Apple: iPad 3 battery gauge works as expected
Summary: Apple didn't want to show the iPad battery constantly fluctuating between 90 and 100 percent as the battery goes through its normal trickle charge/discharge cycle to keep it topped off.
AllThingsD's Ina Fried published an article today indicating that the observations of unusual charing behavior with the iPad 3 aren't so unusual after all.
Yesterday I noted that if you unplug your iPad 3 as soon as the battery indicator says "100%" you’re actually missing out on as much as 1.2 hours (10 percent) of additional run time. But Apple says that this is the expected behavior and that the iPad battery is designed to work this way.
Fried explains it this way:
Apple does, in fact, display the iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) as 100 percent charged just before a device reaches a completely charged state. At that point, it will continue charging to 100 percent, then discharge a bit and charge back up to 100 percent, repeating that process until the device is unplugged.
Soneira, President of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation, first discovered that the iPad 3 experienced a net loss of 1.2 hours (around 10 percent) of battery run time if unplugged as soon as its battery indicator displayed 100%. His essential point was that if the iPad 3 is fully charged (i.e. overnight) it will run 11.6 hours, which is 1.2 hours longer than if it is only charged to 100% (10.4 hours).
Apple VP Michael Tchao tells AllThingsD that Apple decided not to keep changing the battery status "so as not to distract or confuse users," explaining:
That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like, It’s a great feature that’s always been in iOS.
So there you have it. The iPad battery displays "100%" a little prematurely because Apple didn't think that it would be wise to show the battery constantly fluctuating between 90 and 100 percent as the battery goes through its normal trickle charge/discharge cycle to keep it topped off. Makes sense to me.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
How many articles are going to be written about this very
Pagan jim
apple is hiding major defects
http://techrights.org/2012/03/26/apple-defects-in-ipad/
And the Apple Haters Speak Again
Baffle them with BS would be my take
Oh come on Linux Geek
Don't you get tired of being wrong all the time and displaying that fact every single time you make a post here?
You have a weak grasp on what the concept of "proven" means
"Proven" does not mean what you think it means. For one thing, it involves "proof" not just unfounded supposition.
Oh, so this is why
Much ado about nothing
Talk about much ado about nothing.
Annnnnnnnnd....
Put down the stick and walk away from the horse Jason...
Well, it could be a problem
I can't seem to find them.
Exactly!
Not sure there is one
Keep spreading the FUD ZDNet
Very typical
Absolutely.
Who? Almost everybody?
Most other devices I've seen
That way you can tell if it is charging, or if the power connector is not plugged in correctly, or if the PSU is actually plugged into the wall.
Modern devices that use Lithium cells do indeed all have this feature, as it is extremely bad for this type of cell to be overcharged or completely discharged. Overcharging a Radio Control Lithium pack is extremely dangerous as those things can deliver double figures in Watts, and an internal short can get hot enough to cause a fire. Discharging them completely can cause these shorts as crystals grow in the Polymer layer and are repeatedly dissolved by the charging action, weakening the insulation - so the most efficient use of the cell happens above 20%, which is when the device says its empty, even though it is not.
iPad batteries dont hold enough charge to do serious damage, however their life is also shortened by that kind of abuse, hence the battery management system.
Most people are now familiar with the fact that modern batteries need to be treated with a little consideration, and watch their charge cycles accordingly. Its just curious to me that Apple have decided to try and hide this standard behaviour because it might 'confuse' users.
This smacks of treating customers as if they were stupid...
Not stupid, just realistic
From a usability standpoint, Apple did exactly the right thing. Why add a battery charge indicator that may not be immediately obvious what it means? Especially when most users could care less? If the charge indicator shows 100% and you get the specified battery life, why worry about the technical details of battery management? It's nothing users can control or even need to worry about. It's these fine little details that make Apple products the most usable in the world. An engineer might have thought that a different battery indicator would be a great idea, but most people aren't engineers. Just imagine from a technical support standpoint the number of calls that would have been generated by this subtle little change. "My battery charge indicator is freaking out!" This is just another example of Old World vs New World of Technology thinking and why Apple is the company it is today.
If it were designed well, it wouldnt generate tech support calls
And I still think Apple using the excuse that the users wouldnt understand is a bit insulting, given the capabilities of the device and who it is aimed at...
And...