How much time your iPAD needs to fully charge?

[Perenista]

I decided to do the following test:

- First and foremost, run the device’s battery down to zero. And by that, we mean the device runs completely out of juice and powers down on its own.

- Next, charge the device’s battery all the way up to the 100% mark.

I tried this with the Pro 9.7 256 GB wifi+cel, used less than a week, and bought a month ago.

Once the device was turned off and I connected this iPAD to the original charger, the clock started. All the time I let it closed (not using), with the Smart Cover, and in airplane mode.

It took exactly 3 hours and 42-43 minutes to reach from 0 to 100%.

This iPAD has only 3 full cycle charges. It's the MLQ62CL/A model.

I'll conduct this test again, this time with the 4, that was used practically everyday since I bought in 2013, and post the results here, later.

 

[Perenista]

OK, final test with another iPAD.

Model: MD512BZ/A
iPAD 4th generation, 64 GB, wi-fi only.

Bought between December 14, 2012 and January 26, 2013 (confirmed). Used everyday since then, most of the time.

Battery app says it has 805 full cycle-charges.

It took 4 hours and 40 minutes approximately, to charge this battery, from 0 to 100%. So, overall, I need to wait another hour compared to a brand-new IPP 9.7 that hasn't been used.

More details about the battery health from both equipments when fully charged (the IPP 9.7 still displaying 100%, but used for a couple of minutes, that's why you see 98% in the first battery info):

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

P.S.: the green screenshots are from the IPP 9.7, the other from the iPAD 4. This app says 0% (perfect) for the IPP, and 30% for the iPAD 4, in terms of degradation.

P.P.S. The screen brightness was also lowered in both iPADS prior to this test.

 

[jwt873]

Interesting...

I've never timed my Pro 9.7. I just put it on the charger when I go to bed and it's charged to 100% when I get up in the morning Plus, I never get much under 30% in a normal day. I should try a full discharge/recharge to see...

 

[Perenista]

It was reported that the Air 2 takes about 20 minutes less time than the IPP 9.7 to fully charge.

 

[KevinJS]

I remember when the retina display iPads were first introduced, and members were complaining that the battery would run down faster than the charger could keep up. I used to use my iPad 2 for GPS intensive work for up to 15 hours at a time and found that I needed to keep it on charge while I was working.

Just an aside for information.

 

[Perenista]

A few tips concerning the battery health. The discussion is about the need to fully discharge the battery. It is said that in fact this is detrimental to the capacity:

How to Extend the Battery Life of Your iPad or Phone

Do we really need to fully discharge once a month! - iPhone, iPad, iPod Forums at iMore.com

I was monitoring here the iPad Pro 9.7 I have, one model with 128 GB wifi only, and the other 256 wifi+ cel. After about 22 cycles, the 256 model has lost 1% of its capacity, and after 12 cycles, the 128 one lost 2%.

What is odd is this: it was 0% until the 10th cycle for the 128, then I let the battery drain to 5% and tried to charge before going to bed. After I wake up the other day, it was down to 2%. There was nothing wrong with the iPad, it was simply the old surge protector that wasn't feeding energy properly, then once I connected the iPad charger to the wall socket directly, it resumed charging.

However, only after this event is that the app says the battery lost 2% of its capacity. Since I wasn't using before to almost 0%, I can only assume this (or the fact I let on the surge protector without actually charging) was detrimental to the battery health. I only let it drain to 0% once, and both iPads, once I received them.

 

[twerppoet]

Apple's recomendation to fully discharge, then charge to 100%, is to calibrate the battery level reading. Battery capacity decreases over time, no matter what you do. It's the nature of all batteries. In order for the iPad to accurately represent your battery percentage it needs to occationally go through a full cycle.

Even then, battery percentage is only a rough mesure. It is likely that plus or minus a couple precentage points is within the error range of even a recently calibrated level reading.



While fully discharging the battery every day is probably bad for the overall battery life, doing it once every month or two will have little to no effect.

Most of the advice you find online about battery health is incremental. Normal battery usage will result in about 20% loss of capacity over two years. Doing everthing exactly the best way might reduce that to 15 or 10%. Nothing you do is going to preserve 100% of your battery capacity over years of useage.

In my experince, the short two to three years of device usage isn't worth the effort and worry it takes to save a measly 10 or 15% of battery capacity by the devices end of life. I have better things to worry about. And if the battery is worse than that, well, that's one of the reasons I get AppleCare. If a battery is going to go seriously bad, it's probably going to do it in the first two years. And if it does it latter?, well, I'm probalby looking for an excuse to replace the iPad anyway.

On the other hand, the iPad 3 I gave my Mom has a pretty weak battery after abouit 4 years of use. Normally I'd have replaced it, but she doesn't use it much, and never out of the house; so the charger is always nearby.