you are calling the iPad a tractor?

It is more like saying the diesel Ford Focus was the loudest Focus we tested and in the compact segment, only the Astra was noisier.

Ah, so it's Ultrabook's are a specific sub-sector of the small form sector of the laptop sector. Gotcha.

It's an extension of Intel's Centrino mobile platform marketing initiative. The idea is, if you buy any laptop with the logo you know you'll get a machine that meets certain specifications.

The specific requirements are documented on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook

Tests in America seem to show that the iPad 3 warms up to 116°F (46°C) after an hour of playing Infinity Blade 2 *and* being plugged into the mains. When not plugged into the mains, the temperature reached about 42°C.

Reporters covering the story were saying "it gets warmer than an iPad 2, but no warmer than a laptop. Maybe it is just because the 2 never really got really warm during use."

My iPad one if anything tends to feel quite cold due to the aluminium back. Probably entirely a subjective thing though, I've never put a thermometer on it.

IMO, it's actually quite tricky to use an iPad when it's plugged into the mains. The location of the dock connector is very... awkward if you're actually trying to do stuff at the same time. However that's way too hot regardless of what's happening to it - I wouldn't want to pick up a metal object that had reached that temperature.

We do need to know what charger they were using though - there are effectively three different voltages an iPad can charge at, plus the charger should support trickle charge (although chances are if you're running something intensive at the time, It'll be using charge as fast as you're putting it in anyway). Somewhat interested to know if they made a %age measure on the battery when they started and when they finished. In fact ideally they'd try the same test with a couple of different chargers to remove that variable form the experiment.

Jon

But that would mean them performing actual science on stuff rather than getting link bait.

The bottom of my Sensation gets fairly toasty after playing some games. Given that devices are using dual core CPUs and the like it's no surprise to me they get a bit on the warm side!

The warmth from the iPad is no where near as warm as the heat produced by my MacBook Pro. Last night, I completely discharged the battery to the point where the iPad switched off, and charged it over night. We’ll see if this makes a difference.

That’s hardly surprising - batteries get warm when they charge up. Infinity Blade 2 is a very intensive game. It’s pushing the graphics cores quite a bit. Put the two together, and you can expect to get a higher than normal temperature.

I have noted anecdotal comments on various fora that turning the screen’s brightness down can help keep things cooler.

True but IIRC that is outside Apple's recommended operating temperature range. Having that happen repeatedly could reduce the long term reliability of the device.


This would seem reasonable, given it reduces the overall power load.

Jon

My thoughts exactly. Sounds like a storm in a tea cup - and I'm not an iPad fan.

iPads don’t need fans. They don’t get THAT hot.

Seven degrees difference isn't actually that much to be honest but the fact it's outside their recommended temperature range is quite serious. In theory, they could refuse to repair/service an iPad that showed signs of being outside recommended conditions for a significant part of it's 'life', even though you wouldn't actually be doing anything unusual with it.