Newer chipset gives revised iPad 2 longer battery life
Apple announce it would continue selling the iPad 2 for $399 along with its new tablet. The company, however, did not mention any changes to the iPad 2.
The Apple iPad 2 has indeed gone through a few changes, and one being the chipset change from Samsung’s 45nm to a newer 32nm chip. In return the later iPad 2 models support longer batter life.
“This particular iPad 2,4 sample came from Best Buy, and several attempts to find one elsewhere came up short. All indications seem to point to the iPad 2,4 being relatively rare, which makes sense considering what’s inside it,” a report from AnandTech read.
Apple has apparently upgraded the iPad 2′s applications processor to a more power efficient chip. Additionally the newer A5 also uses high-k + metal gate LP transistors which allows for a smaller die, in effect making its power consumption lower.
So is it worth jumping in the car and purchasing the slightly newer iPad 2? Not necessarily. According to tests ran on the iPad 2 32nm chip ran for 11.7 hours, while the 45nm ran 10.1 hours. However the report records a 15% increase in battery life (when compared to the original iPad) on the 32nm A5 chip, which in reality is not a huge significance but does give users more time to surf and game on the iPad 2 that supports the 32nm A5 apps processor — and step in the right direction for Apple’s chipset changes.
Video playback shows the greatest benefit to the 32nm A5 as the report said “The iPad 2 holds a 19% advantage over the 3rd generation iPad (once again for obvious reasons), however the iPad 2,4 absolutely dominates with an 18% increase in battery life. At 15.7 hours this is an insane amount of battery life from a single charge.”
Basically if you already have an iPad 2 — you’re pretty much set. If you are, however, considering upgrading your iPad to an iPad 2 — now’s a good time to seek out the “iPad 2-4″ sporting the 32nm A5.
via multiple sources
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