iPad 3 charging issues

I think it could be a issue with the dual voltage charger!

It says 100-240V 50-60Hz

I watched a youtube video of someone testing a fake apple charger. Anyway he was testing how many amps it could produce and when he ran it on 240V input it was able to output the full 1A it was rated for. But when he tested it on 120V it still put out 5V but it couldn't maintain 1A, I think it dipped to 0.5A. Now that was a fake counter fit charger being tested in the video but could we expect the same characteristics from a apple charger?

It's worth investigating. Someone should tests the charging times at 120V, then connect the same charger to a 240V supply and time it again. You could use a travel power transformer to step up the voltage. In my country (NZ) the mains power is 230V on all plugs and my iPad can charge while plugged and being used but the battery rises terribly slow. But it gets there slowly and it certainly doesn't go flat while plugged in.

iPad 3

32GB

Charger is the 2.1A genuine apple charger running on 230V 50Hz supply.

It's rated to run off 100-240 @50-60Hz but does it have equal performance at either end? That is my question!

It is possible that its internal regulation can't work 100% at both ends of the scale (I've seen this issue in a counter fit charger which would have a similar design). The solution would be to produce single voltage chargers that only do 110-120V and another model that only does 220-240V.

The problem was evident at the Apple store. IPad checked out 100%, when tested for charging running Foreflight, it was discharging! They replaced the IPad, problem still is there, I have heard from some Apple techs that the gamers have the same problem. Retina displays are the worst with the gen 3 IPad being the worst of all. Fair warning to all, some programs will DISCHARGE the unit if it is plugged in, either 110v. or 12 v . You can mitigate the rate of discharge by shutting down all active programs and doing a reboot, then set screen brightness as low as you can see. Turn off every thing not needed.

I have never been able to stop the discharge, only slow it a bit.

Mine also charged overning from 9pm to 6AM just o have it 100%

IPAD 3. something went pretty bad after IOS 7

Message was edited by: anthonigene

i am having problem charging ipad 3. every thing was working fine since ios 7.0.2. upgrade. but couple of days after upgrading to ios 7.0.3. ipad completly stoped charging on ac outlet. my pc doesn't recognises ipad any more, neither iTunes. "USB device not recognised" thats what my PC says. only way to charge my ipad is to connect it to the ac adapter and reseting the settings, after which it turns on with default settings and charging in progress. if i unplug the charger after that, and plug it back ipad won't charge anymore untill i reset settings with charger pluged. i also tried it at several ac outlets, didn't helped.

what must have went wrong?

FYI, i have genuine accessories and worked fine for 12 monthhs and 23 days since purchase.

I'm having problems too. My battery ran down the other day and this afternoon I plugged it into a wall outlet for a few hours. When I went to sync it with my Macbook later I noticed that the Mac wasn't recognizing my iPad. My iPad just has a black screen with the empty battery shape and three red lines in it. I can't tell if it's actually charging or what. Figures though that this would happen over a year after I purchased it--if I need a new battery or something I'll have to pay out of pocket 😟

Hum! I took both iPads 3&4 into the Apples store , there the lady tested both ports found them in good working condition ! I was told not to use a Third Party charging device whatsoever ! Apple products are designed and compatible with Apple products only, and using a non apple charging cable could harm the iPad internal mother board and conflict with the current iOS . I'm glad I didn't have to spend $$ to get the charging port replaced. If you continue to have issues with the iPad charging unit, make sure you have genuine Apple charger and cable ! Also try a hard reset by holding down the menu button and Off/On button at the same time ! Then restart then clear the internet cache and remove apps you no longer use ! Makes a big difference on battery life ! Check to see if you have " background apps running as they slow down and drain battery ! Reduce the brightness ! Also try draining the battery once a month allows the battery to refresh then give device full charge by not using iPad while in charging status . Before spending $ take your device straight to Apple store there you can get technical assistant to guide you thru the next step to help you with these issues! Never attempt to fix the device yourself, because if you do you'll void all warranty ouch!! and if not under warranty, still take the device to Apple store to see other options available. All else fails, try to sell the device on websites such as eBay or Craigslist " As is condition or parts only " with that money save for another new device. I learned if you're willing to dish out $$ then take care of your Apple products like a baby with tender care . I do agree Apple needs to work on a better battery life and make charging ports more durable with rapid charging or perhaps solar charge. I like my iPad; therefore I try my best to take good care of my Apple products at all cost!

Apple got some bad press following some incidents in China wherein the users had purchased cheap non-Apple chargers which ended up creating a fire, destroying the device. So, good advice to use only Apple approved chargers.

Regular apps automatically suspend when you switch to another app, so no need to worry about background apps discharging your battery, with the exception of some music/Internet radio/Bluetooth apps. You can tell which by noting if an app is playing some music or radio podcast in the background while you use another app. I always leave my Bluetooth on since it automatically connects with my car when I drive somewhere.

Concerning the long time it takes to charge up iPad 3's, that's because Apple introduced the Retina hi-res display with that model, and needed an extra large battery to support it. That's also why it's heavier. The just released iPad Air is much lighter and uses a much smaller battery, which charges much quicker. This became possible with Apple's new A7 CPU that controls the device, which is much more powerful and uses less battery output to perform the same work. The iPad 3's CPU had to work overtime to power its new Retina display.

All in all, you got some good advice from the Apple Store. Just thought I'd add some background...

It seems to me it's a design issue - internal power consumption is higher than the AC / DC portable charger can supply under certain conditions.

It can be tested using a power meter. Set the conditions where the suspected maximum power consumption is taking place, connect a power meter between AC/DC charger and the AC wall socket. Then watch the reading.

If the power drawn by the AC /DC portable charger is maxed out with a 100% full battery and the battery drains, there is simply a power shortage. Here's the setup;

http://www.laptop-junction.com/toast/content/ipad-mini-power-consumption

I've had this with a 4 year old Nokia N95 with 3G internet connection switched on. Although the charger was connected and providing a full power, the battery was drained at the end of the day.

So is everyone who has problem with super slow charging (+ 12 hours ) using non-apple cable/adapter? I recently got a used iPad 3 in a good condition, and the battery life seems good as well, but it takes about 15 hours to charge completely. I read threads like this, so I think my cable might be a generic one. The adapter seems like it's Apple one because it has "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China" writing on it, with all the adapter info. And it's a 12W one. Do you guys think it's because of the cable? I read someone's post in this thread from 2012, and he/she compared generic and apple cables, and his generic cable charged only 4 percent in 35 minutes, and that seems similar to my experience. So I'm really hoping the new official apple cable I am going to get from the seller free of charge will solve this issue for me. Any advice would be appreciated!

Well if we do the math here I think you'll find that it's because the iPad is such a big gadget the charger is simply too small to charge it any faster.

The iPad 3 (which is what I use) has a 11.56AH battery. Let’s assume the battery is 80% efficient while charging, that means it would take about 7 hours from 0-100%.

That assumes that the iPad itself is fully shutdown and not using any of the chargers power while it's charging.

Let’s take an example where the iPad's battery is at 30% and it is consuming 2.1A from its USB port, and let’s say 1A is consumed by its electronics and screen, that leaves 1.1A to charge the battery.

So that’s 11.56AH - 30% = 8AH (only have to charge this amount because it's already at 30% capacity)

8AH / (1.1A * 80% efficiency) = that’s over 7 hours to charge.

The point I'm trying to get at is that the iPad is just a really big gadget for such a small charger and the numbers tell us that at a rate of 2.1A we are getting roughly the maximum performance the charger can give. What affects the time the most is how much of the chargers juice is consumed by its electronics not what cable you use.

My iPad 3 took around 5.5 hours to recharge completely using the 12W Apple charger.

I would be completely satisfied if my ipad 3 charges in 5.5 hours. Currently it takes about 15hours with 12W adapter. Are you using official apple cable? Also did you completely turn off the ipad or just standby? Thanks.

Not necassarily generic, but yeah cords to affect the rate. Even legit apple cords might charge slowly. I cant find the article/thread now, but I believe apple changed the the internals of newer cords to charge faster. so an ipad 1 cable will fit and charge a ipad 3, but the an actual ipad 3 cable will charge it faster.

Though, i do have some generic lightning cables that seem to work fine. i mean my ipad 1 definitly charges slower then my ipad 1 did, but its not 15 hours.

Apple charger & cable, iPad 3 asleep, but NOT off, so screen's dark.