iPad 3 charging??

MuGeN · 7 Jun 2012 at 10:55

So, I have my iPad 3 on my desk running my IG Index app (keeping track of share prices and whatnot) and as such it is constantly on. Due to this I have it plugged into the iMac and I'm in disbelief that the charge can barely keep it constant, in 2 hours its actually gone down 2% :confused:

Anyone else find that the battery is nowhere near as good as previous models?

theheyes · 7 Jun 2012 at 10:57

Yep, the general battery experience is quite poor at times.

PR. · 7 Jun 2012 at 11:44

General opinion is that USB ports don't provide enough juice making it slow to charge, or to actually discharge under heavy load. Best to use the mains plug instead.

Disco Boy · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:05

If you use the mains plug you won't have this problem.

Personally I'd only plug it in (to the mains charger) when the battery is low, so that the battery actually cycles.

MrMoonX · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:14

the battery is massive, its needs more than usb power to charge and operate, you can charge it slowly via USB providing you aren't using it, just use the adaptor

mikeh501 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:48

saw an article that the ipad3 battery is nearly as big as the MBA battery!

oli356 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:54

I'm considering taking mine to the Apple store... battery seems terrible compared to my iPad 1. I never had to watch the battery on that, this seems to go down really quickly for some reason.

Might do a restore and see how that goes.

Memphis · 7 Jun 2012 at 13:36

MrMoonX said:
the battery is massive, its needs more than usb power to charge and operate, you can charge it slowly via USB providing you aren't using it, just use the adaptor

As above really.

My iPad lasts ages. I have been using it to listen to radio using TuneIn and after a day of it, I'm only losing a few percent.

Jimbeam3678 · 7 Jun 2012 at 15:22

Memphis said:
As above really.

My iPad lasts ages. I have been using it to listen to radio using TuneIn and after a day of it, I'm only losing a few percent.

Same here but if you do crank the brightness up when in the sun etc it does drain pretty quickly.

Still thikn the battery life is pretty good

theheyes · 7 Jun 2012 at 15:33

To be fair, on balance it's ok. It's more of an annoyance than a dealbreaker.

Disco Boy · 7 Jun 2012 at 16:25

Have you closed apps you aren't using and turned the brightness down from max?

Jimz · 7 Jun 2012 at 20:04

My Ipad 3 is fantastic for battery life, I game on it for hours on full brightness and with Wifi and it only drops to 70-80%

Jimbeam3678 · 7 Jun 2012 at 23:56

Disco Boy said:
Have you closed apps you aren't using and turned the brightness down from max?

The former makes no difference , the brightness however makes a huge difference

TheLegendOfMart · 8 Jun 2012 at 07:26

USB ports generally give out 5v 500ma charge, pretty sure iPad 3 needs 1.5a to charge.

Its using power faster than your USB port can supply it.

oli356 · 8 Jun 2012 at 07:59

Hmm, I used 20% battery with the screen off, just playing music from a radio app. Over about 6/7 hours, that seems quite a lot imo.

Marky · 8 Jun 2012 at 08:07

I find the battery life to be amazing - but then again I don't have it on all the time...

I would certainly try the mains adapter and see if that makes a difference. I have heard of this occurring though - it's meant to happen with big apps/games such as Infinity Blade etc.

Johnz0r · 8 Jun 2012 at 09:09

I have also found that the battery life is superb, I probably charge mine around twice a week and that is with ample usage of iplayer and the like.

I have recently purchased a new computer and I made sure that I bought a motherboard that can charge the iPad through USB and MSI offer a very good solution to this problem.

Spooter · 8 Jun 2012 at 11:10

This is your problem..

The iPad will charge through a USB port from a computer, but only when the iPad screen is off. When the screen is on, the message Not Charging will appear next to the battery symbol because there is not enough power for both charging and the screen.

(Taken from a iPad tips guide)

Johnz0r · 9 Jun 2012 at 11:38

Spooter said:
This is your problem..

The iPad will charge through a USB port from a computer, but only when the iPad screen is off. When the screen is on, the message Not Charging will appear next to the battery symbol because there is not enough power for both charging and the screen.

(Taken from a iPad tips guide)

Interesting, I can charge mine and use it at the same time. Must be down to the MSI super-charger software.

FreeStream · 10 Jun 2012 at 19:56

Johnz0r said:
Interesting, I can charge mine and use it at the same time. Must be down to the MSI super-charger software.

All modern macs and some PCs allow for the 1A (Up from 500mA) that the iPad requires to charge AND run at the same time.

I.e. 5W power draw instead of 2.5W.

Unfortunately, this is a problem due to the size of the battery.

Only real solution is to leave it off and charge overnight.

(Note: There isn't anything Apple can do, charging rates are limited by the USB spec).