iPad Pro 2019, 13.5.1 battery drain issue

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Level 1

19 points

iPad Pro 2019, 13.5.1 battery drain issue

Large battery drain when iPad is off, I mean POWER OFF, not asleep! Nothing going on in background, all processes are stopped dead and still a huge drain up to 50% in 24hr period. Doesn't matter if I do a hardware or software power-off. When I power-on, one of two things happen though. The Apple logo appears immediately after pressing the power-on button and then I know my battery is drained; or the Apple logo appears after about 6 seconds after pressing the power-on button, then I know the battery has not drained. I don't know WTF is going with this but it's turning into an expensive boat anchor, or maybe it's good for target practice. This problem appears to have started when I updated to 13.5. Before then it was not an issue.

Posted on Jun 17, 2020 3:42 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jcingoleta

Level 1

4 points

Jun 30, 2020 7:57 PM in response to Jcingoleta

Just discovered, regardless of whether Bluetooth is on or not. If I start my iPad when it is plugged into power, it will start to drain battery power after shutting down every time. If I start it without being plugged into power, it does not drain the battery. Hope this works for you!

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Answer 2

QuickPost

Level 10

103,377 points

Jun 17, 2020 6:09 PM in response to billsbs

Hello,

You will need to call Apple for diagnosis.

Contact AppleCare

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Answer 3

billsbs Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 18, 2020 9:06 PM in response to billsbs

Continuing from my post of yesterday, I've discovered that my battery drain issue may be related to Bluetooth, though there is no indication that that process even runs when the iPad is powered-off. I turned Bluetooth off and shut down. Powering on again, I found that there was no battery drain - I base this on my repeatable observations that the Apple logo will appear after about 6 seconds when pressing and holding the on button which indicates to me that the battery did not suffer any drain, as it did not between last night and tonight. I've looked at this a number of times in the last 24 hours and it all points to Bluetooth. I do have an Apple Pencil, but just turning that off did not help me. I wonder if Apple has had any complaints similar to this? I have not found anything about it.

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Answer 4

tutlek

Level 1

17 points

Jun 20, 2020 7:11 AM in response to billsbs

I just discovered an identical issue. Updated my 2019 iPad Pro to 13.5.1 on 6/12 and fully charged battery.

now I just picked up and restarted the iPad and the battery is completely drained. Bluetooth was on.

very strange. Recharging it now and will leave Bluetooth off to see if it holds any charge that way.

never had an issue with any iPad before, so did not get extended warranty. Interestingly, my one year warranty just expired, I think.

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Answer 5

billsbs Author

Level 1

19 points

Jul 1, 2020 9:01 PM in response to Jcingoleta

This is on Apple. It was not an issue in the 13.4 release. I've tried everything. The problem still exists. It's as if, the iPad doesn't actually shut down, but goes into some quirky sleep mode that gobbles up battery power.

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Answer 6

Honmon

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2020 3:02 PM in response to billsbs

Same issue. Definitely a bug introduced in iOS 13.5.1. Before, I'd turn off every night at 100%, and days later, turning it on, would still see 100%.

Now, turning off at 100%, battery is fully drained the next time I turn on, a few days later. The next day, it's at 77%.

My iPad Pro runs out of battery while OFF. Goes from 100% when turned off to 0% after a couple of OFF days when I try to turn it on. Since iOS 13.5.1!

Called Apple Support, they told me to take it in for repairs, as if i need a battery replacement. NO, it's a software issue!

It'd be so much easier if they'd just let us reinstall older iOS like 13.4 via ipsw, but Apple has stopped signing older iOS! Horrible practice, that customers like us, who can self-diagnose an issue, have to go to the trouble of replacing an entire iPad Pro (waiting weeks) just because of a software upgrade!

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Answer 7

Honmon

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2020 3:16 PM in response to QuickPost

"You will need to call Apple for diagnosis."

I can't believe this is the "Apple recommended" answer. It's demeaning, to be quite honest. I've contacted Apple support: they ran me through a bunch of troubleshooting ("What apps were you using?" Uh, it's off.... all apps quit. "Have you dropped or damaged your iPad recently?" No. "How long have you had this iPad?" ........) and then told to bring it in for a battery repair. No appointments available in the next 7 days.

It's demeaning because where possible, informed users like those of us in this thread should be able to self-service. Without sending in our hardware. While I appreciate Apple's generosity in fixing or replacing bad devices under warranty or AppleCare, sometimes it's a hassle (like when your iPad is your work device, or has engravings on the back in a language not available locally), and sometimes it's not necessary (like when it was working just fine before upgrading from iOS 13.4).

Formal "diagonosis" or not, I wager we could solve this much more easily and quickly with the ability to downgrade to a previous version of iOS. But instead, Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.4 (and right after releasing 13.5...), so there's no way to downgrade. Whatever the motivations, this really hurts those of us that upgrade, and it makes me think twice about ever upgrading iOS again.

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Answer 8

billsbs Author

Level 1

19 points

Jul 18, 2020 1:02 PM in response to billsbs

Continuing: I had setup an accessibility shortcut at some point in the past, to turn color filters and reduced white point on and off - I use these at night. Often, I would leave these "on" when I shut off the iPad. Under this condition, my battery would drain 50% overnight. I've checked this now for over a week and find I do get a true shut down, if I remember to turn my red color filter and reduced white point off. What does it mean? Seems to me this is a software bug that Apple may want to look into.

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