It has not been easy for the Lil Pro for the last few months. First, the issue of Error 56 which was eventually resolved by the iOS update and now some users are noticing that the Battery drainage might be higher, even while the iPad Pro is in a standby mode. Several users have noted battery drain around 10% overnight. Typically on a regular iPad like the mini, the stand battery drain is about 1-3%. The battery is not an issue when the iPad Pro is in use. What Gives?
The usual response, when faced with this kind of issue, is to try a restore. Some users have seen no relief having restored from the iCloud. This would suggest that your only option is to restore the device using your iTunes. Apple built the iPad Pro battery solidly. So you can rule out that your battery is having issues. Our suggestion is to only use the restore using iTunes as the last option. Here are few tips that you may want to consider before you go down the restore-tunes route.
Sometimes the iPad Pro can consume excessive battery if there is a process in the stuck mode. Try doing a soft reset on the iPad Pro. Connect your iPad using the charging cable; press and hold the power button and home button together for 10 seconds or so till you see the Apple logo. Let the device charge unto 100% and then start using it and see if it made a difference to your situation.
The old wives tale around Background refresh works also for the lil pro. If you are used to getting your notifications on iPhone or Apple Watch etc, you may consider switching off the background refresh for apps like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Switch off the Data Roaming Setting – Even in older iPads, we have seen that the wi-fi/cellular settings can cause battery drain. Switching off the Data Roaming may help in addressing this issue. If you have the Wi-Fi/Cellular iPad, You can tap on Settings > Cellular Data > Toggle off. Do the same for the other cellular options i.e Cellular Data > Cellular Data Options > Enable LTE to off and Data Roaming to off. Once you have set the settings to off; next you can toggle them back to ON. This simple toggling of Cellular related options can often fix battery issues on an iPad Pro that has both Wi-Fi and Cellular.
When the iPad Pro is in sleep mode, turn off the Bluetooth. While in the Bluetooth settings, you can also unpair the Apple pencil by using “Forget this device”. This seems to have resolved battery drain issue for some users.
Check your setting for Auto Brightness. Turning off Auto Brightness can be battery hog as well. You will get more juice out of your battery on your iPad pro by turning on the Auto Brightness setting to ON. In order to do this tap on Settings > Display and Brightness and Turn on Auto-Brightness.
The Suspected Third party App. Sometimes a third party app can cause major battery drain issues. Some users have noted this in apps such as Tweetbot in some cases. In order to see if you might have an app that is causing this problem, Tap on Settings >Battery. Give it a minute for the battery usage by an app to populate. if you see any particular app that is at the top of the list and has battery usage that is way above the others, you may want to consider deleting this App entirely and re-install it back on your iPad Pro 9.7.
If you are not a big fan of Spotlight Search recommendations or use it minimally, you can turn off the settings where Spotlight searches in Apps.
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Summary
Currently, turning off the BlueTooth setting seems to be working for most folks that are on the iOS 9.3.2 on their iPad Pro. The option that works best for folks with iPad Pro that has wi-fi and cellular is the third option, which is to toggle off and toggle on the various cellular data options including turning off data roaming.
We hope that these tips worked for you and your iPad Pro 9.7 . We hope that these Cellular and Bluetooth related problems that cause poor battery performance resolve with the next iOS update.
Please use the comments below to share any tips that helped you deal with poor battery performance on your iPads.
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
I recently bought an iPad for my wife, and in looking for a cover, I discovered the covers with auto sleep function. After a little research I got one for myself. After using it a few days, the increase in battery drain was noticeable.
I don’t know what it was before but under settings/battery, the Home and Lock Screen was at 5%. The screen on time showed 4 hr13 min, while the off tine was 11 minutes. This was about 1.5 hours after waking up this morning.
I will be using the power off button from now on when I am not going to be using it.
My iPad Pro is not being charged for last few days. This was bought around 7 years ago. Charger is being connected but iPad is not being charged. Please help. Now I am in Bangladesh.
slightly different problem. fully charged at night, go to standby mode with my iPad cover. the iPad sleeps.
but in the am, almost completely drained. have tried several experiments to solve, turning off functions, etc.
only thing that works is shutting down.
could the iPad cover be “shorting out” or drawing power somehow? now i will try to go to standby mode without the cover and see if any difference.
I actually had a similar problem where my iPhone X was charging all night, but each morning I discovered that it was drained of almost all power–even while charging.
My problem was I charged the phone via my computer rather than the Apple iPhone charger. Once I made the switch back to using the original charger, problem solved.
So if you are using a computer USB port to charge, try the original charger instead. Also, if it’s at all possible use the charger that came with the iPad. If that’s not possible, make sure the charger and the cable are listed as Made-For-iPad (MIF)
Switching cables often helps too!
Another thought is to use Do Not Disturb or turn on AirPlane Mode during the night to reduce the calls your iPad makes to the system to check for email, messages, and so forth.
If none of these options help and you also tried removing the cover and that didn’t appear to be the problem, reinstalling your iOS on the iPad using iTunes helps in a lot of cases where batteries show unusual draining and performance.
First, make sure you backup via iTunes. And update to the newest version of iTunes software available for your computer.
1. Plug the lightning connector into your iPad and the other end into a USB port on your laptop or desktop
2. Open itunes
3. If an Update is available, do that. If not, Restore iPhone and then connect to that latest backup
My iPad Pro has to be charged after 10 days standby. However my 4th gen standby time 741h and 11.34 h of usage and still has 57%battery as we speak. Seams new iPad has some technique for surveillance or something.
I am getting about 3 hours of actual use on my 9.7 when I start with it fully charged. I confess I have a Logitech keyboard, which draws power from the ipad, but even if I have the keyboard detached, the battery life is abysmal compared to the first generation ipad air. I’ve pretty much given up on the pro and gone back to the air.
Russ Patterson says
I recently bought an iPad for my wife, and in looking for a cover, I discovered the covers with auto sleep function. After a little research I got one for myself. After using it a few days, the increase in battery drain was noticeable.
I don’t know what it was before but under settings/battery, the Home and Lock Screen was at 5%. The screen on time showed 4 hr13 min, while the off tine was 11 minutes. This was about 1.5 hours after waking up this morning.
I will be using the power off button from now on when I am not going to be using it.
Lisa Brooks says
The battery percentage says %100 it’s stuck?
SK says
Hi Lisa,
Restart your device by powering off, waiting a minute, and powering back on.
It should no longer be stuck.
Md. Akhtaruzzaman says
My iPad Pro is not being charged for last few days. This was bought around 7 years ago. Charger is being connected but iPad is not being charged. Please help. Now I am in Bangladesh.
Soya says
Hey! I think its probably time to get a new iPad.
I used my iPad 2 for 4 years before it completely conked off.
I tried charging it, but it never worked, it became slow and would hang as well.
You’ve been using that iPad for 7 years so maybe its time for a change.
ralph says
slightly different problem. fully charged at night, go to standby mode with my iPad cover. the iPad sleeps.
but in the am, almost completely drained. have tried several experiments to solve, turning off functions, etc.
only thing that works is shutting down.
could the iPad cover be “shorting out” or drawing power somehow? now i will try to go to standby mode without the cover and see if any difference.
any comments are helpful, thank you.
SK says
Hi Ralph,
I actually had a similar problem where my iPhone X was charging all night, but each morning I discovered that it was drained of almost all power–even while charging.
My problem was I charged the phone via my computer rather than the Apple iPhone charger. Once I made the switch back to using the original charger, problem solved.
So if you are using a computer USB port to charge, try the original charger instead. Also, if it’s at all possible use the charger that came with the iPad. If that’s not possible, make sure the charger and the cable are listed as Made-For-iPad (MIF)
Switching cables often helps too!
Another thought is to use Do Not Disturb or turn on AirPlane Mode during the night to reduce the calls your iPad makes to the system to check for email, messages, and so forth.
If none of these options help and you also tried removing the cover and that didn’t appear to be the problem, reinstalling your iOS on the iPad using iTunes helps in a lot of cases where batteries show unusual draining and performance.
First, make sure you backup via iTunes. And update to the newest version of iTunes software available for your computer.
1. Plug the lightning connector into your iPad and the other end into a USB port on your laptop or desktop
2. Open itunes
3. If an Update is available, do that. If not, Restore iPhone and then connect to that latest backup
Hope something helps,
Sam
Abc says
My iPad Pro has to be charged after 10 days standby. However my 4th gen standby time 741h and 11.34 h of usage and still has 57%battery as we speak. Seams new iPad has some technique for surveillance or something.
Curtis James says
I am getting about 3 hours of actual use on my 9.7 when I start with it fully charged. I confess I have a Logitech keyboard, which draws power from the ipad, but even if I have the keyboard detached, the battery life is abysmal compared to the first generation ipad air. I’ve pretty much given up on the pro and gone back to the air.