Why Does My iPad Take So Long To Charge?

Last Updated on April 22, 2023 by Ernests Embutnieks

You should be able to charge your iPad in 2-3hours. If it takes longer than that, there is some issue. The most common problem is that you are probably using an inappropriate charger. With a 20W USB-C charger, your should be able to charge your iPad Pro in under 2 hours. Faster if it’s iPad Air, Mini or regular iPad.

If you’re using the right original charger and still it takes forever to charge your iPad, there might be other problems, and we’re going to cover them all.

The reasons your iPad takes so long to charge:

• Wrong charger / Non-Genuine Charger
• Your Battery is being used already
• iPad is running hot
• Your port is unclean
• The cable is faulty
• Your iPad has poor battery health
• There’s a software glitch 

Using Wrong 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. But, Apple generally recommends using their original chargers. (That’s also what we recommend)

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

• Poor Charging Speed: It goes without saying that most knockoff chargers are generally slow too. 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 that comes from an uncertified brand, you can’t ever 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 Macbooks charger to charge my iPad Pro, and it takes me under 2 hours

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

Battery Being Used

If your iPad’s battery is being consumed at a high rate, it will appear as if it is being charged slowly while 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.

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 too. 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 too.

Can iPad Protective Cases Cause Overheating?

Unclean Port

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

With that said, if your port seems loose or if you need to adjust it 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 slow charging speed.

To remedy this, you can 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 minutes worth of cleaning, you’ll be able to get your charging speed back up!  

Bad Cable

Just like chargers, not all cables are created the same too. For instance, some Lightning and USB-C cables (especially ones from non-Apple certified brands) tend not to support fast charging. Since they can’t deliver an adequate amount of voltage, your iPad will charge very slowly.

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 present 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 be fixing anything, we recommend picking up a USB-C to 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.

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, there’s no way to check your battery health on the iPad.

But, from our estimates, a device that is 3-4 years old will see a massive 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 too. Do note, though, that Apple’s own replacement and battery repair is extremely expensive. Therefore, we recommend resorting to a third-party vendor instead.

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 completely.

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 slow is much higher as compared to shoddy software.

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