If you buy a new iPad straight from Apple, how long do you need to spend charging it before it’s ready for use? Does it need to be at 100%? We have all the answers in the article below.
iPads are generally shipped with 50-70% battery life; it will take around 1 hour & 30 minutes to charge it to its full capacity. However, since iPads use Lithium-ion batteries, charging them out of the box isn’t a requirement.
Read this article to find out more about how long you need to charge a new iPad and what factors can affect your battery’s health.
Should I Charge My iPad Before Its First Use?
As Apple usually send their devices with around 50% to 70% battery, this is because Apple uses lithium-ion batteries, which are vulnerable to extreme temperatures. Storing a lithium-ion battery at 100% for an extended period can cause your device to heat up, become unstable, and chemically age.
So, now that you understand why your iPad comes half-charged, how long should you charge it for?
Well, it isn’t a requirement to charge it right out of the box, but it will generally take an hour and a half to get it fully charged. This is because most modern iOS devices are equipped with “Optimized battery charging,” which slows down how fast your device charges once it reaches 80%. This is to reduce your device’s battery from aging at a faster rate.
So now that you are familiar with how to get started with charging your device, you are probably wondering how you should charge your device to maintain proper battery health. Let’s take a look!
When Should You Charge Your iPad For Optimal Battery Health?
Lithium-ion batteries work in charge cycles; each time your device consumes equal to 100% of its battery, it consumes one charge cycle. Your device has a limited amount of charge cycles until the battery is completely degraded.
However, your device degrades even faster with heavier usage. So the depth at which you discharge your device also determines your charge cycle count.
So what is the ideal charge cycle?
According to a study done by Battery University, this is a 75% to 25% charge cycle. This means using your device from 75% to 25% battery and recharging it back to 75% before dropping to below 25%
the study looked at different charge cycles and how they affect your device’s lifespan. It revealed that a 100–25% charge cycle had a significantly shorter lifespan than a 75% to 25% charge cycle. Additionally, the studies revealed that a 75–65% charge cycle had the longest life span; however, since this is only a 10% battery capacity, it’s not a sustainable or practical method.
So why is this important?
All rechargeable batteries, such as Lithium-ion, become less effective when they chemically age. For Lithium-ion batteries, this affects their Battery capacity and performance factors.
Your charging habits have a major impact on your battery capacity, which is the amount of battery your device can hold. Additionally, a chemically aged battery will affect how your device performs. Here’s how: longer app launch times, lower frame rates, reduced wireless data throughput, screen dimming, lower speaker volume. For more on this take a look at our full guide on when you should charge your iPad.
What if I Receive My Ipad and It Has Low Battery?
It has happened that some iPads have been received with little or very low battery. It’s unknown what can cause this. Either way, whatever has happened, and unlikely as it is, if you receive an iPad that is low on battery, then you really should charge it before its first use, especially if the battery is under 20%.
Setting up a new iPad can use up a lot of battery; therefore, it’s best to make sure you start with 100% or keep it plugged in during this setup period.
If your iPad will turn on but has very little battery, then you should plug it in to charge, leave it until it has over 20% battery, and then you can begin setting it up. Keep it plugged in during this time so that the incoming charge is what’s being used, and it can store excess charge too.
What Do I Do if My New iPad Has No Battery?
If you receive a new iPad and it is completely dead for some unknown reason, you should allow a good amount of time to charge it before you begin setting it up.
Plug the iPad in to charge and leave it until it turns on by itself. During this time, you will see a black screen, and this is completely normal; it just means that the iPad has not got enough battery to even show that it’s charging.
Wait until it turns on by itself, do not turn it on! Then wait until it has over 20% battery before you start to use it and set it up.
You can begin using the iPad while it’s charging as the functions you complete will use up the incoming charge while also storing it little by little too.
Should I Charge a New iPad overnight?
Lithium-Ion batteries are designed to stop charging as soon as the device reaches 100% battery. So there are no issues in charging your device overnight. This shouldn’t have an impact on your battery health in any way.
Should I charge my new iPad during set-up?
Depending on what you want to do with your iPad depends on how long it will take you to set up and what functions and apps you will do and install.
All of these factors affect the battery life, so if you know that you’ll be doing lots of downloading, uploading, syncing, and arranging on the iPad during the setup, then it’s probably best to keep it plugged in charge during this process.
This eliminates the risk of the iPad battery reaching 0% and shutting down unexpectedly, which can cause issues during set-up, especially when connecting and syncing iCloud data. If the iPad switches off during this, it’s likely you will have to start all over again.
Also, keeping the iPad charged while setting up means that after set up, you can take it off charge and use it as normal to do all of the functions you’ve just spent time setting up.
Otherwise, you will use up the battery stored on the iPad for the set-up and then have no battery left to play with!
Does Setting Up a New iPad Use a Lot Of Battery?
As we have mentioned above, depending on what you want to set up, you can end up using quite a lot of battery on your iPad.
If you want to download several apps, sync to your iPad, download data from iCloud, and arrange a lot of things, this process can use up a lot of your battery life.
The main function that uses up most of the battery during set-up is downloading apps. If you download a lot of apps at once and then leave the iPad to continue on its own, it would be wise to plug it in to charge in case the downloading drains all of the battery.
This way, your set-up process won’t be disturbed, and you will be able to use the iPad sooner rather than later.
- How to Pair Meta Quest 3 Controllers with Your Quest 3 Headset: A Quick Guide
- How to Charge Meta Quest 3: A Guide to Powering Up Your VR Experience
- How to Cast Meta Quest 3 to Samsung TV: A Step-by-Step Guide
- How To Factory Reset Your Meta Quest 3: A Step-by-Step Guide
- How to Power On and Off the Meta Quest 3
