Apple’s new iPads — the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display — have quietly undergone significant battery changes from their prior incarnations, iLounge has learned. The iPad Air actually has a much smaller battery than the fourth-generation iPad — 32.4-Watt-hours compared to the previous model’s 42.5-Watt-hours; as a result, the battery should recharge faster, coming closer to the four-hour refueling times required from the iPad and iPad 2 than the five- to six-hours of the last two iPads.
Meanwhile, the Retina iPad mini is moving up to 23.8-Watt-hours from 16.3-Watt-hours in the original iPad mini—a 46% increase in battery size that will change how the new model works with external battery packs. Apple is now including a 10W charger to reduce recharging time.
To read about the battery changes and more under-the-radar features in the new iPads, read our newest Ten Things You Didn’t Know article.
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