Suspicious battery status

[LannyC]

Since updating to 13.6, the battery percentage remaining seems only loosely related to usage. I just made this screenshot:

The iPad was asleep from 1500 to 1700 today, yet the charge reportedly dropped from 50% to 16%. I have rebooted multiple times, and charged 4 or 5 times from <20% to 100% overnight without interruption.

Anyone else seeing this, or have a clue? iPad Pro 9.7, iPadOS 13.7

 

[twerppoet]

While it does not show a lot of activity, at least one app appears to have been running over this period. What app was it?

Tapping on the bars under the charging graph will change the list of apps so only those active at that time are shows. You can tap on the apps to switch between battery percentage used, and time they were running. This may offer some clues.

 

[LannyC]

This is from tonight. You can see that between 8 and 9 p.m. I spent 2 minutes in a solitaire app, 1 minute on the home screen, then put it to sleep. In 3 minutes, the battery allegedly dropped from 50% to 24%. I don't find that remotely credible.

 

[scifan57]

I had an iPhone 5S that did that as well. After checking the battery health it was about 23%.
It’s possible that you have a failing battery. How old is your iPad Pro?

 

[LannyC]

How old is your iPad Pro?

4 years? The model number is MLPW2LL/A, an original Pro. But note how much activity there was between 0900 and 1600 with no battery drop. The battery monitor is just wacked since two updates ago.

 

[scifan57]

How long will the battery last if you use it until it goes onto low power shutdown?

 

[LannyC]

I haven't run it down that far, but I'm guessing around 8 hours.

 

[scifan57]

Try it and then charge it to 100% without using it. When fully charged see if the battery charge indicator is now working properly.

 

[LannyC]

I've done an uninterrupted recharge from 12-15% several times, no help. Once it did drain to shutdown, while asleep; it still had over 20% when I put it to sleep, then a couple hours later it showed the plug-me-in icon when I tried to wake it.

 

[scifan57]

Whatever the cause of your problem it’s worth getting Apple to run a full diagnostic on your iPad to see exactly what’s causing your problems.

 

[LannyC]

Nah, it's just an annoyance, not worth risking a trip to the mall during a pandemic. iPads are fun, but ultimately just first-world toys.

 

[freebirdforever]

Could always take it to a repair shop (Experimax, UBREAKIFIX, etc). We do batteries at my repair shop for $99 for the iPad Pro 9.7. Could be worth a shot. Definitely cheaper than replacing the unit.

 

[LannyC]

I'm still getting 8 hours of use on a charge, so I don't think the battery is ready for replacement yet. Look at the Battery screenshots: they just don't make sense.

 

[twerppoet]

It’s probably some background system service then. Those don’t show on the Battery settings screen.

I believe you started this thread before the current update, so I can’t blame it on the usual surge of background activity right after the update, but there are background task that can use up battery; auto app updates, iCloud backups, search indexing, etc. Normally the device waits until it’s on a charger to do the heavy lifting, but there are probably exceptions.