Why is my iPad battery draining so quickly since iPadOS 18.5 update?

It is not unusual to make a direct connection to any change in behavior to an OS update because it still requires interaction on your part so you are aware of when it is updated along with a welcome page noting the changes. What you are less likely to see updated are the apps where they are updated in the background by default and the only thing that lets you know they have been updated is a little blue dot next to the icon, which is often overlooked. Many times you will find an app update that contains a glitch causing excessive battery drain.

Last week, it was the Weather Channel app that was stuck using location data and causing battery drain from an update. It has now been fixed by the developer with another update.

I’m using iPad Pro gen6. Here is screenshot. i turned on flight mode + removed SIM card + logout appleID + removed keyboard & apple pencil + stay away from my iPad (which means I’m not using it) and that’s how battery goes.

[Edited by Moderator]

Your graph does not look that bad showing less than 50% battery drain over 17 hours. The top consumer is WeChat and the use of Notifications is draining your battery even when you are not using the app. The VPN will increase battery drain whether it is on or off. The only way to prevent that is to remove the VPN and the effects of a VPN are not noted in your battery usage.

Charge your iPad all night, every night and you should get all day battery life like what is expected.

lkshean wrote:

By the way, I was stupid to turn on auto update...

No, you weren’t. iOS 18.5 blocked 33 vulnerabilities.

See→If the battery in your iPhone drains too quickly - Apple Support

lkshean wrote:

Good to know your device is working fine with 18.5.

Yours is also. There is nothing unusual about your battery usage. If you charge the iPad overnight, and it lasts through the day until the next overnight charge sequence, it is working as designed. It’s clear that you are a very heavy WeChat user, and you must receive large numbers of messages every day.