The iPad has an amazing 10 hour expected battery life that can keep your digital life with you as you travel about. In some cases such as long road trips or flights where recharging may not be an option, you may want to try some of these simple tricks to squeeze every last electron out of your iPad’s battery.
1. Turn off your 3G connection – If you’re not actively using your Internet connection, disable 3G to keep your iPad from constantly communicating with cell phone towers. This setting can be found in Settings > General > Network.
2. Turn off WiFi – Even if you’re nowhere near a WiFi hotspot, your iPad will constantly look for an available open network. If you know you won’t be during anytime soon or won’t be approaching a network, quickly disable this piece of hardware by navigating to Settings > General > Network.
3. Turn off Bluetooth – As mentioned before, any type of wireless communication generates a constant drain on battery life, even if it isn’t connected to anything. If you’re not using any nearby accessories, turn off Bluetooth at Settings > General > Bluetooth.
4. Check for Email Less Frequently – If it’s not critical to always have an up-to-date email inbox, set your iPad to check for email less often. Instead of checking for mail every 15 minutes and constantly opening internet connections, consider checking for mail every hour. This setting is found under Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data.
5. Decrease Auto-Lock Time – Instead of letting your iPad wait for 10 minutes before going to sleep, change the setting to 1-2 minutes. Will you really want your iPad to stay on for 10 minutes while away? Check out this setting under Settings > General > Auto-Lock. Also use Apple’s smart cover to automatically put your iPad to sleep when not in use (iPad 2 only).
6. Disable Equalizer – Many still don’t know that choosing custom settings such as “bass boost” for music playback will greatly reduce battery life while listening to your tunes. If tweaked audio quality isn’t a must for you, turn this setting off at Settings > iPod > EQ.
These tips are compatible with the first and second generation iPad models. Each one will cumulatively give you a good amount of extra play (or work) time out of your iPad.