How to stop my brand new iPad Air M2 from over heating?

It is not unusual for an iPad to become warm when being used - more so when using some types of iPad case. High screen brightness and/or CPU intensive Apps will also create more heat.

The key point is that whilst your iPad may become very warm in normal use, the iPad should not become uncomfortably hot to handle. If your iPad is becoming too hot to hold, initially try a forced-restart - as this can 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.

If the problem persists, try to correlate unexpected heating with specific Apps or tasks - as some poorly optimised Apps are known to lead to consistently higher chassis temperatures.

If you have any concerns, you should take your iPad along to the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store - where the technicians can examine and test your iPad for faults:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Be aware that if purchased directly from Apple, in most countries/regions you have 14-days within which to unconditionally return the iPad for exchange or refund. If applicable, you might be best advised to act quickly - as upon expiry of the 14-day window of opportunity, remedy for faults will be handled as a warranty issue.

Just spoke with an Apple Senior Advisor; the issue has already been submitted to Apple Support - "iPad Overheats when using Apple Notes with Apple Pencil" in the issue tracker. Diagnostic profile has already been submitted by another user and it is under review.

Apple Senior Advisor made a very interesting suggestion:

Suggested that users who are experiencing this issue should perform a factory reset of their device using recovery mode (not the standard "Erase All Content and Settings") and then setting the iPad up as a new device (electing not to "Restore from iCloud Backup" or "Transfer from Another Device").

According to this advisor, the fact that two separate devices I have used both had the same issue, there is a high likeliness that the problem exists within a given user's iCloud Backup for their iPad. If this is true, it would mean that each time a user sets up a brand new iPad as "new device," opting not to "Restore from iCloud Backup" or "Transfer from Another Device," the issue is avoided. But, when a user sets up a brand new iPad and chooses to "Restore from iCloud Backup" or "Transfer from Another Device," the problem is then installed through this transfer. Thus, performing a Recovery Mode reset and then setting up the iPad as a new device would, in theory, eliminate this issue.

I will be testing this solution and reporting back.

radmilak222 wrote:

Bought just week ago brand new iPad Air M2, and have the same issue, I am unable to work with this device, it's heatup during usage, and during the charging. And yes battery runs dry very fast. Amazing work apple. What should I do now?

It is not unusual for an iPad to become warm when being used - more so when using some types of iPad case. High screen brightness and/or CPU intensive Apps will also create more heat.

The key point is that whilst your iPad may become very warm in normal use, the iPad should not become uncomfortably hot to handle. If your iPad is becoming too hot to hold, initially try a forced-restart - as this can 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.

If the problem persists, try to correlate unexpected heating with specific Apps or tasks - as some poorly optimised Apps are known to lead to consistently higher chassis temperatures.

If you have any concerns, you should take your iPad along to the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store - where the technicians can examine and test your iPad for faults:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Be aware that if purchased directly from Apple, in most countries/regions you have 14-days within which to unconditionally return the iPad for exchange or refund. If applicable, you might be best advised to act quickly - as upon expiry of the 14-day window of opportunity, remedy for faults will be handled as a warranty issue.

M2 11inch owner here, this issue really is bugging me too. My iPad is less than a month old and whenever I take notes the camera region heats up significantly. And it's happening on apple notes and files, but not on Notability or any other note taking application. I have no hope of getting a fix, since it's apple. Better switch note taking application, try goodnotes or notability and see if problem persists.

Then yours is an exception to what others are experiencing. Take it to an Apple Store, read a book and demonstrate that your iPad gets too hold to hold. They’ll probably replace it. Nothing should get so hot it’s unbearable to hold. Something that hot should be displaying a warning and stopping many functions.

I purchased an iPad Air 13 (M2 - 2024) also, just a few days ago.

While taking notes, the area right underneath the camera becomes unbearably hot, to the point where I am worried about the longevity of this device. My first iPad Air 13 (M2 - 2024) had screen issues also, I swapped it out for a new one (was within the 14 days) and new device doesn't have screen issues but retains the heat issue.

The heat issue seems to be due to the processor overworking itself with some (?) mysterious process in the notes app? It only happens in the notes app for me, and only when the note is very long (but not actually that long - only a few pages), and only when writing with the Pencil Pro. When this happens, it also causes the notes to become laggy or glitchy - with letters sometimes not appearing until a few seconds after they have been written, or in other cases letters which were already written suddenly disappearing.

I have noticed that the following settings seem to improve the issue, though I can't say for sure:

• Having "Screen Zoom" set to Default seems to help
• Having "Text Size" set to Standard (middle) seems to help
• Having "iCloud" turned off for Notes seems to help
• Having "Hover" and it's associated features turned off seems to help
• Closing background apps seems to help
• Closing tabs in Safari seems to help
• Restarting the iPad seems to help

I have also noticed, on a somewhat unrelated note, that 3rd party note-taking apps such as "Goodnotes" and "Notability" have substantial input delay when compared to Apple Notes, making them unusable for most users.

My research on other forums and sites has revealed that many other note-taking users have this issue. I think there is something wrong with how the M series processors in iPads are interfacing with the Apple Pencil in iPad OS 16 and iPad OS 17. . I have found examples of users with M1 iPads using the Apple Pencil 2 who have the same issue in the same relative location. This would lead some to believe it may be an issue of underperformance - maybe the low end iPad's just aren't strong enough to process that much handwriting? Well, this is a ridiculous notion for a number of reasons - but to play along, even some Users with the iPad Pro 13 (M4 - 2024) 1 TB and 2 TB models report the same issue, and these higher end devices have more cores and more RAM than any other iPad ever made - there is no reason they should be experiencing the problem if it really is just a matter of requiring more raw power.

More than that, why was taking notes in Apple Notes with the older generation iPads and the first Apple Pencil never a problem? I can find no examples of users with A-series processors and Generation 1 Apple Pencils who have these issues.

I believe there is a background process that is running while taking notes which has a sort of "runaway" effect, demanding more and more of the CPU performance and RAM over time when using Apple Notes in iPad OS 16+ with the Apple Pencil 2/Pro/USB-C.

I am going to reach out to Apple Support and see if I can't get a senior advisor to start a ticket and possibly schedule a remote diagnostic session to capture the data and send to engineering. The more uses who do this, the more likely this is to be solved.

I may return my iPad Air 13 if the problem worsens as this is unacceptable for a $800 device. A pen and a sheet of paper is less than a dollar. Apple Pencil alone is over $100

[Edited by Moderator]

Please make sure to update it to the latest version of iPadOS. If this is not working please force restart your iPad to see if the issues persist

Force restart iPad - Apple Support

Make sure you aren’t using anything like this with it:

https://www.asseenontvlive.com/product/pillow-pad/

I always used to use a pillow pad (like the one shown above) with my iPads. I found that using it made my iPad really, really hot. Once I stopped using it, I had no problems with my Air 4 being too hot.

I imagine that all tablet pillows might cause that kind of issue. I suspect that pillow pad is bad for the iPad.

It’s not that surprising actually. If the app’s code has been optimized for the hardware it utilizes the system resources more efficiently and subsequently produces less heat. Inefficient code forces the hardware to compensate by running a max speed, utilizing the high performance cores, rather than the high efficiency cores. The high performance cores clock at higher speeds and require more battery, which has to discharge faster. All that produces much greater heat. iPads do not have active cooling (fans) just the conductivity of the heat from the chips sets and batteries conducting to the metal back and sides and then cooling by circulation of the ambient air.

The bottom line is iPads get warm. You may prefer to say hot, but that’s only relative to your experience. I’ve owned every iPad Pro 12.9” except the M2. By your definition of hot they have all run hot from time to time. If you really think it gets too hot get an instant read infrared thermometer. Start tracking the temperatures as you use the iPad. Run some animation test apps and recorded the temperatures. Then over time you’ll get an idea of what different apps are doing to your iPad’s internal components.

Well, the Apple Senior Advisor was absolutely incorrect - the iPad still gets hot when writing notes, even on iPad OS 18.

This is really disappointing and I do not believe that Apple will ever fix this.

For future readers facing this problem: the only solution I have found, which really isn’t a solution but a workaround, is to close all your other applications and turn on “Battery Saver” before opening Apple Notes. This seems to prevent it from getting incredibly hot, but after about 10 minutes the iPad will start to lag and freeze - just close the Notes app and open it again, and you’ll have another 10 minutes.

Honestly super disappointed in Apple with all this, and so disappointed there are so many others gaslighting affected users into thinking this is somehow normal

I do not think this has anything to do with my Apple ID, as I was able to replicate the issue after rebooting into recovery mode and performing the restore prior to signing into my Apple ID… When I set up the iPad after the recovery mode restore, I didn’t log into my iCloud account at all, I selected “no iCloud account” >> “set up later in settings.” I then opened the notes app and confirmed the issue persisted, without being logged in to my Apple ID.

I have already brought the iPad in to the Genius Bar. The Genius Bar is certainly more limited than the Apple Senior Advisor I am working with, and who I spoke to again today. The Apple Senior Advisor is able to run remote diagnostics on the device and is the one who asked me to perform this operation to begin with. I see no reason why I would bring it to the Genius Bar.

I think a lot of people are making the assumption (reasonably) that if this was an issue on every iPad, everyone would be complaining about it. I think this leads people to make suggestions that target a given user’s circumstances as though the variable exists only in a limited scope (such as the suggestion that it must be users who have some flawed data related to their Apple ID only who are experiencing the issue).

I would like to present another hypothesis for why this doesn’t seem as widely reported:

I do not believe a majority of iPad users are really extensively taking notes on their iPad. To elaborate: most people will open their notes app, jot down a few things for a lecture, and close their notes app. They likely won’t notice anything wrong because they will only use it for maybe 30 minutes to an hour or so, and they will start a new note, and any heat that is generated they won’t likely notice. The heat problem is still there, but it is not expressed due to the use case of the majority of users.

I believe most of the users who are seeing the issue expressed are those who are taking substantial notes on their devices. The heat problem in question does not occur on my iPad (the current one or the previous one) when I open a new note until I have substantially modified that new note. I believe (hypothesis) that:

If - anyone who has an iPad on iPad OS 16/iPad OS 17 were to

• turn their screen to 50% brightness
• unplug their iPad (not charging) and
• open Apple Notes
• Make sure “battery saver” is Off
• Add a 20-35MB PDF to a new note
• start and continue to rapidly draw short strokes with their Apple Pencil anywhere on the imported PDF for at least 60 seconds

Then - they will, within about 30 seconds of performing these actions, notice substantial and concerning heat build up on the right side of their iPad, which will then disappear if a new note is created, or if the “large” note is closed, or if the rapidly drawn short strokes are paused.

My theory is that any and all iPad users with a model later than 2021 can perform the procedure outlined about and find the results I have suggested above. Turning battery saver on, for whatever reason, seems to solve the issue but introduces substantial and unusable input lagging, and therefore is not a viable solution.

The Apple Senior Advisor said she had reason to believe these issues may be solved with the update being pushed out this Monday.

Hi People! Facing the same issue of heating iPad Air M2 (11 inch) when notes app or any other apps being used. As per my opinion, it is a software issue. Wait till a new update comes to fix this problem.

In the meantime, you could try switching off the iCloud sync for different apps (I did it for all the apps) in the Settings. Other than that, while using the Notes app, switch off the math results or suggestions when you don’t need it. This definitely helped me. One more suggestion is using low battery mode to reduce background operations.

Hope this helps someone. Please provide any other suggestions if they work for you.

Thanks.

You could also try turning off the background app refreshes from Settings > General. If it is not important, you can turn off your location services and data collection. Watch this video for more changes you can do to your iPadOS 18 settings: https://youtu.be/_EZ4I8aVNuI?si=v4_RsR7EzcrKMbC_ .

uncle_gazpacho wrote:

I can confirm this problem while using Goodnotes. This iPad is basically unusuable. Thanks Apple!

GoodNotes might be relevant to the heating.

It’s mentioned across various iPad models, in the context of heating.

Maybe a performance problem exists with that app, or the app itself is just resource-intensive?

Check with the app vendor.

This heat might be normal for what all the app is doing too, of course.

I know not to charge mine and use it at the same time or the back gets really uncomfortable to hold. I avoid using any type of case so it can dissipate heat better. Can’t say if this is a significant issue but it definitely gets my attention.