Is it normal for my new iPad Pro to drain 5% charge with normal use?

It is not acceptable to have large amounts of battery drain with no app activity. I personally think that some battery drain while iPad is on standby of around 3 percent overnight is acceptable. Here is an interesting point. If you charge your iPad to 100 percent and leave it charging for say 5 hours past when it says 100 percent yiu will notice that it never uses any battery drain as it sits at 100 percent for ages. Very strange.

I‘m experiencing the same, although not quite on this extreme level; I purchased the new iPad Pro 13“ a couple of weeks ago and wasn‘t impressed by its battery life; it certainly isn‘t as advertised.

Charged the iPad yesterday to 100%, haven‘t used it since, and this morning it‘s down to 83%.

A few days back I spend several hours working on Affinity Designer, which drained the battery completely. At this rate of energy consumption, how could someone ever hope to do any really heavy lifting (3D graphics, audio or video editing, gaming) without constantly being connected to the power grid? -- Kind of beats the purpose of having a mobile device in the first place.

Find this totally unacceptable -- haven't been to the Apple shop yet, but I'm hoping this will soon turn out to be a bad production batch (and lead to a replacement) or a software issue. But it mistifies me how one of the most valuable and prestigious global brands like Apple doesn't consistently treat quality as its top priority. Shame, shame.

Thanks for the thought, iSamuelle, but I just dropped nearly $2000 on this thing. I should not have to dim the incredible screen and turn off all the various other features that sold it to me in the first place (via Low Power Mode) just to get reasonable duration out of a charge. That’s just ridiculous and Apple ought to know it! I get great duration out of my iPhone without the need to turn it into a glorified Nokia from the 1990s and I expect the same from a brand-new “Pro” iPad.

Rubee wrote:

My new 2024 11 inch iPad Pro is seeing issues with the battery draining overnight from 80% to 0% it wouldn’t even turn on in the morning. Any ideas why it can drain when off? I never had an iPad do this in the past. My old v1 iPad Pro still hold a better charge. In fact, it was sitting right next to the 2024 iPad and it still has plenty of charge and hasn’t been plugged in for a few days.

Something isn't right.

Try a forced-restart of your iPad - as this will often clear an isolated software issue:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

Force restart iPad (models with the Home button)

Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.

If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:

Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings

If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Otherwise, you would be best advised to seek assistance directly from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively and perhaps easier, you can initiate and manage your support cases using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed on your iPad, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad - and you can explore your available options:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Be aware that if purchased directly from Apple, you have 14-days within which to unconditionally return your new iPad for exchange or refund. If you have any issues that cannot be easily resolved, you would be best advised to make use of the opportunity while it is available.

I am experiencing similar issues on the 11" M4 as well..., I turned off wifi, so that photos would not refresh in the background and honestly just left it alone for 1 hr, no activity, it drained 5% during that time, but if I start using it, with the apple pro pencil , it drains super quick. I am not suggesting it is the pencil , but something is draining it, and I did a full reset, and still no main wins. Maybe the current OS 17.5 ?

I do not know the issue, whether the current OS has not been optimized to handle the battery management of the new M4 or what, but it definitely is an issue somewhere. If anyone else has a similar iPad M4 11 inch and experiencing similar issues, do tell me, please. Otherwise, I may need to take it back to Apple and see what they say...

Update: as predicted by several on this string, my pro M4 has settled right down and is now giving me great battery life. Happy with purchase.

So my new (factory replaced) 11” did exactly the same thing as my first. That’s 2 for 2 which have become incredibly hot and had massive battery drain with nothing running in the background.

The second one failed about an hour before I was leaving for the airport and I took some photos of how hot it was getting. Below is my M4 iPad alongside my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The I pad discharged from 80% to 0% in a matter of minutes with nothing running.

HOWEVER!!!!!!

I turned it off and threw it in my bag at 0% charge and took my 5 hour flight. I have charged it 16 times now without issue. It seems to be working fine. No heat, no battery drain, nothing. The battery still isn’t fantastic but it for sure is acceptable and working fine.

No software updates, no changes in settings, (I wish there were so we could find the issue) - it just started working again. I even put my battery on full 100% charge (I stay at 80%) to try and get it to fail. The last 5 charges were to 100% without issue.

Can’t explain it, and it may happen again, but for now I’m happy (again).

UPDATE: Spoke with support and they agreed there was a problem after running the diagnostics. They called my local Apple Store and I just returned home with a new replacement.

I had nothing running in the background and all updates had finished. When I tried to charge it this morning it stopped at 27% because it got too hot. That was the dead giveaway for me. The back of the unit was not just warm but hot to the touch.

All in all pretty painless except for the traffic by my Apple Store.

Yes, I have a similar experience, battery is draining to fast.

Does any one have issue on the screen surface being un even, in the sense pencil does not flow smooth. I thought screen protector will change but certain areas remain the same

Sorry, don't guess, i'll tell you: it was at 100%.

Also, don't guess what i was doing: it was streaming media (downloaded to the device) and email connected via in-flight wifi. Some web browsing.

All these activities I'd do constantly on my previous 4th gen iPad pro and it performed far better.

Lots of people have battery problem on the m4 iPad pro but why does all those youtubers making reviews of the iPad don’t talk about it, it looks like their iPad doesn’t have any battery problem at all??? Anyone know why?

My M4 iPad Pro has terrible battery life. With NO apps open it loses 1% every couple of minutes. No location services, no background app refresh, low brightness. I know part of it is when it is attached to the Magic Keyboard. Still, even not attached it is awful.

I also have the same impression. The battery of my 11-inch iPad Pro M4 drops similarly to my old iPad Air 4 (no battery changed). I was expected to hold more.

The problem occur’s when iPad is newly set-up by pulling data from old iPad. I faced battery drain problem for 2-3 days, now battery is performing as normal ie almost a week in standby.