New M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air tablets have exclusive battery health options

When Apple announced its new M4 iPad Pro and the revamped M2 iPad Air last week it detailed plenty of new features that buyers will be able to take advantage of, but it turns out that there was one change that the company didn't mention. According to a new report, Apple's new iPads will sport an exclusive battery health menu including a new option.

The report, coming from iCulture, says that an additional Battery Health Menu can be found under Settings, Battery on the new iPad Pro and iPad Air. The menu shows the current battery health, maximum battery capacity, cycle count, and the option to choose the 80% battery optimization option that prevents the iPad from being charged beyond the 80% mark.

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These options are not available as part of the iPadOS 17.5 update on other iPads despite having been found in code in recent beta updates before iPadOS 17.5 was released to the public. At the time it was suggested that the new features may be exclusive to the new iPads, and that now appears to have been proven correct.

The new cycle count figure and the option to prevent the iPad's battery from charging beyond 80% were previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro devices, so it would appear that we can now expect the additional data and option to be offered on all future iPhones and iPads.

It's important to note that the 80% limit is different from the Optimized Battery Charging feature that can be found on other iPhones. That feature charges the iPhone's battery to 80% and then tops it off when it thinks the iPhone is most likely to be taken off charge. This new feature limits the charging of the battery to 80%, refusing to charge any further. Some like to do that as a way to maintain their battery health, while others are less so sure. Apple does say that reducing the amount of time a battery is fully charged can reduce the wear on that battery, however. As a result, the battery would presumably last longer before it needs to be replaced.

The new M4 iPad Pro brings with it the superast chip as well as a new OLED display the likes of which we have never seen on an iPad. The new M2 iPad Air upgrades the old M1 chip to the newer M3 and adds a whole new 13-inch display to the lineup. All of the new tablets will officially go on sale tomorrow, May 15.