[Macworld]

Post your comments for New iPad's battery life matches Apple's claims, but iPad 2 lasts longer here

[GamerChase]

I'd like to see the iPad 1 included on that graph.

[Payup]

How about a similar test - a time lapse video of iPad 2 and new iPad side by side with nothing but safari open on full brightness and an infrared thermometer pointed at each one of them. This would show a) battery life difference how hot it gets during very basic usage.

[redgeminipa]

With the extra crisp display the new iPad has, I don't find it necessary to keep the screen nearly as bright as I did with the previous 2 iPads. Therefore, I find the battery life to be essentially the same.

Full brightness on the new iPad is almost too bright for regular use.

[zarmanto]

If I might offer an opinion on your feature request to Apple: A repeat option would have somewhat limited value, outside of testing scenarios such as yours -- but I think a native video "playlist" feature would have more broad applicability to many more users, and would also serve the same purpose as that repeat option, for your product testing.

Personally, I would love to have this playlist feature myself for watching music videos on my iPhone, (which seems to be the most commonly stated reason for this request) or for letting the kids watch their DVRed TV shows back-to-back on long car rides, without me having to queue up a new show for them every twenty-two minutes.

That said, there are already a couple of less-then-perfect-but-serviceable video playlist options in the iOS App Store. Might be worth a glance.

[MutantPie]

Like GamerChase, I'd like to see the results with an iPad 1 included, however I think that to be fair/accurate all three models should be tested with new batteries, the versions 1 & 2 getting fresh ones installed.

[jdb8167]

MutantPie, on 30 March 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

Like GamerChase, I'd like to see the results with an iPad 1 included, however I think that to be fair/accurate all three models should be tested with new batteries, the versions 1 & 2 getting fresh ones installed.

That might be difficult for the original iPad unless it uses the same battery as the iPad 2. If the replacement battery has been sitting on a shelf for 2 years, it could very well be less than "like new". The problem is that lithium ion batteries degrade even sitting on a shelf. Not as much as if used but they do have a shelf life.

[jdb8167]

Thank you for adding the refinement of measuring the backlight intensity. I've been wondering about that for a while. It is far better than setting a comfortable or reasonable level by sight alone since the backlight is the biggest battery drain in these kinds of devices.

[Inkling]

Not everyone is that interested in movie watching or game playing. A reading test, including page turns, at living-room brightness and in a darkened room would useful, as would a test of battery life as an mobile productivity device in lieu of a laptop. Quite a few people, me included, see our new iPads as a substitute for a laptop, particularly for less complex tasks.

[kent909]

I have never ended the day with my iPad battery being dead. I think I have seen 8% as the lowest reading. So for me the bottom line is, it does not matter how long the battery lasts, but does the battery last as long as I need it to. In my case it does. I would also suggest that if you run out of battery before the end of the day, maybe you should be spending some time do something else.

[zarmanto]

Inkling, on 30 March 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

Not everyone is that interested in movie watching or game playing. ...

I think you fail to see the true significance of the test; movie watching and game playing are two of the most battery draining activities that you can perform on any given mobile device. The intent here is to show what "worst case scenario" usage looks like, and to assure potential customers that the new iPad will live up to Apple's advertising claims even under those usage cases. We can then infer that most other types of usage (including mixed usage) will almost always result in longer battery life, to different degrees depending upon the types of usage.

Since we're talking about an advertised battery life of ten hours, and you're asking about common every day activities, (as opposed to uncommon extended use scenarios, such as international flights which might potentially last longer then the battery) then I think it's safe to say that you're worrying too much about the statistics, and not enough about the user experience.

This post has been edited by zarmanto: 30 March 2012 - 08:41 AM

[ScottHines3ku0]

The test seems fair. I keep my iPad plugged in as much as possible, but a quick trip outside or to the mall uses very little power.

[Petew]

James wrote: "As a side note, we chose 150 cd/m^2, instead of just setting the brightness slider to the center so that we could compare results across a variety of tablets in future tests."

So, instead of halfway, where is the slider on both iPads at 150 cd/m^2? An included picture of this would have been nice.

[Althewop]

Since I had battery issues (that Apple barely acknowledgeed) with my iPad 2 from the time I bought it until the iOS 5.1 update, I a thrilled with the battery performance in the new iPad.