New iPad overheating?

>>>> "In my case my new iPad it was running WARM, i did reduce the brightness a bit, at first the charging was long, but today, things are cooler, full charge in 3-4 hours - all is happy." <<<<

I think that this is one of the most important points in the entire thread.

If you're freaking out, read that quote again and try doing the same thing.

My new iPad was sort of warm (not what I'd call hot) - my main concern was that it was taking forever to charge when in use – and I posted about that here a couple of times. Since then, I've turned down the brightness a bit- it had been set at or near maximum. For me at least, a modest reduction in brightness has had a big affect on warmth & charging time. Before, I could hardly get it to charge while in use. Now, it seems to charge in use almost the same as the iPad 2.

I have to admit, I was freaking out a bit myself – thinking that I couldn't top off my battery while using the iPad. I feel a little silly now. It looks to me like the new iPad needs a disproportionate amount of power at the 100% brightness setting. At least in my experience, it doesn't need to be turned down much to save a lot of power.

It's new hardware – only five days old for us. There are a few idiosyncrasies to learn about. The display is great- literally superior to anything else in the world. For me, the benefit of Retina is worth a small learning curve & usage adjustment. I was actually fairly worried for a couple of days there – but not anymore.

Hi folks,

I am absolutely new to Apple having never owned an Apple product before. My two adult sons have ipad 1's and 2's and one of them is soon to buy an ipad 3 when he can (He lives in Prague and it is a problem to get hold of one there!)

I have always wanted one and later today will be collecting a pre ordered Black 64GB wifi only ipad 3 from J Lewis in High Wycombe (UK)

I was pointed in the direction of this forum by a friend who had heard of the allegations of the new ipad 3 overheating and have read every post with much interest and not a small amount of concern!

Once I pick up my shiney new toy I will set it up as per the suggestion on page 19 of this thread and see what happens re the heat issue that some others seem to be having and will report my findings back on here. It will be set up from new with no cloning or migrating as I am new to this device.

I am however, whilst concerned, getting the impression that this heat issue might well be a batch problem as it appears the issue isn't being experienced by all owners.

If I end up with a problem I am assured from some of the posts on here that Apple will stand by me as a customer and swap or refund as appropriate so I fully intend to go ahead with my purchase later today and hope for the best! And as said I will after a few days post my experience back on here.

I can't wait to get my hands on it to be honest!!

Congrats on the purchase of your first Apple product! Apple prides itself on its outstanding customer support, and in most cases you will find swapping your iPad for a hardware defect is a non-issue. If you are operating in an environment cooler than 95° F and experience the iPad constantly shutting down from overheating, call customer support at 1-800-MY-APPLE and they should be able to overnight a box for you to send your iPad in. With every new iPad you receive 90 days complimentary AppleCare phone support and a 1 year manufacturer's warranty which covers you against hardware defects from Apple.

Thanks' for that although the contact number you give is of little use to me. I live in the UK lol.

Your reply is very much appreciated and gives me confidence in my purchase. I hope my experience is a good one.

Great bit of research Shortcuts, I am also in the uk and have experienced no issues at all with any of the Apple products I have purchased, including my new iPad 3rd gen, although I am safe in the mind that any problem will be rectified immediately to my full satisfaction. Customer service is second to none!

Good luck in your purchase today. I hope you enjoy it :)

Hi Guys,

I'm italian, tomorrow is our day one for the new ipad and I really want to buy it (I've already got a lot of apple devices and love them), but reading this tread i'm getting a little bit worried.

Question for people having problems: could you please pubblish your devices serial numbers? That may help to understand if there's a failed batch.

I suggest we leave that to apple. If there is a defect batch they would have found it by now and removed it from circulation.

We are seeing evidence that the larger battery needs to wear in and be recycled a few times before the electrons can move freely enough. Couple that with the precaution of starting the device as new before loading in the backup and you will be fine.

Any problems, tell apple and get it sorted.

I am appaled at Apple's response to this issue: "it is within our thermal specifications." Well Apple now hear this, the new iPad is NOT within MY specifications. I am the customer, and mine count more than yours. Thus, tomorrow I am giving it back to you at the Nashville, TN store while it is still returnable. If you can resolve ths manufacturing defect, I will buy another, if not, I will continue with my iPad 2. And yes, I have done the full discharge cycle three times now using the charger that came with it.

rogerfrombowling green wrote:

I am appaled at Apple's response to this issue: "it is within our thermal specifications." Well Apple now hear this, the new iPad is NOT within MY specifications. I am the customer, and mine count more than yours. Thus, tomorrow I am giving it back to you at the Nashville, TN store while it is still returnable. If you can resolve ths manufacturing defect, I will buy another, if not, I will continue with my iPad 2.

Let's see, it's within engineering specifications, so I guess this product won't suit you.

Go ahead and return it, as you would with any other consumer good that doesn't meet your needs.

Yes Bill, I am doing just that. And you are correct. Perhaps I am just an over complaining guy who should be happy with this product, but it is outside my thermal requirements. Wish you the best with yours.

I have my brightness turned down on the new iPad to below 50%. As the screen is so sharp on this model (unlike the iPad 2) I just don't NEED to run it at full brightness - if I do turn it up it hurts my eyes!. And mine has barely got warm as a result.

I posted this in another discussion but it seems appropriate to post here in response to what Gipsyspirit posted.

It is accepted that you want a computer monitor to be in the range of 140 cd/m2 for normal purposes. Setting the ipad at 100% brightness produces about a 347 cd/m2 according to my xrite i1display2 calibration puck, while putting it at 50% produced a 143 cd/m2. Personally I agree that 100% or anything close to that is too bright and washes things out and you do not get accurate colors.

Yes Gipsy Spirit, Absolutely true! I did a lot of investigation with my new ipad and here are the results.

For all conditions below, No 4G. Only on Wifi. No audio/video played.

If I have 25% brightness - Use Safari + Twitter + Facebook + News apps + iBooks - 14% for 3 Hours - and most important point - No signs of warmth. (Projected Figures for battery life - 21+ Hours)

If I have 50% brightness - Use Safari + Twitter + Facebook + News apps + iBooks - 14% for 2 Hours - and most important point - No signs of warmth. (Projected Figures for battery life - 14+ Hours)

If I have 75% brightness - Use Safari + Twitter + Facebook + News apps + iBooks - 12% per Hour - and most important point - No signs of warmth. (Projected Figures for battery life - 8.5 Hours)

If I have 100% brightness - Use Safari + Twitter + Facebook + News apps + iBooks - 18% per Hour - and most important point - Right from the second minute, there are straight signs of warmth. The warmth grows for next 15 minutes and stays the same warmth for further usage. (Projected Figures for battery life - 5.5 Hours)

Hence summarizing above, the stupid problem is because of the max brightness.

I am yet to try the combo of less brightness + iPod or youtube apps. Will update soon.

I am already on my third discharge cycle.

I think it depends on what you use your iPad for. I use mine for reading, emails, internet surfing, watching films, and writing (I am a professional writer).

I was pretty happy with my iPad 2, but wanted a better resolution screen (like my iPhone 4) as reading & wriitng on it are the most important things for me. I've had mine since Sunday, and it's now down to 25% of battery on its first charge, which is fine by me.

So, for this usage (with the screen turned down to below 50% so it doesn't burn my eyes!) the new iPad is perfect. But if I was using it for playing games for hours on end, instead using it for reading and writing, I might think about going back to the iPad for the reduced heat. But I'm sticking with my new one as it seems just like my previous one - but with a far better screen.

Hoep this helps.

Not sure what you guys are doing 🙂 I pushed my new 64gb wifi model on full brightness running demanding games for an hour and yes it got very warm, but never hotter than even close to uncomfortable on bare skin.

When used for general browsing, downloading, watching a movie it stays cool to slightly warm.

iPad isn't a dedicated high end portable gaming rig, it can do that if required but it's multi purpose so of course Apple set the heat limits as just acceptable for high end portable gaming.

@faatty stop exaggerating mate, just stick to the facts. You sound like an Android user