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iPad Pro I just timed how long it takes to charge the iPad Pro: WOW
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It's not dead tech. Battery storage density has been increasing, just not at the rate you see processor speeds or data storage increase. You also have to consider they're shrinking the size of units, increasing processor speeds, and in the case of the iPad Pro, double the size of the screen.
Why is it always about Apple being "cheap?" There are other considerations (although profitability certainly is one as well).
Size/weight/speed trade-off - iPad is a mobile device. Should they include the larger, heavier, faster charger for all users, or the smaller, lighter, slower charger? The faster charger is nearly twice the weight and bulk of the slower charger.
The 29w USB-C charger is approx. 2.36 in. x 2.36 in. x 1.06 in. (5.9 cu. in.) and 4.6 oz.
The 12w charger is 1.75 in. x 1.75 in. x 1.06 in. (3.24625 cu. in.) 2.4 oz.
To me, this is no different than most battery trade-offs. If the vast majority of users can charge completely overnight and not run out of power before bedtime, then why make them carry a heavier, bulkier battery (or charger)? Should the manufacturer make everyone carry enough battery/charger so that the heaviest users needs are met, or should the heaviest users bear the burden alone?
*I don't have the 29w charger to confirm dimensions, I do have the 12w charger. I used the dimensions of the duckhead to derive the dimensions of the 29w from an online image. Actual weight was available from online sources.
Size/weight/speed trade-off - iPad is a mobile device. Should they include the larger, heavier, faster charger for all users, or the smaller, lighter, slower charger? The faster charger is nearly twice the weight and bulk of the slower charger.
The 29w USB-C charger is approx. 2.36 in. x 2.36 in. x 1.06 in. (5.9 cu. in.) and 4.6 oz.
The 12w charger is 1.75 in. x 1.75 in. x 1.06 in. (3.24625 cu. in.) 2.4 oz.
To me, this is no different than most battery trade-offs. If the vast majority of users can charge completely overnight and not run out of power before bedtime, then why make them carry a heavier, bulkier battery (or charger)? Should the manufacturer make everyone carry enough battery/charger so that the heaviest users needs are met, or should the heaviest users bear the burden alone?
*I don't have the 29w charger to confirm dimensions, I do have the 12w charger. I used the dimensions of the duckhead to derive the dimensions of the 29w from an online image. Actual weight was available from online sources.
I would completely disagree with the statement that we haven't gotten anywhere with battery life. While you are right that the overall duration of the battery has not increased very significantly, the technical costs on the battery has increased drastically. The batteries now have to power 3d touch, always-on microphones, larger and brighter screens, more bands of cellular, bluetooth communications, more advanced and ever increasing notifications, additional sensors like the m9 for motion tracking, nfc chipsets, extremely complex and powerful chip architectures to handle large calculations, some remarkable GPUs (for mobile) that can handle console quality gaming, etc... All the while providing batteries that are rated to have 1000 cycle battery lives (maintain 80% original capacity). When i think about it, I think its actually rather remarkable that they have been able to advance battery life enough to support all these systems & still provide very long-term durability (3 years or more).
Now that these devices are getting rather advanced with a lot of the major possible technical innovations having already been implemented, I would imagine that extending battery life may soon (within 2-3 years) become a priority as a new feature/selling point.
As for your second question, the 12.9 pro was designed and specified to accept 29w of charge right from the get go (there is actual proof of it if you want it). So think not of using the 29w charger as fast charging, but rather regular charging. Of course, that's where all the anger from this whole charging crap stems from.
Another data point, if it helps:
My iPad Pro 12.9" that I picked up on Saturday ran down to 4% this morning. Using the standard 12w charger, I put in on airplane mode and plugged it in at 7:30am. It reached 100% at 12:30pm, give or take a few. So a roughly 5 hour charge from 4% to 100%.
My iPad Pro 12.9" that I picked up on Saturday ran down to 4% this morning. Using the standard 12w charger, I put in on airplane mode and plugged it in at 7:30am. It reached 100% at 12:30pm, give or take a few. So a roughly 5 hour charge from 4% to 100%.
Ok so first we complain about not enough battery life and now we're complaing about too much batter life?! Honestly does it matter how long it takes to charge? You don't need 100% to use it, clearly there is more than enough battery.
A good proportion of energy savings has been achieved with better chip efficiency and more efficient code. If batteries were really so much better now, we would be seeing significantly better battery life of 16+ hours. And we still have to keep turning off chunks of tech in order to save battery. Even on my iPad Air 2, I have background updating turned off for almost everything, no bluetooth on, turn off wifi whenever not using it, and even then, the battery conks out as per ArsTechnica results: 8 or 9 hours.
Apple are essentially putting in the bare minimum battery life that is reasonable. I'm not blaming them, but simply observing that it's a shame that we haven't reached a stage where we don't even need to worry about battery life just for one day. It would be great to think I could use an iPhone with very poor reception travelling, with everything updating in the background, and not need to worry about running out of battery by the end of the day.
I've been waiting eight years, and I expect I’ll have to wait another eight years.
No offense to anyone, but I think people lean on this "Profits" justification far too often when it comes to Apple decisions.
Apple has the highest profit margins in the business, yet any time someone says "Why doesn't this brand new product come with __________" then the response is ALWAYS "Profit Margins".
Sure, its true. But why is that okay? 2GB RAM in Tablets. 4GB RAM in Laptops. 16GB base storage in phones. AppleTV without HDMI Cables. $600 Watches with plastic bands. Every time someone points out a "missing" item it is instantly defended with the eye-rolling response of "Apple is a business". And as we approach the release of an iPhone without a headphone jack then people will deflect once again and call users "Entitled" because they want their $900 Apple phone to work with their $200 Apple Beats Headset.
Profits are one of MANY reasons on why companies thrive. But the part that is constantly being ignored is the fact that Apple's reputation drops every time they choose "Money" over "Experience". And in this case, $1000 for a "Pro" tablet that actually loses battery power when doing Pro tasks (like Video editing sessions), is a less-than-Apple experience.
Apple will continue to be cheap and under spec chargers with their devices. For example I have been charging my plus series iphones with 12 watt chargers that charge my 6+/6S+ twice as fast as the wimpy stock 5 watt charger. What Apple is doing with the iPP 12.9 charging situation would be akin to throwing in the MBA's 45 watt charger with rMBP 15's instead of the 85 watt that its supposed to come with. Then making you pay for the 85 watt "upgrade" later. (Yes, I've done it before, the MBA's 45 watt charger can charge the RMBP 15 but takes twice as long, in fact will have difficulty charging while you're using it - sound familiar eh?)
Thats one thing i think we can certainly agree on: i would like to see longer battery life out of the iDevices. Hopefully we will begin to see that sooner rather than later.
My original point was simply that I think has apple has done a pretty good job keeping battery life up while still implementing new tech that certainly requires more battery to run, all the while maintaining very lightweight and very thin devices. I give them a lot of credit for keeping up with all of it.
One other thing that I don't think many have considered is that using the 29w charger combo may actually help maintain the health of the battery. With Li-ion batteries nowadays, it is said to be better for battery health to do frequent charges and top ups in an attempt to maintain above 50% battery level as opposed to draining the battery all the way down to 0-ish and then charging back up.
With the quick charger, you can actually do frequent top ups to the battery and that alone may increase the lifespan of the 12.9 ipp for those that intend to keep it for several years. Otherwise, the 12w is too slow for top-ups, which means you are more likely to be constantly running full battery cycles.
With the quick charger, you can actually do frequent top ups to the battery and that alone may increase the lifespan of the 12.9 ipp for those that intend to keep it for several years. Otherwise, the 12w is too slow for top-ups, which means you are more likely to be constantly running full battery cycles.
it's 29 Watts... that's more than double the wattage of the included charger. So yeah it's gotta be faster.
It's not a justification of Apple's decision, though. Just an explanation. Apple is prioritizing profits. That's just a simple fact.
I actually do agree with this and have mentioned it in some previous posts. That said, I honestly don't think Apple's going to do much until they see significant decline in sales. Thus far, growth has slowed and sales have been stagnant but there hasn't been a huge overall decrease. It appears to me that Jobs was a perfectionist while Cook is more of a bean counter.
Problem is I've used both Android and Windows tablets and imho, currently the iPad is just more polished and mature, and the OS X/iOS ecosystem just happens to be more cohesive as a whole.
So you're saying when Microsoft or someone else catches up and Apple is selling only 10 iPads a year then they'll finally give us a faster charging cord and brick?
That depends on how much those 10 people are willing to pay for that iPad. Need to consider demand elasticity, too.
As I don't work for Apple and am not part of their upper management, I really have no idea. Right now though, I'm noticing a lot more cost cutting measures (e.g. low base storage, low RAM, longer wait for appointments at Apple Genius Bar, etc).
Yeah it's an issue for me, I usually only get 5 hours of battery life on mine. I'm constantly running out of power. Picking up a fast charger next month.
Wait, what? What are you doing on your iPad? You should get at least 9 hours, closer to 10. If getting less than that, call Apple Care or take it to a Genius Bar.
Ive already been through 2, trying to get one with working Palm rejection. I work in bright environments, so I have to run 100% brightness, and once u start using these for work it sucks the power down. Just yesterday, I got 5 1/2 hours just streaming video for school. But once u start painting, editing raw or 4K u can kiss that battery life goodbye.
Even turned down brightness its more like 7-8 hours just surfing the web.
This is consistent with the two times I've charged my Pro. Both times I started at 5% and it took right around 5 hours and 10 minutes each time to reach 100%. The only difference is I didn't turn off wi-fi. I checked it every hour and it went up 20% like clockwork. The last 15% took about 1 hour and 10 minutes.