Analysis of the new Apple iPad
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 9, 2012 1:37 AM ESTA Much Larger Battery
Apple claimed no decrease in battery life for the new iPad compared to last year's model and only a 1 hour drop over LTE. The problem is that the combination of A5X SoC under GPU load, the LTE baseband and driving/lighting all of those pixels in the Retina Display has a significant impact on power consumption.
Apple addressed the issue by increasing the new iPad's battery capacity by 70%. If the leaked PCB photos are accurate (they look to be), Apple increased battery volume by shrinking the motherboard size and increasing the thickness of the tablet.
The new 42.5Wh battery is downright huge. To put the new iPad's battery in perspective, this is nearly the same battery capacity as the what was shipping in the 2008 13-inch MacBook Pro. This is also a bigger battery than what's used in the 2011 11-inch MacBook Air:
Over the next two years you can expect to see the line between ultraportable and tablet blur considerably. Looking at where the new iPad falls in the chart above really begins to exemplify just how blurry that line is going to become.
With the display off, the new iPad looks and feels a lot like the iPad 2. The additional thickness is hard to see, but the additional weight is definitely noticeable. The new iPad isn't as heavy as the original model, but it's clearly heavier than the iPad 2. I don't believe the added weight is a deal breaker, but it is a step backwards. Maintaining battery life however obviously trumps added weight.
The math is pretty simple. If Apple is claiming 10 hours of battery life with a 42.5Wh battery, the new iPad with the iPad 2's battery would likely be good for just under 6 hours. Such a drop would be unacceptable and thus the new iPad gets a bigger battery and incurs additional weight from the new battery and display components.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
161 Comments
View All Comments
Mike1111 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I think that a 2560x1600 11.6" Samsung tablet has a good chance of being announced in the next two months. And the specs will look great. But a 2560x1600 11.6" Samsung display will have a slightly lower ppi compared to the new iPad and it will be a Pen-Tile display, so the true ppi will be even lower.ZeDestructor - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I'd say its most likely an LCD, so most likely a standard RGB matrix.steven75 - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
A Samsung Android tablet at those resolutions will make for a lot of extremely scaled up phone apps. Sounds great!Mike1111 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Well, that's the difference between announcing and selling. Asus announcing the Transformer Infinity first doesn't really mean anything. In just a week Apple will sell millions of new iPads in various countries around the world while Asus still hasn't even announced a price or date of availability of even one SKU in one country.gorash - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
They will be selling Transformer Infinity.iSayuSay - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
Of course Asus and Samsung will sell their next gen hi resolution tablet. The difference is Apple announcing new iPad, or in fact any of their product AFTER they are READY to sell it. They have the real stocks, ready to be distributed on their retail system, online or offline. Thus Apple makes money real fast, and here they are today, the most valuable company on earth!While Asus, Samsung, HP and most consumer technology company always babbling, panic, and showing off about what they are gonna do to face the competition, Apple or not. I wouldn't surprised if Samsung came with 2560x1600 resolution on 11" display. No doubt they're the king of LCD technology. But again, they just shows you news, issue, press release, maybe some bonky prototype months and months BEFORE they are ready to sell it. And it comes directly from company's PR. Again, they panic!!
See the difference there, buddy? All will sell the product in the end, but not all will be bought by market. One is full of $hi1t and big mouth, the other is consistent, they only do when they are ready. That's a big difference dude!
gorash - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
Nice fanboyism, dude.Focher - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
The "fanboy" / "fanboi" accusation is the new Godwin's Law.iSayuSay - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
It's not fanboyism when it's true. Sure Apple rely on Samsung for some chips, components or display technology. But the way they market and sell product, is different.Maybe it's better for those tech companies to just shut up and steadily supply Apple for their iToys product, like Qualcomm. Because they make make more money that way, in a more respectable and elegant way. Because so far, their marketing team is just beat up n fails.
medi01 - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
It sure is better for apple, could increase their margins even further.But how on Earth is that better for customers? Does idiotic FUD have too much influence on you, so that you only consider buying from a single company? Oh well, good for you. But leave others alone.
In smartphone market iOS to Android is about 1 to 3, and declining further. In a couple of years we'll have the same situation for tablets.