Charging from the Wall or Charging from my iMac? I usually just charge from my iMac, but I would still like to see what's better.
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What's better for the iPad's Battery?
- Thread starter geneticfusion
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Charging from the an iMac through USB is very slow. So go with the wall charger.
Okay, so it's a faster charge through the Wall.
What about the Battery's health..or life, what would be better for the battery itself?
What about the Battery's health..or life, what would be better for the battery itself?
Battery should be fine. I think the charge cycles are in the 300-500 range. But haven't you plugged it into your Mac and it'll say on the screen next to the battery, "Not Charging"? Mine does.
So I think you really don't have a choice.
Use the Adapter
It's a lot faster if you use the wall adapter, thus I think it should also be better for the battery, nontheless I think it shouldn't matter that much, just remember to once a month use it until it reaches 0% and then charge it to 100% (This is supposed to help conserve the battery)
It's a lot faster if you use the wall adapter, thus I think it should also be better for the battery, nontheless I think it shouldn't matter that much, just remember to once a month use it until it reaches 0% and then charge it to 100% (This is supposed to help conserve the battery)
What you're referring to is a problem with older type batteries, that suffered from a memory effect. This causes the battery to incorrectly show low or no charge when it still had some remaining. This is no longer the case with newer batteries which are based on lithium. In fact it may be harmful to go to 0% on Lithium based batteries, take a look at this article: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
Apple recommends completely discharging lithium batteries at least once a month for maximum life/usability. It's on their site.
www.apple.com/batteries said:
I don't know if it is the case with the iPad battery, but generally a slow charge is better for a battery than a fast charge. For most battery chemistries, fast charging generates more heat than slow charging, and heat kills batteries. Thus, slow charging is better to prolong the life of most batteries. Some advanced battery chargers have circuitry that monitors voltage, amperage and heat and adjusts charge rate to optimize charging and battery life.
That said, use the apple designed charger and you will be fine. Apple designed the device and the charger to give the optimum balance between battery life and charging convenience.
That apple article clearly says "if you don't use it." Meaning the battery is sitting there not being used. They want you to charge it at least every month. I was talking about the need to completely draining to 0% then charging to 100% to avoid memory effect, which you don't need to worry about in a Lithium based battery.
Here is what they say at BatteryUniversity.com:
"The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges."
Also it says the same on that apple site:
"You can also recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without the full charge or discharge cycle necessary to keep nickel-based batteries at peak performance. (Over time, crystals build up in nickel-based batteries and prevent you from charging them completely, necessitating an inconvenient full discharge.)"
Hmmm thats interesting. I've also always thought it was good to let the battery die once a month. I've heard the Apple Geniuses says this to customers quite a few times. However now I really don't know...
The best is to just enjoy and do it what ever way is best for you. Neither way is going to make a difference you could measure to the life of your battery. You iPad will give you several years of good life but you likely will want to trade it in for the iPad2 next year! 
It's not good for the battery but the complex monitoring/charging system needs re-calibrating from time to time (about once every 2 months is plenty). This is what is accomplished by running to the low voltage stopping point (lit-ion are never run dead).
Not a good idea, it's harmful for modern Lithium batteries.
Its a method used for old types of batteries.
I heard the same advice from a Segway engineer. However, he was referring to NiMH batteries, and as Segway moved to lithium-ion, they stopped recommending it. I can't imagine that the same advice doesn't apply to NiMH vs. Lithium-ion batteries in general. I just plug in my iDevices whenever I can and don't worry about it.
The reason apple tells people to do this (and keep in mind, 0% doesn't mean completely discharged, just not enough left to turn the device on...) is to reset/recalibrate the battery metering, so it really goes to 100% when you charge it to 100%. The software that measures the stored power needs to be recalibrated from time to time and doing this sort of full discharge will reset.
No USB ports on computers put out enough power to charge the ipad WHILE THE SCREEN IS ON... If you turn off the screen for say 15 minutes and then turn it on, you'll see that it has charged the battery up some... It just doesn't get enough juice through the USB port to charge the battery and drive the display (which is the #1 power pig in the iPad.)
Misleading info and/or incomplete info. Please read about batteries at Battary University and then you can give more acurate advice.