“While the new iPad has come under some criticism for the way it handles battery charging, Apple says the device operates in the same manner as past iOS devices,” Ina Fried reports for AllThingsD. “The source of the confusion stems from how Apple manages the charging process from the point when a battery is very nearly charged until a user unplugs the device.”
“So here’s how things work: Apple does, in fact, display the iPad (and iPhone and iPod Touch) as 100 percent charged just before a device reaches a completely charged state,” Fried reports. “At that point, it will continue charging to 100 percent, then discharge a bit and charge back up to 100 percent, repeating that process until the device is unplugged.”
Fried reports, “Doing so allows devices to maintain an optimum charge, Apple VP Michael Tchao told AllThingsD today. ‘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.'”
Much more in the full article here.
Related article:
New iPad’s battery indicator a bit off? (UPDATE: Apple says it works as designed) – March 27, 2012
As an owner and daily user of an iPod Touch 4, I’ve very familiar with this phenomenon. That extra ‘10%’ or so is commonly called ‘topping off’ the battery.
The real problem I see here is explaining the situation to the user. Rechargeable battery behavior has always been unintuitive and strange compared to our imagined model of them drinking glasses that hold electricity. It has never been that simple.
I’ve even heard battery ‘experts’ totally botch explaining how rechargable Lithium batteries work compared to rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. That regular users would find batteries difficult to comprehend is no surprise.
You don’t need to explain it to the user. The average user doesn’t care. They don’t even think about it.
Think about what?
it’s a non issue but unfortunately the bottom feeding link bait tech press who should know better try to use it to bad mouth Apple as it gets page hits. Zd net for example calls it ‘Battery Gate: Apple’s Dysfunctional iPad Battery Charger’.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/batterygate-apples-dysfunctional-ipad-3-battery-charger/72379?tag=mantle_skin;content
These types of statements by tech writers are just hit bait. This would only be an issue if users on mass were complaining that the new iPad was getting less battery life. The average user just uses the device until the low battery warning comes on.
Great explanation by Apple. Explains the situation perfectly.