Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) battery drains too quickly

The checks in more detail

The OLED panel makes dark mode worth using, because black pixels are off and some apps use much less power in dark mode. ProMotion at 120 Hz draws more than 60 Hz, and the Limit Frame Rate option in Accessibility, Motion, caps it. Brightness matters most, with HDR content at peak brightness drawing the most. Background App Refresh, Location Services, widgets and Apple Intelligence tasks run in the background after an update, and a few days of settling is normal.

The Pro's Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard add small loads. Check Battery Health and the usage list, and use Low Power Mode on long days. A Pro that loses ten percent overnight has a stuck process; restart it. The Pro's Apple Intelligence features and on-device processing add background work, particularly in the days after an update, so a period of heavy drain after installing a new iPadOS version is normal. Charge the iPad overnight on Wi-Fi and give it two or three days before judging.

Also avoid leaving the Pro to charge while it is hot in a case in the sun, since heat while charging wears the battery faster than anything else. Turning off the Pro's Always On style features is not an option as with phones, but you can set Auto-Lock to two minutes and turn off Raise to Wake, which stops the screen lighting up when the iPad moves in a bag. Each wake costs a little, and over a day in a bag they add up.