Batterygate: Apple's Dysfunctional iPad 3 Battery Charger

[obsessed2]

There's another article on ZDNet (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/w...;siu-container) that says the battery meter is behaving as it should. The last percentage of charging (usually above 95%) is essentially a trickle charge to protect your battery - and you - from damage. For some reason Apple chose to impose this trickle charge at a lower battery percentage. The article says that Apple will be able to tighten up the charging mechanism through a software update, but as long as you leave your new iPad plugged in for a bit longer, you should get the battery up to full capacity which can result in almost an extra hour off the charger according to Dr. Soneira.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Most people feel brand loyalty to some extent. [moderation edit]

[moderation edit] I use an Android Tablet and smartphone... I was talking batteries but [moderation edit] you might want to check out a few more links as well...


Edit: This comment now not accurate due to over eager mod editing... I do not support this statement and wish it to be deleted from this thread along with my other comments and references...

[JSWolf]

I use Battery Doctor. It shows the full fast charge, the 100% to full charged and then the trickle charge. Also, it shows me how long is left of the current charge cycle. Plus, it can play a sound to let me know the charging is done. I have the trickle charge set to 30 minutes. Plus, it tells me when I should give the iPad a full charge. A full charge is one that starts from under 20%.

So when I charge the iPad or iPhone, they get a full 100% charge.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by obsessed2

There's another article on ZDNet (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/w...;siu-container) that says the battery meter is behaving as it should. The last percentage of charging (usually above 95%) is essentially a trickle charge to protect your battery - and you - from damage. For some reason Apple chose to impose this trickle charge at a lower battery percentage. The article says that Apple will be able to tighten up the charging mechanism through a software update, but as long as you leave your new iPad plugged in for a bit longer, you should get the battery up to full capacity which can result in almost an extra hour off the charger according to Dr. Soneira.

So, the iPad charger isn't defective and there's no scandal? [moderation edit]

[dreams]

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[afa]

Can we get a "[moderation edit]" on that post...?

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by Synamon

So, the iPad charger isn't defective and there's no scandal? [moderation edit]

The first story was never presented to be a scandal. It's merely to point out that if you own an iPad3 you may want to leave it plugged in after the battery meter reads 100% because it is actually charged to around 90%. The second story says Apple will likely fix it with a software update so that when the battery meter says 100% it actually means the battery is closer to 100% and not 90%; meaning owners will get about an extra hour of run time before having to return the iPad to the charger.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by obsessed2

meaning owners will get about an extra hour of run time before having to return the iPad to the charger.

I wonder how many iPad owners actually do run the iPad down to the level where it gives a "low battery" warning? I never do - I think the lowest mine's ever got is about 20% charge.

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I use Battery Doctor. It shows the full fast charge, the 100% to full charged and then the trickle charge. Also, it shows me how long is left of the current charge cycle. Plus, it can play a sound to let me know the charging is done. I have the trickle charge set to 30 minutes. Plus, it tells me when I should give the iPad a full charge. A full charge is one that starts from under 20%.

So when I charge the iPad or iPhone, they get a full 100% charge.

Never heard of it. I see it's available for Android too. I'll give it try on my Viewsonic gTab which typically shows "fully charged" at 96%. Thanks for the info.

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I wonder how many iPad owners actually do run the iPad down to the level where it gives a "low battery" warning? I never do - I think the lowest mine's ever got is about 20% charge.

Understand. I rarely let my own tablets get below 20% before returning them to the charger.

However, when 100% charged means a device is really only 90% charged instead of 96-98% (end charge for most lithium batteries is typically 2-3% less than 100% and sometimes a little more) it means that the device will reach 20% much sooner than if it were actually charged to 96-98% and may even mean the battery is really at 10% when the meter says 20%. Plus, who wouldn't like to have an additional hour of use that Dr. Soneria claims users would get if the battery meter was more accurate.

[Rob Lister]

This is so very much ado over so very little nothing. I feel like I must be missing something critical. Batterygate!? Is this really what passes for scandal here?

[murraypaul]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but this entire discussion seems to be based on measurements taken from a single iPad?
Isn't it standard with Lithium batteries that until you've done a full discharge-recharge cycle the battery level display isn't 'trained' correctly, and won't display the correct figure?

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Isn't it standard with Lithium batteries that until you've done a full discharge-recharge cycle the battery level display isn't 'trained' correctly, and won't display the correct figure?

No. Rechargeable lithium batteries are usually touted as better than older batteries because they don't have the so called "memory effect" like older batteries.

Normally the top out charge for each cell in lithium batteries is 4.2VDC which indicates 100% charge which in reality is normally around 96-98%. However, Apple limited the top out charge for each cell at somewhere likely between 3.9 - 4.1VDC which means the battery is really only charged to about 90% capacity even though it is reported by the battery monitor as 100%.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by obsessed2

No. Rechargeable lithium batteries are usually touted as better than older batteries because they don't have the so called "memory effect" like older batteries.

The memory effect is something different.
That was about it being bad for the battery to keep topping it up.

Memory effect, also known as battery effect, lazy battery effect or battery memory, is an effect observed in nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries that causes them to hold less charge. It describes one very specific situation in which certain NiCd batteries gradually lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged. The battery appears to "remember" the smaller capacity.[1] The source of the effect is changes in the characteristics of the underused active materials of the cell.[citation needed] The term is commonly misapplied to almost any case in which a battery appears to hold less charge than was expected. These cases are more likely due to battery age and use, leading to irreversible changes in the cells due to internal short-circuits, loss of electrolyte, or reversal of cells.

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

This is so very much ado over so very little nothing. I feel like I must be missing something critical. Batterygate!? Is this really what passes for scandal here?

I agree, the title could of ZDnet's story chould have been different. It's just a catchy headline to get the readers attention. The article is not really saying there is a scandal but merely that iPad owners are losing up to an hour of potential use time because of incorrectly reported battery charge percentage.

In other words 100% on the battery meter does not mean your battery is 100% charged, it really means it's 90% charged. Imagine if your car's gas gauge said you had a full tank but in reality it's only 7/8 full. If you have a 20 gallon tank that's 2.5 gallons short. If your car gets 30 miles a gallon this means you can drive almost an extra 100 miles before fill up. If your battery is at 100% instead of 90% you get an extra hour of use before having to recharge.