“So Apple let the tablet out of the bag and showed off its new iPad this week. With all the hoopla of a presidential inauguration, the covers were pulled back to reveal…a fairly modest tablet computer,” John Breeden II writes for Government Computer News. “Nothing from the iPad specs that I’ve seen really shows any great cause for celebration. It looks like a nice product, but it’s not exactly earth-shattering. The one thing that was surprising was the inclusion of an IPS display.”
MacDailyNews Take: The guy who runs the lab for Government Computer News, “the online authority for government IT professionals,” has no vision or imaginiation? Shocking.
Breeden continues, “There are drawbacks to IPS, which make me wonder why Apple would put it in the iPad. The first is that TFT displays require only one transistor, which twists the crystal to create an image. With IPS, you need two transistors for every single pixel, one for each end. Right there you are doubling the power consumption of your monitor. But it goes beyond that. Because more of the surface area of the screen is ‘covered’ by images, it also means you need a much more powerful backlight to shine through. And that means either more florescent tubes or much brighter ones. Either way, you are talking about more power.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPad features a 9.7-inch LED-backlit display.
Breeden continues, “I’ve been covering and reviewing notebooks and battery technology for the past decade, and I know what the current technology is capable of. There is no way that a 1.5-pound computer is going to be able to drive an IPS display for ten hours as Steve Jobs claims. It just can’t happen. Perhaps if you let the iPad lapse into standby mode, you could squeeze it. But if you are actually using the device, my estimate would be less than three hours of power, and that’s being generous. The display would look amazing, but be quite a power hog.”
Apple’s iPad features a built-in 25 Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. Apple claims “up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music.” Testing conducted by Apple in January 2010 using preproduction iPad units and software. Testing consisted of full battery discharge while performing each of the following tasks: video playback, audio playback, and Internet browsing using Wi-Fi. Video content was a repeated 2-hour 23-minute movie purchased from the iTunes Store. Audio content was a playlist of 358 unique songs, consisting of a combination of songs imported from CDs using iTunes (128-Kbps AAC encoding) and songs purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Internet over Wi-Fi tests were conducted using a closed network and dedicated web and mail servers, browsing snapshot versions of 20 popular web pages, and receiving mail once an hour. All settings were default except: Wi-Fi was associated with a network; the Wi-Fi feature Ask to Join Networks and Auto-Brightness were turned off. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPad units; actual results may vary. Source: Apple Inc.
Breeden continues, “Unless Apple has also developed some new type of power source, such as nuclear cells or magical hamsters on tiny spinning wheels for the iPad, don’t expect the claims about battery life to hold true.”
Full article (which is ludicrously titled, “FAQ on the Apple iPad’s IPS display”) – Think Before You Click™ – here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s painfully obvious that Breeden has failed to factor in his complete, utter, and absolute lack of knowledge about Apple’s “A4” SoC that powers the iPad. It is also unclear whether Breeden has any experience whatsoever with the battery technology Apple is using in the iPad or if he understands that Apple is routinely among the most conservative of tech companies with their battery life claims; routinely offering products that outperform their stated battery life specs. For not only being unable to grasp the significance of the iPad itself and for seemingly not realizing that Apple’s iPad features an LED-backlit display, but for basically calling Steve Jobs a liar by asserting that iPad would be lucky to get 30% of the battery life that Apple’s CEO publicly stated, Breeden has been iCal’ed for future use.
Contact info:
• , Phone: 703 876-5143
• , Phone: 703 891-8501
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “KingMel” and “MDMac” for the heads up.]
They will get the battery life…Now 30% of claimed screen size…I doubt that; Have you seen how thick that bezel is???
just my $0.02
Another iAsswipe iCal’ed
LED backlit not tubes
Seems a logical set of assumptions when you know nothing about the chips etc that the thing runs on or the custom battery the device includes. Perfectly reasonable to jump to conclusions rather than just waiting 2 months to actually test the device and then make declarations based on fact.
The iPad may not have the declared battery life, but at least give Apple the chance to show us if it does.
It is very hard for anyone to comment given that very few have actually handled one. I think this guy needed some attention.
Wow. He doesn’t even know that the display is backlit by LED, not fluorescent.
I seriously doubt that the iPad is going to get anywhere near the 10 hour battery life claimed. My MacBook Pro does not get anywhere near the claimed battery life. The reality is that most devices do not. To me it is not a drawback to the iPad, it is just the way it is.
“Now 30% of claimed screen size…I doubt that; Have you seen how thick that bezel is???”
WTF are you talking about, Ray?
And, as MDN has already explained: The iPad’s bezel is its handle. It’s where your fingers grip the device without covering the content on the screen, no matter which way you’re holding it.
I love how all of these “experts” can spout off “facts” about a product which they have not touched and for which Apple has not released the technical specs (as in just how large the battery is, etc.). Amazing. I guess he needed hits for his column.
Uhh, Breeden is missing out on a basic fact as well: the iPad’s display uses LED backlight, not fluorescent tubes. That, by itself, will make a big difference in battery life. Plus, Jobs noted that Apple had done some serious work on the battery tech for this product.
It’ll be fun to watch the iPad hit 10 hours while watching a video, and see Breeden have to eat his words!
I have to say that I am a big Apple fan but battery life is one criticism I’ve had for their products in the past. However, I know that since my last purchases all the products I bought have been updated with vastly superior batteries, so I see no reason why the iPad won’t follow the pattern. And even if the first-gen doesn’t have adequate power, the second-gen will!
Ahahaha… he titles it FAQ on a product he’s never even touched or reviewed hands on? Ahahaha
Dangerous thing to publicly call someone a liar, I await his apology with interest though trying to get anyone with ‘government’ in their title to do that is probably optimistic.
All portable Apple products that get reviewed by the industry Mags always have a battery life test done on them.
Everyone that does these are amazed that Apple’s stated time is conservative. The tests end up running longer.
I’ll find some examples and post back later.
If this guy were really the expert he thinks he is he would be able to get a real job instead of being another parasite of society. I mean really, he runs a lab for a Government newspaper? Care to guess how many Apple products he owns or has tested? Another bright spot helping to restore my faith in government.
Of course he wrote such tripe… without even getting his hands on one to test out anything or see what it is *actually* like. This was simply the need to get something out quickly so that out brain dead IT staff can have a “certified government review” to cite when denying access to these devices by all the poor schmucks who want one. How else can we possibly keep our people in the dark and quality products out of our workplace – it is essential to protecting the gazillions of government IT support jobs. SEIU – we’d rather be in a union than work for a living.
I think this schmucks mama was Breeden with Steve Ballmer.
I hear Apple is planning a pundit luncheon soon after the iPad ships. The main course: crow.
Thing is, Jobs and Apple usually don’t throw out bad figures. They might be under ideal (read: light use) conditions, so perhaps are over 10-20% of reality. Of course, it depends on what you do with your iPad. If you are streaming a MLB game, then yeah, your battery might not hang on too long.
Thing is, we don’t know the power savings that come with the A4 chip. It could be really excellent, combined with the LED screen…
OK, he muffed the technology used. Tubes vs LEDs. His point was NOT about that, but about How Many. So, translate that into “More LEDs” and you have a valid statement. Twice as many transistors in the screen and half again as many LEDs … added power draw.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”angry” style=”border:0;” />
And, isn’t the screen one of the prime power-uses?
Of course, that assumes all transistors are created equal and ignores both the A4 and the battery. Which doesn’t let the buffoons here of the hook, it just shows what a modicum of thinking can come up with. Reactionary twits!
C’mon Breeden! Bet a whole months salary on your 30% claim!
Last week we have the Canadian school board guy demonstrating how IT decisions don’t depend on TCO or TRI. Here we have another perfect example of how IT decisions are influenced by guys with no real knowledge of alternatives but believe they are all around experts.
According to the extensive tests by Anand Lal Shimpi at anandtech.com the Apple claims of battery life for their notebooks is legit. The key is that the Mac OS is twice as efficient in-between cycles than any of the Windows OSes.
As Apple’s claims seem to be the most legit in the industry, I can only assume that when the 10hour claim is clarified, it will prove to be true.
Read about anandtech’s battery tests here:
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=4
And that electric car that is coming out in 2015- they claim it will travel 300 miles on one charge and I know for a fact that battery technology will not achieve this. “What electric car?” you ask? Well, the one that hasn’t shipped yet, of course.
How can these idiots make claims on something they’ve never even touched? What a bozo. He’s going to have serious egg on his face come March. Gessh- you’d think they at least wait until the thing is out and they can test it for themselves…
If he did just a little bit of research he would find out the that screen is from LG and uses their Enhanced IPS technology which overcomes the traditional IPS drawbacks.
As for his description of TFT, surely he means TN (twisted nematic). TFT just refers to the manufacturing process not the way the display is actually implemented.
Still, I am not surprised he has jumped on the bandwagon. Another case of Tall Poppy Syndrome I fear.