News: Apple Responds to iPad Battery Concerns

After some concerns over the new iPad’s battery charging for up to an hour after displaying 100%, Apple VP Michael Tchao spoke with Ina Fried of AllThingsD and explained that part of that is the way things are supposed to work.

The process is more noticeable, due to the iPad’s bigger battery:

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. 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.

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.”

It appears to have gone largely unnoticed until this latest generation iPad, when DisplayMate analyst Ray Soneira noted that his testing showed the iPad not fully charged when it displayed 100 percent.

In other words, your iPad is probably better at taking care of its battery than you thought, so unless there’s some sort of warranty-related malfunction, enjoy having the same battery life in a much more powerful gadget.