iPad Battery

Apple customers are concerned about the performance of their iPads after it was revealed that the company was slowing down older iPhone models with poorly functioning batteries. In response to the controversy the iPhone-maker released a support document explaining why the throttling was necessary. The document revealed that the iPhone throttling was not a conspiracy, but an attempt by Apple to stop older models from randomly shutting down due to chemically aged batteries. Apple also noted in the document that the "power management feature is specific to iPhone and does not apply to any other Apple products."

This means Apple is not slowing down your iPad.

According to a report in the The Daily Mail, British fuel cell firm, Intelligent Energy, is working with Apple on new battery technology that could allow mobile devices to go days, if not weeks, before they need to be charged.

According to the paper, Intelligent Energy revealed that it, in collusion with "an international electronics company," had purchased a number of patents related to fuel cell technology. Though the tabloid publication is far from the pinnacle of accuracy, it does get some things right, and in this particular case it claims that it was told by "senior sources in the US" that Apple and Intelligent Energy hoped to have new fuel cells on the market within the next few years. It also claimed to have another source "who has knowledge of the partnership, [and] confirmed that Apple is the big name working with the Loughborough-based firm."

With every new iOS release comes new complaints about battery drain, but it is hard to know if any of these accusations are actually true. However, iOS 7 and 7.1 do include a lot of unnecessary features that do drain your battery. Here's a few iOS 7.1 features you can disable to get more life out of your iPad or iPhone.

Turn off Background App Refresh, Auto Downloads and iOS 7 Parallax Effect

iOS 7 introduced a lot of new and interesting features, but a lot of these are a huge drain on your battery and not important to some users. You can start saving battery power by disabling Background App Refresh. This feature allows some apps to refresh their content while running in the background. This does require battery power and can be one of the reasons why your device seems always seems to be low.

You can disable this feature by navigating to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and then tap the slider so it turns white or OFF. You can also selectively turn off certain apps from this panel while allowing other to continue searching for updates. This will also reduce the strain on your battery since your device will be searching for less updates.

More accessories are on the way from Apple to complement the full range of iOS products with Lightning dock connectors. One highlight is an update to the power adapter shipped with the Retina display iPad and iPad mini.

In order to meet the battery life demands on these power-hungry mobile devices, Apple has been forced to increase the capacity of built-in lithium-ion batteries. The new power adapter provides 12W instead of the previous version with only 10W of juice.

Starting on May 16 the USPS will ban all international shipments of lithium batteries for safety reasons. Although device manufacturers such as Apple ship their products with a limited charge to help prevent incidents, used iPads and other items shipped by consumers can be dangerous depending on a variety of factors.

Lithium batteries have been responsible for several fires on passenger airplanes and are blamed for two fatal cargo plane crashes in the past five years. As Fast Company points out, the ban will have the largest impact on military members serving overseas. Although FedEx offers delivery service to APO, FPO and DPO addresses, lithium batteries are not allowed.

Thanks to a smaller 32-nm die shrink of the A5 iPad 2 processor, the device consumes noticeably less power. MacRumors points out that the iPad2,4 has been used as a test bed for next generation chip processes. In contrast, the iPad 3 A5X continues to be produced using a 45-nm process.

The new iPad 2 models have identical performance characteristics, however they clock battery life of 15-30 percent longer than their 45-nm cousins. The iPad 2 is now available new from Apple for $399, although older 45-nm stock is still being sold.

Apple confirmed today that "overcharging" the new iPad will not destroy the device. CNBC’s John Fortt and other Apple blogs previously reported that charging your new iPad after the screen indicates 100% "could harm the longevity of the battery." Apple told AllThingsD that the iPad 3 does display a 100% charge before reaching maximum capacity, but added that all Apple devices do this.

Apple VP Michael Tchao said that the new iPad will continue to charge to 100% before discharging a small amount. The device will then repeat this process until it's unplugged. “That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like,” Tchao said. “It’s a great feature that’s always been in iOS.”

Now that the new iPad has been put through its paces, there have been reports that iOS 5.1 is not accurately reporting battery charge percentage. ZDNet has even said the battery algorithm is "busted" while other reports have warned against overcharging the device. For those who are worried about damaging their batteries, rest assured that the iPad is not destroying its own battery.

First of all, every iOS device will report a 100% charge while leaving room to spare. This keeps the lithium-ion batteries optimized. The iPad 3 battery is massive, clocking 42.5-watt-hours compared to the iPad 2's battery at just 25-watt-hours. As a result, iOS may be reporting the new iPad battery as fully charged when in fact it's only at 90% capacity.

In an early iPad 3 review TechCrunch noted that the new iPad takes longer to charge and heats up after prolonged use.

"One other slight downside which I have to assume is related to either the battery or the LTE functionality is that unlike previous iPad models, the new iPad does get noticeably warm in the lower left corner after prolonged use. "

The reviewer made it clear that the iPad only gets warm, not hot, but some iPad 3 owners are already complaining that the tablet is getting too uncomfortable to hold while watching movies or playing games.

A thread on the MacRumor forums seems to confirm that the iPad 3 is warming up in the lower left corner when used for an extended amount of time. Some believe this is due to the 4G LTE, or the stronger battery Apple added to handle the power hungry iPad 3 features.