Is Your iPad Charging Slow ? How to Fast-Charge

Is Your iPad Charging Slow ? How to Fast-Charge.

The iPad is one of Apple’s most popular products, and for most people it offers all the features they’ll ever need, but it also has large batteries that can take a while to charge.

If your iPad’s charging process is slower than before, or too slow for your needs, there are a few things you can try to help fix your charging issues.

1. Use an Apple Cable and Charger

Apple has an interesting relationship with third-party accessory makers. If you are using an iPad with a Lightning port, you must use an MFi-certified iPad cable and charger. Unlike USB-C on Android, Lightning is Apple’s proprietary standard and accessories must be licensed and contain an authentication chip. Unfortunately, there are a lot of uncertified Lightning cables on sites like Amazon. They may work for a while, but after updating they give errors.

If you have an iPad Pro or other iPad model that uses USB C, there are no restrictions on the proprietary license. However, we still recommend that you use an Apple charger and cable, as this will ensure that any iPad fast charging feature is properly activated. Otherwise, the iPad will fall back to the USB cable standard, which may be slower. This doesn’t mean that third-party chargers and cables can’t quickly charge your iPad, but it’s worth checking compatibility before buying a new cable or charger.

If you’re having issues with your existing charger or cable, update your iPad’s firmware to the latest version. Otherwise, try a different charging cable or charger. You can also try a different wall outlet if the issue is with the outlet itself. Make sure the outlet works with other devices. If not, check the circuit breakers to make sure the power supply is live.

2. Check Your Cable and Charger for Damage

Usually, if your charger is damaged, it means your iPad won’t charge. However, it’s still worth checking the lightning or USB-C cable for damage.

You won’t see anything if the damage is internal. Try a different cable that you know works to rule out internal cable damage as a problem.

3. Reboot Your iPad

A good early troubleshooting step would be to restart your iPad. On an iPad with a home button, press and hold the top button (formerly the power button) until the message “Slide to turn off” appears, then follow the instructions.

If you have an iPad without a home button, press and hold the top button along with the volume up or down button. The same message will appear, so just move the slider to turn off your iPad.

Holding the top button will turn it on no matter what iPad you have. Press and hold the button until you see the Apple logo.

4. Check the Port for Debris

The Lightning and USB-C ports are reversible, so you can plug them in without worrying about the correct placement. This is very convenient, but such designs also tend to push debris into the port, especially in the case of USB-C. When debris builds up in the charging port, it can prevent the charging cable from being in constant contact.

Using a can of compressed air is one way to blow debris out of the port. In the case of USB-C, we were able to carefully remove the lint from the port using thin plastic toothpicks so that the plug could fully fit into the connector.

Moisture damage can also potentially reduce the conductivity of the contacts inside the port, but this needs to be evaluated by a professional technician. If your iPad has started charging slowly after getting wet near a port, it’s worth considering.

5. Check iPad Battery Health

Lithium-ion batteries used in today’s mobile devices have a limited lifespan. Typically, after about 500 full charge cycles, your iPad’s maximum battery capacity starts to drop. This degradation can happen more quickly if the battery has any problems with its chemistry or has been exposed to high temperatures. Thus, the problem with charging may be related to the battery.

If your iPad charges slowly, gets very hot while charging, doesn’t hold a charge for a long time, or otherwise behaves strangely when it comes to battery life, you may need to replace the battery. Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone iOS and macOS lineup, the iPad doesn’t have a built-in battery status indicator in iPadOS. Therefore, you will have to take it to a certified repair shop for evaluation. Luckily, replacing the battery after the warranty period is not that expensive for an iPad, and if something goes wrong during the warranty period, the replacement is free.

6. Donâ€™t Use Your iPad While Charging

A common reason for slow iPad charging is using power-hungry apps while charging. If the iPad’s power draw is close to that of the adapter, then you’re only charging in a trickle. Even worse, you can still slowly drain your battery.

Heavy applications such as games heat up the iPad due to the heavy workload of the CPU and GPU. The hotter the iPad, the slower the battery should charge for safety reasons.

So stick to light apps, or don’t use your iPad at all while charging, and you’ll likely see the battery gauge fill up faster.

7. Donâ€™t Charge From a Computer

When connecting iPad to a USB port on a computer or any other device with low power output, it will default to standard 5W USB charging. This will either charge your iPad slowly, or it will only slow down the battery drain. You may receive the message “This iPad is not charging,” which indicates that while the iPad is receiving power from the port, there is not enough power to charge the battery. This is a common message when connecting an iPad to a Mac or Windows PC to use iTunes.

Some computer motherboards have high performance USB ports with 2.1A and higher power levels. However, it’s a poor choice for recharging something as big and power-hungry as an iPad, as there’s just enough current to add the required power.

8. Buy a Faster Charger

Every iPad comes with a power adapter, but not necessarily a power adapter that can charge it at maximum speed. Some iPad Pros, for example, can charge up to 30W but only come with an 18W charger.

The maximum charging speed depends on which iPad model you have, so find the charging speed for your particular iPad and then match it with a charger that matches or exceeds that capacity.

If you have a MacBook Pro charger, you can also use it to charge your iPad faster and they can bring the iPad back to full power quickly. On the other hand, if you are using an iPhone charger to power your tablet, it will take a long time.

9. Turn Your iPad or Wireless Features Off

You can increase your iPad’s charging speed by reducing the amount of power it draws from the battery. The faster the charging speed and power gap, the faster the battery will charge.

You can turn off anything you don’t need while the device is charging. For example, turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular data in Control Center to reduce power consumption. Using Airplane mode will kill all power-saving wireless features.

Turning down the screen brightness can also have a big impact. To get the best charging speed, turn off your iPad completely. This ensures that no heat is generated that is not related to charging, and of course your iPad will have negligible power consumption.

10. Prep Your iPad for Repair or Trade

If your iPad’s battery has reached the end of its life, you can either have it professionally replaced or trade it in for a small amount of store credit to buy a new device. As we mentioned earlier, Apple’s iPad battery replacement prices are not unreasonable. With a new battery, your tablet will last for many more years if it is otherwise in good working order and the battery life is restored to factory levels.

Regardless of which option you choose, make sure you complete the latest iCloud or iTunes backup of your device so you can restore it when you return your iPad or buy a new iPad. Perhaps more importantly, make sure you perform a hard reset before taking your slow-charging iPad to the Apple store.

Be Wary of Third-party Battery Replacement

It might be tempting to try and save some money by ordering a third party service to replace your iPad’s battery. While there is nothing wrong with using a certified third party repair company, we highly recommend avoiding installing third party batteries in your iPad as there is a huge risk of battery failure and even dangerous fires. Always follow the advice of Apple Support to ensure you end up with a safe product.