Could charging the iPad battery beyond 100 percent ‘harm the longevity of the battery’?

Seth Weintraub | Mar 25 2012 - 6:23 pm PT

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We are hearing additional little tidbits about the new iPad’s battery and its ability to charge beyond 100 percent. CNBC’s John Fortt reports Apple has stated that charging beyond 100 percent could somehow “harm the longevity of the battery.”

Apple is saying when it reads 100% the battery indicator reads 100%. It’s actually full enough to give you the kind of performance that they promise in their marketing. That’s ten hours of all-day battery life. They say if you charge it more than that, you could harm the longevity of the battery. So they say this isn’t just an issue with the new iPad. It was an issue with the previous ones well but this battery is 70% bigger so you’re more likely to notice it.

This would be extremely odd, so we are skeptical and looking for clarification on the issue. We already observed the new iPad continues charging for an hour beyond its 100 percent and noted you get longer battery-use if you let the iPad stay on those extra 60 minutes.

But are those extra minutes coming at a cost? It would be surprising if Apple wanted people to pull the plug on the new iPad when it hits 100 percent (especially because it now requires an overnight charge to fill it up).

Apple says nothing about this on its iPad battery usage/optimization page.

Charge Cycles (Charge cycles vary by use, environment, settings, configuration, and many other factors.)

A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 1000 full charge and discharge cycles. You may choose to replace your battery when it no longer holds sufficient charge to meet your needs.

The new iPad takes significantly longer to charge than the previous iPad 2 due to its 70 percent larger battery. Interestingly, the new iPad is not able to take a charge when playing intensive graphics games and video.

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