder whether it’s possible at all, until battery technology changes. So, use it lightly or moderately, battery life will be good. Crank the brightness up, and it won’t be. Just like every iPad since the 1st-gen. No processor improvement has been able to give good battery life with heavy use.

Like I said earlier, I noticed a massive difference on my M1 iPad Air (5th-gen) with very light use. Battery life on M1 Macs is widely considered impressive, and the iPad does not fall short. But you need to be a light user.

I haven’t tried a 12.9-inch M-processor iPad on its original iOS version, it would be interesting. Neither have I tried an older one, like a 1st-gen iPad Pro on iOS 9. If it’s anything like my 9.7-inch iPad Pro or a 6th-gen iPad, expect 14 hours with light use. For an M-processor one, expect 25. But I don’t know whether the screen overpowers the battery even with light use.

 

[DeepSix]

If they make it thin enough they should make a curved version or at least make the ipads bendable for a sweet feature.

 

[Isengardtom]

battery size is smaller 39wh vs 40.9wh, but M4 should offset that

The heat dissipation they talk about should help too. It’s usually in the high brightness environmets my Pro suffers
Anything above 50% is killing the battery quickly

 

[klasma]

Apple is taking advantage of the thinner OLED panel technology, which may also be more power-efficient, and of the more efficient M4. They are targeting the nominal 10 hours of battery life, and if they can do so while making the device thinner, they will.

 

[MayaUser]

no, but it can come with bending

 

[MayaUser]

i had the first gen 12.9" ipad pro...this one, after handling for 2 minutes...my goodness, now this can be an portable 13" tablet...the first gen was a bit too heavy and big..this one, really is nice, lighter, maybe too much thinner, the display is gorgeous is like the display in bright light is on top of the chassis

 

[Jackbequickly]

I have been very happy with my M2 12.9 iPad Pro battery. Hoping it be at least that good.