Wondering why your new iPad is lying to you about how much charge it has? Don't worry, says Apple. It's all for your benefit.
In a statement to AllThingsD, Apple's Vice President of iPad Marketing Michael Tchao said the new iPad charges no differently from any other iOS device.
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In other words, it gets to 100%, drains a little, and recharges to 100%. This "wash, rinse, repeat" cycle means you can keep the iPad plugged in constantly without damaging the battery in any way, Tchao says.
“That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like,” Tchao told AllThingsD. “It’s a great feature that’s always been in iOS.”
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Tchao said the decision to have the battery read 100% throughout the charge-discharge cycle was a deliberate one, so as not to confuse consumers.
More confusing, however, is the fact that the battery reads 100% the moment it reaches the discharge point in the cycle. So if you unplug your iPad the instant it reads 100%, you are probably not getting as much charge as you possibly could -- though Tchao says you should still be getting the full 10 hours Apple promises.
Whether you could have had an extra 1.2 hours of battery life by waiting, as DisplayMate analyst Ray Soneira claims, is an open question. The answer may well vary by device, and by what apps you're using in the test.
Regardless, new iPad owners can stop fretting -- or, if you look at it in a glass-half-empty way, owners of iPhones, iPod touches and iPad 2s can start fretting about how their device lies about its charge too.
Apple, meanwhile, may want to consider that its consumers are capable of understanding a device with a charge-discharge cycle -- and are really interested in maximizing their time with the tablet.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
