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Topic: iPad

New iPad operates "well within thermal specifications"

Summary: Apple has issued a statement distancing itself from claims that the new iPad gets warm, or too hot.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Since people began getting their hands on the new iPad last Friday, many have complained that the new iPad becomes overly warm in use.

Reports of the iPad getting hot in use seem to be sporadic. Over on the Apple discussion forums, there are some owners who claim their iPad becomes warm "to a very uncomfortable level" or even "fry an egg hot in the middle". Others claim that there are no heat issues whatsoever.

Apple has issued a statement to AllThingsD saying that delivers all the benefits of the Retina display screen, A5X processor and LTE while "operating well within our thermal specifications."

The area that most people seem to complain about getting hot is the lower-left hand side of the device in portrait mode. This is the side opposite to the logic board featuring the dual-core A5X CPU with a quad-core GPU, and the only major components in that area are the screen and battery, which covers most of the device).

Related:

Topics: iPad, Mobility

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32 comments
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  • I wonder

    will we see a FUD campaign called heatgate of something.

    It would be cool to hear from your colleagues that have one to see what they have experienced.
    CowLauncher
    Reply Vote

    • Yes and No - Updated

      Have to go dig it out but saw an article on Engadget and BGR that some site tested it and it tends to run about 10degrees warmer under normal general use. The area around the location of the GPU can get hotter for more intensive graphic apps.

      Not totally unexpected but still a bit surprising.....

      Update: from BGR.com: [i]"Infrared temperature readings captured by Tweakers.net after just five minutes of benchmark tests showed that the new iPad was running at 92.5 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly 10 degrees hotter than the iPad 2 after five minutes of the same tests."[/i]
      rhonin
      Reply Vote

  • Below 95 degrees

    Apple have the spec say the iPad should operate below 95 degrees (that's 35 Celsius - humans operate at 37!).

    So anyone claiming they can fry and egg on it is either making it up, or has a faulty unit. Interesting the heat is actually on the corner (so the middle doesn't get that warm) so the "egg frying" potential seems rather unlikely.

    But it's impossible to get a burn from something operating at below 95. Otherwise we'd all be suffering internal burns.

    This is a non-issue.
    jeremychappell
    Reply Vote

    • Would not say it is a non issue - yet

      Question: Will running normally at a warmer temperature than the iPad2 have an affect on the lifespan of the device and/or an affect on the lifespan of the battery?

      just wondering.....
      rhonin
      Reply Vote

    • Body temperature

      Actually, no.

      You're probably referring to "core temperature", not only do different parts of the body have different temperatures, skin temperature is usually lower that that.

      Also, healthy humans operate on a relatively wide range of temperatures, on average going from 36C to 37C (again, depending where you measure it), and even then, usually the core temperature varies during the day. And, physical workout will also increase the body temperature.

      That said, prolonged contact with warm objects (even at just 35C) *can* cause skin burns.
      CarlitosLx
      Reply Vote

    • That is incorrect

      The 95 degree mark is the spec for the *operating environment* not for the device itself. Apple doesn't (and has never AFAIK) publish the specifications for the device temperature.
      use_what_works_4_U
      Reply Vote

  • Perhaps they should

    Perhaps they should give out a pair of oven gloves free with every new iPad.
    Blogsworth
    Reply Vote

    • Or just hold the thing right

      Clearly it is meant to be held only by the corner furthest from the hot side. As long as it is held properly there is no issue and anyone holding it improperly deserves their burns.

      But seriously this sounds like a manufacturing defect on a limited number of ipads (ie not much to talk about) rather than a fundamental design issue like the iphone antenna.
      SlithyTove
      Reply Vote

      • Probably not; more like a design defect

        70% more battery capacity used in the same length of time, means 70% higher energy dissipation, which means a much higher thermal gradient, which means the case HAS TO get hotter, significantly hotter.

        To stick that new HW in basically the same case is pretty crude engineering IMHO. Way to go Apple.
        D.T.Long
        Reply Vote

  • Heat

    If you keep adding and adding to a tablet sooner or later it becomes a notebook! By the time I buy one, I will already have one! (A notebook)
    Rocketboiy
    Reply Vote

  • Here we go...

    Yep, and the iPhone 4 had no antenna issues either.. Apple... God love 'em. The easiest way to ensure 100% quality is just to ignore defects. At least the devices "look" cool..
    ddmattison
    Reply Vote

    • Apple is never flawed!

      It's the user that is!
      The one and only, Cylon Centurion
      Reply Vote

  • Fry an egg?

    I hate hyperbole.
    Michael Alan Goff
    Reply Vote

    • I dunno

      As somebody who has one that has no heat issues at all... I think, it is possible for the device to get that hot if they have a defective item... I don't really see this as Hyperbole as much as it is possible that a bad one got through.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

      • So

        "I think, it is possible for the device to get that hot if they have a defective item..."

        One in two people then..
        Blogsworth
        Reply Vote

      • If they're passing it off as normal

        it's either hyperbole or an outright lie.

        I think it's defective, nothing like the 1% of people who had a problem with the iPhone 4. That was a maj-

        Oh.
        Michael Alan Goff
        Reply Vote

  • Eh...

    I am more of an Android fan and even I can see that this is generally BS but the problem is not that the device heats up a little. It is that Apple sells products to be perfect and magical.

    I am concerned for Apple recently to be honest. The reason why people have always loved their products is because of the experience. They have always put user experience in front of everything (which is why I like Android better because Android tries to do more, sometimes succeeding but often at a price). I haven't used a new iPad long enough to test this heat issue but if it is really reaching around 95F, I think that the Apple of 2010 either works it out so that it isn't hot, or downgrade the device a little to remove the issue.
    redhaven
    Reply Vote

  • We're holding it wrong

    We're not supposed to hold it by the corners. If we hold it in the middle, then we won't be near the area that gets hot.
    William Farrel
    Reply Vote

    • Damn

      Damn, it got leaked to the press. Apple were going to use it to sell iPad 4.
      "iPad 4, now with increased heat. Now you can fry an egg with it."
      Blogsworth
      Reply Vote

    • Yeah

      It's not the iPad it's the way people are holding it.
      Blogsworth
      Reply Vote
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