The battery of the iPad 3 – is it all a lie?
When the iPad 3 was announced Andreas took an in-depth look at the battery of the new iPad, and noticed that the battery life is the same as the previous generations. Except that the battery has a capacity 70% larger than that of the iPad 2. So, what does all this mean? With the same charger as the iPad and iPad 2, iPad 3 users could expect a much longer charge time for their new device. When I received my iPad 3, it had 91% of battery charge left, which I was quite happy with. Several hours of use later however, it was fully drained. So, I plugged it in, and a painstaking 5 hours and 45 minutes later of no use, it was fully charged. It is safe to say from my own experience, and reading others around the web, that it will take 6 hours to charge the beast.
Yet I have no idea why Apple didn’t up the charger for the latest iPad from 10w to something more respectful for a battery of this size, but I would have thought a better charger for this new battery a natural progression. Maybe Apple was worried about heat or other issues (battery health). When the Macbook Pro 13-inch model has a 63.5 watt-hour battery and a 60w charger, and the iPad is stuck with a 42.5 watt-hour battery and 10w charger, I do question the choice however.
But, there are reports circulating the web about a miscalculation in the software on the iPad which makes the indicator say it is at 100% charge, when it continues charging for an hour or so longer at the full 10w until it then switches to a trickle charge. iLounge also reported on the charging issue, and commented on other unusual battery issues such as the discharge rate for the same activity, questioning whether this is a ploy by Apple to give the impression of a longer discharge time and shorter charge time.
Although not particularly a major issue, it does not look good for Apple when a week after a product release people are claiming that their devices are faulty or have issues. But after Apple announced that the iPad 3 has had the strongest launch, it is expected that some people are going to cry foul with their faulty devices (or have a whinge) online.
