Tested: Battery Life on the new iPad
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 19, 2012 6:06 PM ESTHot on the heels of our Retina Display analysis we have some more data for you: battery life of the new iPad. The chart above is our revamped web browser battery life test that we introduced in Part 2 of our Eee Pad Transformer Prime review. Despite the huge increase in battery capacity, battery life seems to be a bit lower than the iPad 2. The drop isn't huge but it does echo what we've seen in our subjective testing: the new iPad doesn't appear to last as long as the old one.
The drop on LTE is in line with what Apple claims you should expect: about an hour less than on WiFi.
Now for the killer. If you have an iPad on Verizon's LTE network and use it as a personal hotspot (not currently possible on the AT&T version), it will last you roughly 25.3 hours on a single charge. Obviously that's with the display turned off, but with a 42.5Wh battery driving Qualcomm's MDM9600 you get tons of life out of the new iPad as a personal hotspot.
More in our upcoming review...
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doobydoo - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
Do you have to 'only' do something to benefit from it? It has the best normal battery life anyway, excluding the iPad 2. Just another benefit.seapeople - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
Wait... so you mean there was an easier way to do it rather than for me to buy a 4G Ipad for 500 and WiFi Ipad for 800? I generally keep the 4G Ipad turned off and use it as a hotspot so I can get better battery life on my WiFi Ipad.If only I could have it all with just one Ipad.
mcnabney - Thursday, March 22, 2012 - link
Verizon doesn't have a cap and they don't throttle. If you use more you move to a higher bucket of GB. They will even back date you so you don't pay a per GB overage. Might as well get used to it. Wireless network capacity is a scarce commodity. You don't complain that electricty, water, or natural gas are generally metered (even though there are still plenty of people that have unlimited for those too).gorash - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
Amount it takes to charge?dagamer34 - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
Yeah, I'd love to see the amount of time it takes to charge using the AC adapter, Mac USB port, and PC USB port from 0-100%. I suspect that standard spec 500mA are so pitifully slow at charging that they aren't useful anymore. I never bothered using the AC adapter with my previous iPads but I might have to this time.UpSpin - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
0.5A * 5V = 2.5W -> 2.5W * 80% efficiency = 2W -> 42.5Whr/2W = 21 hours --> charging via normal USB takes one day. Charging via 1A charger probably half a day.But I'm also curious to see real life numbers.
cserwin - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
iPads of any generation won't charge at .5A. The included adapter is 2A. I charged from 8% this weekend, it was about 6 hours.Charge time is the only drawback I have experienced from upgrading from the first gen.
Fanfoot - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
Agreed. Sounds like this is one of the big negatives of the new display and the corresponding 70% increase in battery size. Also, is there any way to speed up the battery charging process? Like using an Innergie 3A/15W wall charger instead of the supplied Apple 2A/10W charger? Or does that not do anything?seascape - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
I had to become a member to correct that chart. It simply is incorrect.I own an ipad 3 32g 4g Lte Verizon model and I properly calibrated my battery and I am getting 11 hours battery life with wifi enabled. Please correct your data and run a proper test next time.
stevessvt - Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - link
With he screen turned off the entire time?