The latest debacle by Apple related to its iPhone’s batteries led people to scrutinize and critique the Cupertino tech giant on things not originally on the agenda. Case in point, the iPad’s performance and battery scenarios. 

From a consumer point of view, this is indeed a pressing issue and needs to be addressed. So is Apple throttling your iPads as well? 

If you’re looking for the short answer, then ‘No,’ Apple isn’t throttling your iPad based on battery life.  

However, this question demands an in-depth answer rather than a simple yes or no.  Let’s get right into it. 

Power Management in iPad

Power management is a delicate balancing act which is further complicated by an aging battery that isn’t able to provide power to the system according to its needs. This issue caused iPhones to shut down unexpectedly and was addressed in the iOS 10.2.1 update, which set a cap in performance to balance the power to performance ratio.

This decrease in performance was to save battery conditioning and to slow down battery degradation. The iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6S Plus and the iPhone SE were initially updated with this feature but the more recent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were also given the throttling treatment via iOS 11.2 update.  

Apple released a statement in a recent support document, stating that this was restricted to iPhones and that other apple products were not affected. 

Why?

The reason as to why iPads are not included in this control measure is the way they are used by consumers and their battery capacities. 

The iPad Air 2, for example, has a battery capacity of 7,340 mAH, which is up to 4 times bigger than the iPhone 6 and has the specification to endure power peaks that would shut down an iPhone. Add the fact that iPads are charged less than iPhones due to general usage patterns, the battery age cycle is longer. 

Conclusion

Hence, there’s no need to worry if you own an iPad and you feel that Apple might have limited its power along with your iPhone. Your iPhone’s bigger sibling has a huge battery which can handle the performance demand from its chip like a breeze, so keep playing the games you usually do without worrying about Apple ruining your experience for the greater good.