7 Reasons Why Your iPad Is Charging Slowly

Have you ever found yourself waiting for your iPad to charge up, only to feel like you’re watching paint dry? We’ve all been there, and that frustrating scenario is what brings us here today. In this article, we’re going to dive headfirst into the world of sluggish iPad charging, exploring the common reasons behind this sluggishness and, most importantly, equipping you with practical tips and tricks to rev up your tablet’s charging speed.

Grab your charger and get ready to supercharge your iPad! 📱🔌

1. You Are Using The Wrong Charger

You should be able to charge your iPad in 2-3 hours. If it takes longer than that, there might be a problem. The most common problem is that you are probably using an inappropriate charger.

Not all chargers are made equal. Some offer a higher wattage as compared to their counterparts. In other words, your iPad is charging slowly because you’re using a low amperage charger. Apple recommends using their original chargers. (That’s also what I recommend.)

You’ll face two distinct issues when using a charger that isn’t certified by Apple or is of inferior quality:

• Poor Charging Speed: It goes without saying that most knockoff chargers are generally slow. So, you won’t be getting the advertised maximum charging speed that iPads have and would instead be getting an extremely trickled-down version. In some cases, this can lead to your iPad taking an entire day to charge to 100%. 
•  Poor Charging Quality: With a non-genuine charger from an uncertified brand, you can’t expect the same consistent quality that an original product produces. With no idea of the internals, there’s a high chance that you see extreme amounts of voltage fluctuations, which is not healthy for your device’s battery.

If you have a MacBook at home, you can try its charger to charge your iPad.

I often use my Macbook charger to charge my iPad Pro, and it takes me under 2 hours.

iPads draw only the precise amount of power they can handle. For example, the iPad Pro will exclusively utilize the maximum power required to meet its charging rate. The charging period will be the same if you use a 61W charger or 30W charger because iPad Pro can only handle 30W.

iPads that come with a 20W charger Originally

iPad	Release Date	Charger
iPad Mini (6th gen)	September 24, 2021	20W Adapter
iPad (9th gen)	September 14, 2021	20W Adapter
iPad Pro (5th gen) 12.9-inch	May 24, 2021	20W Adapter
iPad Pro (3rd gen) 11-inch	November 7, 2018	20W Adapter
iPad Air (4th gen)	October 23, 2020	20W Adapter
iPad (8th gen)	September 15, 2020	20W Adapter

iPads that come with an 18W charger Originally

iPad	Release Date	Charger
iPad Pro (4th gen) 12.9-inch	March 25, 2020	18W Adapter
iPad Pro (3rd gen) 12.9-inch	November 7, 2018	18W Adapter
iPad Pro (2nd gen) 10.5-inch	June 13, 2017	18W Adapter

If you don’t see your iPad on the list, that only means it originally has a 12W USB power adapter or 10W adapter. There’s no harm in trying to update your charger to see if it resolves the issue.

P.S Don’t worry. You can’t overcharge your iPad

2. iPad Battery Is Being Drained By Apps

If your iPad’s battery is being consumed at a high rate, it will appear as if it is being charged slowly, but that isn’t the case. Think about it this way. If your iPad is consuming 3-4% of battery life every ten minutes and is being charged at the same rate, it’ll remain at the same battery percentage.

So, if you really want to find out whether your iPad is actually charging slowly or if it’s just your heavy use case that’s giving you a particular impression, only charge your iPad when it is not being used. For added benefit, turn on Airplane Mode and turn off WiFi to ensure you get an accurate reading.

If your iPad is still charging slowly even though it’s not being used and all external connections are turned off, then a hardware issue might spring to mind. 

You should also remove recently deleted apps from battery usage, which probably slows down your device and also slows down charging time.

3. High Temperature

Lithium-ion batteries, even with all the improvements made in the past decade, are still extremely fragile. In fact, your battery heating up or cooling down in extremities can lead to a massive decline in battery health. 

The same applies to charging speed. In essence, charging is nothing but the electrons in your battery being moved from the cathode (negative terminal) to the anode (positive terminal). This requires energy and produces heat.

With that said, too much external heat can lead to a battery heating up. So, in order to preserve the battery’s health and to ensure it doesn’t get too hot, the movement of electrons is restricted, which reduces the overall temperature of the charging process.

So, if your device is in an extremely hot environment or is usually left out to freeze, bringing it to room temperature will significantly help with the charging speed of your iPad. Plus, extreme weather does not help with your device’s overall battery health.

4. Your iPad Ports Are Dirty

When you’ve used an iPad for a significant amount of time, dust and grime are enemies that’ll plague your device from the get-go. Besides just looking filthy, over time, dust can clog up your iPad speakers, microphone, and even your charging port.

With that said, if your port seems loose or needs to adjust a bit before it can be plugged in properly, chances are that it has grime and dust stuck within it. While your iPad will start charging, most of your pins won’t be properly aligned with your charger, leading to a slower charging.

To remedy this, use a Q-tip (cotton swab), douse it with isopropyl alcohol, and gently clean all the dust out of your charging port. With a few minute’s worth of cleaning, you’ll be able to get your charging speed back to normal if the dirt was the problem.

5. Your Cable Is Faulty

Just like chargers, not all cables are created the same way. For instance, some Lightning and USB-C cables (especially those from non-Apple certified brands) do not support fast charging. Since they can’t deliver an adequate voltage, your iPad will charge slower than usual.

Before you go and purchase a new cable, there is a slight chance that your cable may just not be seated properly in your iPad, or the pins on it may be unclean. To remedy both, clean your port and the cable with isopropyl alcohol and wipe it off before inserting it again.

If that doesn’t seem to fix anything, we recommend picking up a USB-C cable for the newer iPad Pros and a USB-C to Lightning Cable for all other iPads. With an original/certified charger and cable, you can rule out the probability of external hardware being the reason your iPad charges slowly.

There are 3 options – 3ft cables, 6ft cables, and even 10ft cables, Of course, I recommend getting the longest one.

6. Poor Battery Health

If your iPad is relatively old or has been used extensively, its battery has been degraded severely. In fact, it may have lost up to 20-30% of its original capacity. Sadly, the iPad has no way to check your battery health.

But, from my estimate, a device that is 3-4 years old will see a decline in battery life and charging time as well. If you have an older device that seems to be getting battery-related issues suddenly, a replacement may just be in order.

Don’t worry, though, after replacing your iPad’s battery. You’ll be greeted with adequate charging time and better battery life overall.

7. Software Error

A software glitch is the rarest reason why an iPad can charge slowly. But it still can happen, especially if you’ve just updated iPad OS or have joined Apple’s Public Beta Programme. While annoying, the only fix to getting your iPad back to normal is to reset your iPad altogether.

Before you go about resetting, ensure that you’ve checked all the other solutions we’ve mentioned above, as the likelihood of those being the cause of your iPad charging slowly is much higher as compared to shoddy software.

FAQ

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