14 DAY TRIAL // The new iPad is flawed, insists Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies, after Apple countered his findings that the tablet’s power management was not accurate.
After examining the new iPad up close, Dr. Soneira indicated that the tablet continued to draw as much as 10 watts of power for about another hour, despite iOS displaying the 100% charge sign.
Dr. Soneira thus concluded that Apple’s new iPad actually charges its battery only up to 90 percent, leaving customers with 1.2 hours less running time.
Apple countered Dr. Soneira’s claims reportedly saying that the 100% indicator is accurate relative to the company’s marketing of 10-hours of battery life. The iPad makers reportedly insisted that if you charge it longer, you may harm the longevity of the battery.
In a follow-up to his report on the new iPad’s battery, Dr. Soneira suggests he agrees with Apple, but that the issue remains:
“Damaging the longevity of the battery is then exactly what the new iPad’s internal battery charging hardware and software are doing since it is (Apple's) responsibility to properly control and manage the battery recharging process,” Soneira wrote.
“It’s pretty obvious that if the new iPad knows that it is fully charged then it should automatically stop the charging.”
He believes “[Apple] needs to immediately fix the iPad battery charging algorithm or [it] may be held responsible for replacing all iPad batteries [because] this is just simply an issue of correcting the on-screen battery indicator so that it matches and agrees with what the battery charging hardware and software actually do.”
On its website, Apple advises customers to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down), for proper reporting of the battery’s state of charge.