Charge Time

[Klew721]

So I let me iPad Air run down until it was below 10% battery. I know it's good to do a full cycle charge every now and again. However, I plugged it in so it could charge and it's taking forever. Whereas my iPhone5 was below 5% and it's charging much faster.

My iPad Air is using a wall charger and my iPhone is charging via USB plugged into my MacBook. Is there a better way/faster way to charge between wall charger and USB into MacBook charge?

 

[twerppoet]

The iPhone has a much smaller battery than the iPad Air. It will charge faster, even with a much lower powered charger, because it requires much less power.

If you've ever seen the insides of an iPad you'll see that they are pretty much all battery. Due to the nature of the battery technology you can only charge a battery so fast and not risk damage, or even safety issues. The upper charge rate is set by the device, not the charger. If you are using the included wall charger then you are charging the iPad as fast, or nearly so, as possible. Using a larger charger, even if you can find one, will not significantly improve charging speed.

If your iPad is turned off and doing nothing (no backups, downloads, or updating) it will still take at least four to five hours to reach a full charge from empty. Under normal conditions (background stuff happening) it can take up to 8 hours.

An iPhone, by contrast, even under load, will go from empty to full charge in little more than an hour.