Tether question, how is battery life?

[aerospace]

The ipad has a huge battery, but if I'm tethering to iPhone does it die quickly? No use in having an ipad run 10 hours if the phone dies in 3 is what I'm getting at.

Also concerned if the 3g ipad might have significantly worse battery life.

Anybody?

 

[MattWylde]

The ipad has a huge battery, but if I'm tethering to iPhone does it die quickly? No use in having an ipad run 10 hours if the phone dies in 3 is what I'm getting at.

Also concerned if the 3g ipad might have significantly worse battery life.

Anybody?

Apple has updated their tech page on the iPad to show that the 3G unit gets 9 hours of battery life when using the 3G, compared to the 10 hrs the WiFi only units get.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/


Yes, tethering your iPhone will significantly kill the battery. If you make it a full 3 hours without re-charging, I'd be a bit surprised. This also causes wear and tear on the battery. Constantly draining it and charging it will deplete the battery life over time and it won't hold a charge.

 

[GrindedDown]

I think he was talking about the ipad. I would think that the ipad would do just fine with battery life. It is the iphone that will be a problem. The battery on the iphone when tethering is abysmal. Get an extended battery pack, or make sure you are near a wall outlet in the airport or hotel room where free wifi doesn't exist.

 

[wombat888]

You'll seriously make your life easier if you pay the $15/month. JMO.

The only time I tether is either in an emergency or when I can plug my Nexus One to the laptop to keep the Nexus One charged, and plug the laptop to the wall to keep the laptop charged.

If you tether wirelessly, you will have an iPhone wearing down its battery by talking with a cell tower AND talking wirelessly with the iPad. I doubt you'd get two hours if you walked into it with the iPhone battery at 100%.

 

[Doju]

~95% to totally dead on my iPhone 3G S (16GB) when tethering with MyWi at work took 2 hours and 38 minutes. Just browsing MacRumors and some YouTube.

Nothing else running, music or anything not playing. Screen was off for most of the time, (90% of the time) and when on screen brightness was only at 50%.

Yet another reason to get the 3G iPad. 9 hours or 2.5. Hmm.

 

[aerospace]

I don't think the $15 plan will be enough. Most surfing will be done at home, though I may bring it to work for my lunch break.

Thanks for the 2hr 38min window, just what I needed.

 

[wombat888]

When you're at home (and maybe at work? assuming they have wifi - and anywhere else with wifi), you wouldn't be using 3g so it wouldn't accrue against the 250MB limit. In any case, Apple/AT&T have made the 3g plan extraordinarily flexible. I don't see a downside to starting with 250MB and upgrading if necessary.