Apple needs to stop adding new hardware features and focus on battery life
One of the most important factors of any mobile device is its battery life. Without a fair amount of juice to last through the day, a mobile device, whether it be a smartphone or a tablet, is rendered useless.
Just about every hardware manufacturer markets the heck out of their battery technology because it is such an important feature in a mobile device. Apple is one of those hardware companies. All you have to do to realize this is look at any of their mobile hardware pages and you’ll see some mention of battery life. And typically, Apple makes it seem that their batteries will last you throughout the day – or at least much longer than the competition.
But in my years as a technology enthusiast, I’ve realized that Apple’s battery life estimations aren’t always the most accurate in real-life use. The numbers are certainly achievable, but I like to keep my displays’ brightnesses cranked up to the max and have most of my wireless connections turned on. When all of that is happening at once, it takes a toll on Apple’s special batteries – no matter how much room they may take up inside those thin aluminum bodies.
Granted, on my iPad, I can still get about 7 hours of continuous use with my display at full brightness and all of my connections turned on, but the extra three hours that Apple advertises would be fantastic when I’m on the road and want to get everything I can out of my tablet. I also understand that I could just turn down the brightness and turn off a few of my wireless connections, but that’s a pain and it takes away a lot of functionality for me.
My $829 iPad still gets me through the day, and I still think it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made in terms of technology; and really, that’s why I’m writing this article. Save for NFC, Apple really doesn’t need to add anything to the iPad in my opinion. In fact, I believe that Apple could remove the rear-facing camera, add NFC, and up the battery life by a few hours and would still have a very successful product – with better battery life, to boot.
How is your new iPad’s battery life? Do you wish it was longer or do you think that the new hardware that Apple added is a good sacrifice for its relatively subpar battery life?
[Image credit: Cult of Mac]
