why does my 3rd generation ipad take forever to charge?

The quickest way (and really the only way) to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter (5W). When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge very slowly (but iPad indicates not charging). Make sure your computer is on while charging iPad via USB. If iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, the iPad battery will continue to drain.

Apple recommends that once a month you let the iPad fully discharge & then recharge to 100%.

How to Calibrate Your Mac, iPhone, or iPad Battery

http://www.macblend.com/how-to-calibrate-your-mac-iphone-or-ipad-battery/

At this link http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/galaxy-tab-android-tablet,3014-11.html , tests show that the iPad 2 battery (25 watt-hours) will charge to 90% in 3 hours 1 minute. It will charge to 100% in 4 hours 2 minutes. The new iPad has a larger capacity battery (42 watt-hours), so using the 10W charger will obviously take longer. If you are using your iPad while charging, it will take even longer. It's best to turn your new iPad OFF and charge over night. Also look at The iPad's charging challenge explained http://www.macworld.com/article/1150356/ipadcharging.html

Also, if you have a 3rd generation iPad, look at

Apple: iPad Battery Nothing to Get Charged Up About

http://allthingsd.com/20120327/apple-ipad-battery-nothing-to-get-charged-up-abou t/

Apple Explains New iPad's Continued Charging Beyond 100% Battery Level

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/27/apple-explains-new-ipads-continued-charging- beyond-100-battery-level/

New iPad Takes Much Longer to Charge Than iPad 2

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/03/new-ipad-takes-much-longer-to-charge-than-ipa d-2.html

Apple Batteries - iPadhttp://www.apple.com/batteries/ipad.html

Extend iPad Battery Life (Look at pjl123 comment)

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3921324?tstart=30

New iPad Slow to Recharge, Barely Charges During Use

http://www.pcworld.com/article/252326/new_ipad_slow_to_recharge_barely_charges_d uring_use.html

Tips About Charging for New iPad 3

http://goodscool-electronics.blogspot.com/2012/04/tips-about-charging-for-new-ip ad-3.html

Prolong battery lifespan for iPad / iPad 2 / iPad 3: charging tips

http://thehowto.wikidot.com/prolong-battery-lifespan-for-ipad

In rare instances when using the Camera Connection Kit, you may notice that iPad does not charge after using the Camera Connection Kit. Disconnecting and reconnecting the iPad from the charger will resolve this issue.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

I just charged my New iPad with Apple-provided charger. It took 6 hours from 4%to 100% with about 40 minutes of use while charging. It continued to Slowly charge while I was using it.

New iPad 32GB Wifi

I have had this same experience with my new iPad 3. Pretty shocking to say the least. So I tried using my 5 watt Rocket Fish iPhone charger from Best Buy since I've noticed it charges my iPhone rapidly with no ill effects thus far after many months of regular use. After about 45 minutes of charging the iPad with the 5 watt Rocket Fish charger I gained a 20% increase in charge. Compared to the 10 watt charger it came with, the same 20% was generally taking several hours. The heat difference between the two is no different.

The quickest way (and really the only way) to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter (5W). When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge very slowly (but iPad indicates not charging). Make sure your computer is on while charging iPad via USB. If iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, the iPad battery will continue to drain.

Apple recommends that once a month you let the iPad fully discharge & then recharge to 100%.

At this link http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/galaxy-tab-android-tablet,3014-11.html , tests show that the iPad 2 battery (25 watt-hours) will charge to 90% in 3 hours 1 minute. It will charge to 100% in 4 hours 2 minutes. The new iPad has a larger capacity battery (42 watt-hours), so using the 10W charger will obviously take longer. If you are using your iPad while charging, it will take even longer. It's best to turn your new iPad OFF and charge over night. Also look at The iPad's charging challenge explained http://www.macworld.com/article/1150356/ipadcharging.html

Also, if you have a 3rd generation iPad, look at Apple: iPad Battery Nothing to Get Charged Up About

http://allthingsd.com/20120327/apple-ipad-battery-nothing-to-get-charged-up-abou t/

Apple Explains New iPad's Continued Charging Beyond 100% Battery Level

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/27/apple-explains-new-ipads-continued-charging- beyond-100-battery-level/

 Cheers, Tom 😉

I have a 1st generation iPad i bought the day they were released. About 2 years ago it started taking as long as 2 days to charge, but only on occasion. Over time it's been doing it more and more often so I bought a new apple brand charger from the iPad store. It did the same thing so I bought a few more chargers, on brand and off, all with the same results.

Last night I plugged it in to charge at 10pm. It is now 8:30am and it's only 84% charged. Last week it took 2 days, then the next charging only took a few hours. I can't find a pattern. I don't like to let it drain to the point it turns off because, lately, I won't charge at all. It keeps power cycling as if i cold booted it on, going between the silver apple logo and the red charging graphic over and over again. My mom is new to all this and stumbled on a solution I wouldn't have tried, being experienced and all. She got really annoyed (much to mild a word for what she was) at it beeping and chiming. I wasn't at her house to yell at, so she started plugging and unplugging it in a frustrated fury. After 2 or 3 times, it returned to the screen with the slider to unlock it after it's been asleep. The battery icon showed it charging. After 30 minutes it cycled again so she did her thing and it went back to charging properly. After 4 hours it was 100% charged. I've been through every possible combination of events and nothing stands out as the obvious culprit.

I think I have a solution. My Ipad3 arrives on Friday.

I wonder if it's a hardware or battery problem Apple has yet to identify. These are amazing machines and extremely complex compared to my Apple I kit back when I could remember things. (mom sold it and my big red manual at a yard sale when I left home).

I think I've forgiven her. Maybe.

Hi there,

Like the others have said, if you stick with the charger that came with it, it should take around 5 to 6 hours to charge. I have never have any charging problems with my 3rd generation iPad. It takes me about 5 hours for a full charge. If it is taking you a lot more than that using the right charger I will talk to someone from Apple, you might have a faulty one.

I changed my charging/data cable to the heavy duty Griffin XL 10W 2.1A cable. As it's 3m long, I have It connected to iPad most of the time. I have on couple of occasion connected it when battery power down to 60% during usage and battery charged back up to 100% within a couple of hours! I personally think the cable used by apple is not up to the job!! That's why they are so short in length, so not too much current is lost!

It takes about 5-6 hours to fully charge it from what I can tell by charging mine so far. The battery in the iPad (3) is huge, much bigger than the previous generation iPads.

Are you using a USB port to charge it? If so, the power is MUCH less than what you would get from an electric outlet, which would make your overall charge time much longer.

What is the output of your charger?

Mine came with a 1v charger, however my colleagues all have 2.5 volts

I think there is a mixup at the factory,

I can see recalls on the horizon.

they all do that i have a 2 and it does the same thing

The ipad 3 is a huge waste of money. Takes 4 days to charge. Want my ipad 2 back!