Growing Pains: New iPad Shows Erratic Charging Patterns, Shrinks Large Web Images
After the first few days with the new iPad, details about the best (and worst) features are starting to creep out. We’ve all heard (or experienced) that it can get a little hot while you are using it (particularly under high graphics load), but it’s not extreme and kind of to be expected when you start adding multi-core processing on the GPU, more LEDs to light up the Retina display, a larger 42.5-kWh battery and then adding apps on top that push the full potential. It is also a little annoying that despite having a Retina-quality display, Safari limits the quality of images such that you really can’t enjoy the full potential (see picture above).
Of more concern are the inconsistant charging results, even when using the supplied 10W charger.
It first emerged as a report that the new iPad took longer to charge in general which we all accepted as reasonable given that the new battery is 70% larger than the iPad 2′s 25-kWh counterpart. Other reports also indicated that the charging time was stretched even longer if you happened to also be using the device while it was plugged in. The new iPad will of course not charge while plugged into a computer’s USB 2.0 port, though the iPad 2 did.
Another concern is that the new iPad appears to continue charging even after the meter reads 100%, in some cases for as long as an hour; begging the question of whether the meter is wrong and the iPad was not fully charged or if there is a problem with the power drawing mechanisms themselves. The facts seem to support the former as users are noting an initial radical drop in battery life shown on the meter after initial use post-charge.
The fix isn’t clear. Do we need to charge it with an adapter that gives more juice? Is there a software or firmware fix that can help the meter to be more accurate? Apple has yet to weigh in on this issue, but I think it is reasonable to expect they will at about the time they have a solution in hand.
