One of the major selling points of large phones is bigger batteries. For tablets, that’s an order of magnitude truer. However, that much power requires chargers up to the task. If you have noticed your iPad has been charging slowly lately, check the possible causes below — and solutions, too.
What Causes Slow Charging on an iPad?
In short, a lot of stuff. Slow charging on iPads (and other devices) may be caused by faulty cables, charger issues, worn-out batteries, and many other reasons. Using computer USB ports, charging too many devices simultaneously, and even some iPadOS settings, could also be to blame.
The bad news is that, unless it’s something very perceptible, you may have a hard time narrowing the cause down. The good news is that, for the most part, doing that doesn’t require much time.
What Can You Do if Your iPad Is Charging Slowly?
The first thing to do is find the exact cause. After that, you’ll be able to apply targeted fixes for the issue you’re dealing with.
1. Check for Charging Limitations (and Disable Them)
I suggest you start by checking if your iPad has a charging limiter enabled. Only a handful of models support this, and it’s easy to find.
The feature is available in the following iPads: A16 base model, A17 Pro Mini, M2 and M3 Air, or M4 Pro. If you have one of these models, go to Settings > Battery > 80% Limit. If it’s enabled, turn the toggle off.
2. Replace Faulty Cables
Another common reason for slow charging speeds is a faulty cable. This issue is tricky to find out, because frequently, the cable looks fine on the outside. That doesn’t mean, however, it isn’t broken on the inside.
Testing this is very simple: try charging your iPad with another cable. If the charging speed improves, try using the cable you suspect to be faulty to charge another device. If this other device starts charging slowly as well, the cable is likely to blame.
A great thing about faulty cable issues is that they’re very simple and inexpensive to fix. You can, e.g., grab a Belkin cable that supports up to 100W of charging for $10 at Best Buy.
3. Double-Check Your Charger
Like cables, faulty chargers are also a common cause of slow iPad charging. Or, sometimes, they may not even be faulty: your charger might just be outdated or incompatible.
Recent iPad models support between 20 and 30W charging speeds, and are usually compatible with the USB-PD standard. If you use a charger that provides less than the maximum wattage, slow charging will be unavoidable. Chargers that exceed 30W but don’t support the USB-PD voltage profiles combinations will also give suboptimal results.
Many of these, in fact, resort to the usual bare minimum compatibility. In most cases, this is about 10W, which is already pretty slow, but some chargers will fall back to 5W. As an example, fully charging a 2024 11-inch iPad Pro would take almost six hours at this rate.
Apple itself offers some great chargers, like this dual-port 35W brick for $40 at Amazon. If you want something more robust, the 140W single-port charger is now $70, down 30% from the regular $99. It allows you to charge your iPad, but also supports iPhones, and even offers enough wattage to power most MacBooks.
4. Avoid Overcrowding Power Sockets
Speaking of multiple devices, how many are connected to the same power source? Even the most well-built electrical grids have limitations in how much power they can supply at once.
We all know someone that connects a gaming PC, a TV, and a microwave oven to a single socket. These are usually connected to a power strip, attached, alongside multiple chargers and appliances, to yet another power strip. If you don’t know someone like that, perhaps you are that someone.
This kind of setup not only means you’ll get terrible charging speeds, it poses a fire risk as well. Remember to plug as few devices as possible to each outlet, making use of the multiple sockets around your house.
5. Consider a Battery Replacement
As Apple itself says in its Settings app, “batteries are consumable components that become less effective as they age”. Even if your iPad is good enough for your usage, if it’s an older model, consider getting a battery replacement. Worn-out batteries may take longer to charge, have a shorter life, and may present risks.
If you find yourself with a swollen battery that cracked your screen, consider yourself lucky. Sometimes, overused batteries may end up catching fire, if not dealt with correctly.
Also, even if your current iPad is good enough for your usage, replacing its battery may make it even snappier. Not only will the battery itself be able to provide full power to the processor, it won’t grow as hot. This further improves performance, and makes your iPad more enjoyable to use.
6. Don’t Use Computer Ports for Charging
Nowadays, charging devices using computer ports is less common. Also, present-day computer ports themselves often provide more power than older models used to. However, this isn’t exactly a given, and some ports may be limited to, like non-standard chargers, 10 or 5W.
Because of that, it’s always a safer bet to refill your devices’ batteries with dedicated power bricks. That’s especially true for larger ones, like iPads, that are more likely to charge slowly when connected to computers.
While the larger batteries in iPads are convenient for prolonged usage, they can become a hassle if they charge slowly. Also, they’re as susceptible to degradation as the ones inside any other electronics.
Because of that, it’s always important to keep up with the best practices on how to maintain your iPad’s battery. It’s not by chance that Apple has a dedicated page with tips about the preservation of this component.
