Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

macguy360

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 23, 2011
836
512
Those who are complaining are missing a big factor related to the battery.

Apple increased the battery size when they released the retina iPads in order to handle the increased power demands of the screen. I believe they also increased the wattage of the chargers from 11 watt to 13 if I'm not mistaken. But charging time increased significantly. Do you remember how people started complaining about how long it takes to charge the retina iPad compared to earlier versions.

Now that the processors use less power, Apple is able to decrease the size of the battery while maintaining pretty awesome battery life of 10 hours.

With a 15% smaller battery, charging times should decrease significantly. Thus, we aren't stuck waiting forever for our iPads to charge. I for one am very happy about this.
 
The iPad Air 2 charger has only 10W, and the one that came with the Air has 12W
 
Last edited:
If true, /thread.

imageprjib.jpg
 
WTF Apple. One step forward and two steps back

The 10w charger is definitely 1 step back, but I wouldn't call the Air 2's smaller batter a step forward. Sure a smaller battery takes less to me in time to charge fully, but only in the same way a tiny battery lasting 1 hour would charge very quickly. A larger battery is always better. The Air 2's battery got smaller just for the size/weight reduction.
 
Bitch bitch bitch!

Just don't buy the dam thing or quit whining!

I find it terribly presumptuous that people on this forum always think they know more about putting together an iPad than Apple does.

I am quite sure there are specific reasons for every single decision they make and what I think bothers the whiners more than anything else is that Apple doesn't openly discuss their reasons why they do what they do. They just do it and they do it very well as far as I am concerned.

Perhaps I am in the minority but I am looking forward to the arrival of my new iPad and am sure I will have NO complaints about the new improvements made by the company that invented the dam thing!
 
Just don't buy the dam thing or quit whining!

I find it terribly presumptuous that people on this forum always think they know more about putting together an iPad than Apple does.

I am quite sure there are specific reasons for every single decision they make and what I think bothers the whiners more than anything else is that Apple doesn't openly discuss their reasons why they do what they do. They just do it and they do it very well as far as I am concerned.

Perhaps I am in the minority but I am looking forward to the arrival of my new iPad and am sure I will have NO complaints about the new improvements made by the company that invented the dam thing!

Your just as bad as the whiners. This is a forum to discuss all things iPad, both good and bad. As a consumer, we have the right to be excited about products and also to be disappointed. We can objectively discuss things that we think are improvements and things that are worse.

Getting on these forums and getting all bent out of shape because people say something negative about a product is ridiculous. There will always be people that have good and bad things to say and if you cannot handle the negatives, you should not be reading forums. You should probably just be spending your days inside the Apple stores listening to all the good things the mac geeks have to say about the product.

I for one appreciate hearing the negatives that people have to say because it allows me to make an informed decision on whether or not I want to purchase a product. It is easy to find positive information about the iPad. All i have to do is go to Apple.com and read all of the information. The negative information like screen uniformity, ram limitations, and laggy interfaces are the things I want to read about to know what I can possibly expect with purchasing a new iPad.

Your response does nothing to contribute to this forum.
 
i think the weight was a big factor too.
it just looks better to have the weight finally below 1 pound.

and obviously better to hold over a long period of time.
 
With a 15% smaller battery, charging times should decrease significantly. Thus, we aren't stuck waiting forever for our iPads to charge. I for one am very happy about this.

That's a flawed logic. So if they halved the size of the battery, would you be happy that it charges twice as faster? The charging speed depends on the charging circuitry and battery type. The iPad Air 2 battery might charge to 100% quicker but still might have the same charge as a 80% full iPad Air battery at same time of the charge cycle. So if they had a bigger battery in the iPad Air 2, I can unplug my iPad at 80% and still have the same 10Hr battery life they claim.

Having said that, I don't have any complaints about the size of the battery, as long as the battery life is same as the original Air.
 
i think the weight was a big factor too.
it just looks better to have the weight finally below 1 pound.

and obviously better to hold over a long period of time.
I think this is the answer. More people will probably notice a weight difference than run video for over 10 hours straight without plugging it in.

Mophie and other solutions are the way most people that need tons of battery juice will go and it makes more sense really. Why punish the entire user base with heavier/fatter iPads when you can buy a battery pack if you don't mind extra weight and you absolutely need the most battery power?
 
Last edited:
Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Brilliant!

I love the glass half full attitude. Makes the iPad lighter too. As long as it lasts all day, I really don't care how many watt hours it has.
 
This has got to be the most ridiculous argument I've ever seen on these forums, and I've seen some crazy ones. What is sad to me is that this doesn't appear to be an obvious troll.

Could you even imagine how thin and light the iPad Air would be if Apple put an iPhone 6 battery in it? It would be amazing and charge so quickly! I hope they do that next year so that I can metaphorically jump off a bridge after the value of my Apple stock literally evaporates into THIN AIR.
 
You can mourn the few watts drop in battery and charger or you can rejoice to the fact that your air 2 is XX% times faster with that much hyped 2GB RAM, improved camera, display, wifi, etc.

Your choice, really.
 
Those who are complaining are missing a big factor related to the battery.

Apple increased the battery size when they released the retina iPads in order to handle the increased power demands of the screen. I believe they also increased the wattage of the chargers from 11 watt to 13 if I'm not mistaken. But charging time increased significantly. Do you remember how people started complaining about how long it takes to charge the retina iPad compared to earlier versions.

Now that the processors use less power, Apple is able to decrease the size of the battery while maintaining pretty awesome battery life of 10 hours.

With a 15% smaller battery, charging times should decrease significantly. Thus, we aren't stuck waiting forever for our iPads to charge. I for one am very happy about this.

If my car had a gas tank that held one gallon, rather than 10 gallons, it would fill faster, but that doesn't mean I want a smaller tank.
 
If my car had a gas tank that held one gallon, rather than 10 gallons, it would fill faster, but that doesn't mean I want a smaller tank.

If you switched from driving a toyota corolla with a 12 gallon tank to driving a toyota prius with a 10 gallon tank, this is essentially what is happening with the iPad Air to iPad Air 2 upgrade.

You have a 2 gallon smaller gas tank, but the car goes the same distance because it is more efficient. When your at the gas station (charging your iPad) you spend less time filling up.

20% less battery should equate to a much faster charging time if the wattage stays the same for charging.

How can you people not see this as win/win is beyond me.
 
If you switched from driving a toyota corolla with a 12 gallon tank to driving a toyota prius with a 10 gallon tank, this is essentially what is happening with the iPad Air to iPad Air 2 upgrade.

You have a 2 gallon smaller gas tank, but the car goes the same distance because it is more efficient. When your at the gas station (charging your iPad) you spend less time filling up.

20% less battery should equate to a much faster charging time if the wattage stays the same for charging.

How can you people not see this as win/win is beyond me.

Because in this case, the Air 1 has two to three more hours of battery life than the Air 2. Your analogy makes perfect sense…but only if they had equal battery life. They don’t though.
 
Because in this case, the Air 1 has two to three more hours of battery life than the Air 2. Your analogy makes perfect sense…but only if they had equal battery life. They don’t though.

According to who?

As per Apple, they both have the same 10 hours.
 
According to who?

As per Apple, they both have the same 10 hours.

I don't know about the Air 2 as I don't have one but I think Apple's estimate for the Air 1 was extremely conservative. I typically get 12-14 hours (WiFi model) out of my Air 1...sometimes more.
 
Every iPad Air 2 review site out there?

Yep. You should definitely test a battery after the first charge. That's an EXCELLENT indicator of battery life! Not.

Let the battery meter calibrate, let the battery break in, and then test.

Also, FWIW, one of those sites was complaining that the A2 only got 11+ hours of battery life. :eek: I know I definitely like to whine when my devices have a battery life longer than what's in the specs.

----------

I don't know about the Air 2 as I don't have one but I think Apple's estimate for the Air 1 was extremely conservative. I typically get 12-14 hours (WiFi model) out of my Air 1...sometimes more.

Yep, they do run conservative, because batteries vary. IMO it's great when they're longer, love that.
 
Yep. You should definitely test a battery after the first charge. That's an EXCELLENT indicator of battery life! Not.

Let the battery meter calibrate, let the battery break in, and then test.

Also, FWIW, one of those sites was complaining that the A2 only got 11+ hours of battery life. :eek: I know I definitely like to whine when my devices have a battery life longer than what's in the specs.

----------



Yep, they do run conservative, because batteries vary. IMO it's great when they're longer, love that.

Dude you need to read back on the thread. No one is complaining about the 11 hour battery life. The whole point of me posting it was that some guy was comparing two cars, one with a smaller gas tank and more efficient fuel, and they both get the same mileage. I was merely pointing out that the same doesn't hold true for the iPad Air 2. If Air 1 has a bigger battery, but Air 2 has a more efficient chip and both have the same battery life, then yes he has a point, who cares about the smaller battery. But in this case, they don't have the same battery life.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.