The iPad Pro powered by the M4 chip and the M2-based iPad Air, both released in 2024, are the only models which expose crucial battery health stats to the user. If you have one of these, venture into Settings > Battery > Battery Health to check crucial stats like cycle count, dates of manufacturing and first use, the current maximum capacity, and more.

Battery Health gives you an assessment of the overall state of your iPad’s battery, including whether it’s functioning normally or a replacement is recommended.

Maximum Capacity is another important piece of information. All rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have a limited lifespan. Your iPad battery’s maximum capacity declines every time you charge or use it. When it falls below the 80% threshold, the operating system will start reducing system performance, which can be fixed by swapping the battery.

Cycle Count is also a crucial metric for battery health, expressed as the number of times the device has depleted the battery’s capacity. One charge cycle is equated to 100% of the battery’s capacity. “A complete charge cycle is normalized between 80% and 100% of original capacity to account for expected diminishing battery capacity over time,” Apple clarifies.

Manufacture Date and First Use denote when the battery was made and first used.

Return to the previous screen (Settings > Battery) to glean charts that help you visually identify the biggest battery hogs in the last 24 hours or ten days, check out Apple-recommended tips for how to lower battery consumption, and more.

Assessing Battery Health on Older iPads

iPadOS logs the maximum battery charge and cycle count, which you can use to interpret the state of your iPad’s battery health. To access this, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data and tap on the latest entry near the top of the screen with “Analytics” in its title (e.g. “Analytics-2024-08-25-020248.ips.ca.synced”).

Copy and paste the log’s contents into a new note on your iPad or other text editing app. Alternatively, unselect text, hit the Share menu, and send the whole log to your Mac via AirDrop, then right-click the file and choose Open With > TextEdit (or your favorite text editor).

Now press Command + F in TextEdit on the Mac or choose “Find in Note” from the ellipsis menu in the Apple Notes app on the iPad to search for “MaximumCapacityPercent.” Next to that label is a number representing the battery’s current maximum capacity.

You can also search for “CycleCount” in the same log to find an entry with a number next to it that describes your current battery cycle count, another factor in overall battery health.

The diagnostics dump method is a bit convoluted, but it works. But wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to search through diagnostics logs manually?

IPad Battery Health via Shortcuts Automation

I discovered on Reddit an automation script built-in Apple’s Shortcuts app that deciphers relevant data from a diagnostics dump. Plus, it’s readily available via the Share menu. Download the Battery Stats shortcut using Safari on your iPad and click the Get Shortcut button to confirm importing it into the All Shortcuts section of the Shortcuts app.

Now open an analytics entry in Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data, hit the Share menu, and choose “Battery Stats” from the list of actions.

After a few moments, the shortcut will present its findings in a standard text box. If you’ve not had much luck with the previous method, you can use a third-party app to measure your iPad battery health instead. The iOS device manager iMazing and the specialized coconutBattery app are great choices, and both apps are free for personal use.

Check iPad Battery Health with iMazing

Download iMazing onto your Mac or Windows PC, install the app, launch it, and click “Continue Trial” to activate your free trial. Now plug your iPad into a computer and make sure to grant permission on the Trust This Computer screen. You may need to confirm another prompt on your Mac, if using one.

To check battery health with iMazing, select the Devices option in the sidebar and click your iPad on the right-hand side to open a screen with detailed device information.

Next, hit the battery indicator in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Ignore the percentage in the center of the window (that’s your current charge) and instead take a look at “Battery Effective Max. Charge” and “Battery Charge Cycles” in the right-hand section to see the maximum battery capacity and the number of completed charge cycles.

Check iPad Battery Health Using coconutBattery

Download coconutBattery to your Mac and double-click the ZIP file in your Downloads folder to extract the archive. Next, launch the app and connect your iPad to your Mac using the USB cable that came with it, then select the iOS Device tab and click the “Battery Info” button.

You’ll see various battery data, including when the battery was manufactured and by what supplier, age in days, cycle count, the maximum current capacity (Full Charge Capacity) versus original capacity (Design Capacity), and other useful stats.

Rather than based on an arbitrary percentage, you should consider replacing your iPad battery when you start noticing issues with your device, a more sure sign of poor battery health. Test the iPad for shorter-than-expected battery life, sudden loss of power, or more serious issues like sluggish performance.