Infrared test shows new iPad running 10 degrees hotter than iPad 2

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014


Thermal imaging of a side-by-side comparison of the third-generation iPad and the iPad 2 found Apple's latest tablet running 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) hotter than its predecessor.



Dutch site Tweakers.net (, via Engadget) performed the GLBenchmark test on the two generations of iPads for five minutes to measure a heat difference. Using an infrared camera, the publication discovered that the hottest part of the new iPad was 33.6 degrees Celsius (92.5 Fahrenheit), while the iPad 2 measured 28.3 degrees Celsius (83 Fahrenheit).



Though the new iPad does appear to run warmer than the iPad 2, it should be noted that the temperatures are still well within Apple's specified operating temperature of 32 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 35 Celsius).



The report went on to speculate that the new GPU is the likely cause for the added heat in the third-generation iPad. The new iPad features an A5X chip with quad-core graphics, presumably from the PowerVR SGX543MP4. A teardown of the tablet late last week revealed a new metal heat spreader affixed on top of the A5X.



Anecdotal evidence from iPad users on the Apple Support Communities forum shows that some users have found the new iPad to be warmer than the previous generation. One discussion had generated nearly 19,000 views and 219 replies as of Monday evening.





Left: New iPad, Right: iPad 2. Credit: Tweakers.net




Apple said on Monday that it has been "thrilled" with the first weekend of sales for the new iPad. The company announced later that day that a record three million units had been sold over the weekend.



Thousands of customers lined up to purchase the iPad when it went on sale last Friday. In addition to its improved graphics capability, the device has a Retina Display, larger battery and improved camera.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 80
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    That bottom-left corner (bottom right in photo) definitely gets warm to the touch. The simple solution is to rotate the iPad 180 degrees.



    I'm surprised that it's only 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I had never noticed the previous iPads getting warm and this one can get uncomfortable.
  • Reply 2 of 80
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    has anybody else found that the on-line apple store is currently off line?

    new mac pros coming today?
  • Reply 3 of 80
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    That bottom-left corner (bottom right in photo) definitely gets warm to the touch. The simple solution is to rotate the iPad 180 degrees.



    I'm surprised that it's only 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I had never noticed the previous iPads getting warm and this one can get uncomfortable.



    apparently for some people using it in the sun for 15-60 minutes causes a overheat



    i have not witnessed, but i hope it gets resolved/is not true





    On that note, i have to say the one thing that i am happy about Steve leaving Apple (though his death was so very saddening) is that now Apple won't try to make stuff that becomes invisible when its turned sideways...



    Hope they can resolve any issues with the "new iPad's battery (i assume that's a large part of the problem)" before the next one...
  • Reply 4 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    has anybody else found that the on-line apple store is currently off line?

    new mac pros coming today?



    Yes. It's in a "We'll be back soon" state.
  • Reply 5 of 80
    Well, with three million sold on launch, I think it was already fair to call the new iPad "hot".



    :-)
  • Reply 6 of 80
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    apparently for some people using it in the sun for 15-60 minutes causes a overheat



    i have not witnessed, but i hope it gets resolved/is not true



    I don't think it can until the 4th gen iPad outside of some iOS update that clocks the GPU lower, which I assume they had a razor focus on before its release.



    Quote:

    On that note, i have to say the one thing that i am happy about Steve leaving Apple (though his death was so very saddening) is that now Apple won't try to make stuff that becomes invisible when its turned sideways...



    I can't be certain but based on lead times for development I expect Steve would have had in his hands the new iPad with its thick battery. It's a trade off and drastically less battery life was not an option. Note that Apple has has been a leader battery life a this directly affects the user experience. Also note Apple, under Jobs, has released thicker and heavier iPhones in subsequent releases. This is the most drastic but the display is 8x the area of the iPhone. Bottom line: The iPad will get thinner and lighter as the technology permits.



    Quote:

    Hope they can resolve any issues with the "new iPad's battery (i assume that's a large part of the problem)" before the next one...



    The issue is with the display requiring a very powerful GPU. As the article mentions they moved the RAM from being on the Apple ASIC (A5 chip) to being external to the package and having its own her sink. That GPU need a low of power to push pixels to that display. That needs a larger battery. I assume this will get somewhat resolved next year but it will probably be a few years before a 25W battery is feasible again.
  • Reply 7 of 80
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member
    I'm surprised by how warm my new iPad gets, but that's only because I never noticed my previous iPad 2 being even warm at all. I'll be curious to see how this all plays out. Do LTE iPads run hotter than wifi iPads (mine is wifi). I think mine runs hotter when in use while charging. It ran the warmest during the very first use as it was charging in the dock and installing gigs and gigs worth of data, music and apps.



    It's certainly warm, but I wouldn't say hot.
  • Reply 8 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    That bottom-left corner (bottom right in photo) definitely gets warm to the touch. The simple solution is to rotate the iPad 180 degrees.



    I'm surprised that it's only 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I had never noticed the previous iPads getting warm and this one can get uncomfortable.



    Is this something that only happens to a small number of units? Mine always seems cool to the touch. Seriously. I usually have the 'smart cover' over the back, but after I use it for a while and close it the back is pretty cool. Like that cold metallic feeling.



    You guys are more read than I, but everything I've looked at with the new ARM (been studying their architecture) and even Nvidia chips document that they use less power, by significant amounts than the previous versions. Even with more cores added both on the CPU and GPU. How can this be true if people are saying that the 2 extra graphics cores are making the iPad "heat up"? Getting warmer would mean consuming more power. I think...



    I would like to see a FLIR (great company by the way) image of a Tegra 3 being 'bench tested'. If it has both 4 CPU cores and 4 GPU cores, plus a 5th (downscaled) core, then i would imagine it would be burning hot by FLIR standards. Heck, I've read some apple hate comments saying the Tegra 3 has 12 cores and all the bench marks are faked... (totally wrong BTW).



    I may be wrong, but I don't believe it's the new processor. I love reading your thoughts though!
  • Reply 9 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 2oh1 View Post


    I'm surprised by how warm my new iPad gets, but that's only because I never noticed my previous iPad 2 being even warm at all. I'll be curious to see how this all plays out. Do LTE iPads run hotter than wifi iPads (mine is wifi). I think mine runs hotter when in use while charging. It ran the warmest during the very first use as it was charging in the dock and installing gigs and gigs worth of data, music and apps.



    It's certainly warm, but I wouldn't say hot.



    I don't think it's LTE. Right now I'm purposely leaving mine on playing Netflix over LTE (4G). It's still cool to the touch on the back. I'll report back! :o)
  • Reply 10 of 80
    jason98jason98 Posts: 768member
    iPhone 4 - Antenna-gate

    iPhone 4s - Battery-gate



    iPad 3 - Heat-gate?
  • Reply 11 of 80
    enzosenzos Posts: 344member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    That bottom-left corner (bottom right in photo) definitely gets warm to the touch. The simple solution is to rotate the iPad 180 degrees.



    I'm surprised that it's only 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I had never noticed the previous iPads getting warm and this one can get uncomfortable.



    Fahrenheit! You Americans use quaint lingo..
  • Reply 12 of 80
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I'm just glad that there's no damn fan in the iPad. I hate noisy electronics and computers. I can definitely notice that the new iPad is a little bit warmer during use than the iPad2, but it doesn't bother me because I understand that the extra graphics power is needed to drive that super crazy display. That's also why the battery has been upgraded.



    With increased power in the iPad, comes more chips, which generates more heat. I would suspect that designing something as great as the iPad is a fine balancing act, and nobody does that better than Apple.
  • Reply 13 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vadania View Post


    I don't think it's LTE. Right now I'm purposely leaving mine on playing Netflix over LTE (4G). It's still cool to the touch on the back. I'll report back! :o)



    O.K. 45 min of streaming LTE(4G) and the back of mine is still 'cool to the touch' so to speak. It's not hot at all. It not even WARM. I left it 'back' down on a room temperature desk, with the smart cover under it (it's leather, which holds heat well). After a 44min. show, it was metallic cold to the touch. On every corner!



    I'm starting to think that either I'm lucky, or the heat thing is just troll stuff. I thought that at first until I had seen this article from AI. Is AI feeding off troll bait? It just doesn't make sense.
  • Reply 14 of 80
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    95 degrees is a great bun warmer. LOL.
  • Reply 15 of 80
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,616member
    I always found the iPad 2 to feel cold in my hands, especially at night so the new iPad actually being a bit warmer is a good thing. No issues with overheating of any products for me as the climate here is ideal for electronics. I live in Scotland.
  • Reply 16 of 80
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vadania View Post


    O.K. 45 min of streaming LTE(4G) and the back of mine is still 'cool to the touch' so to speak. It's not hot at all. It not even WARM. I left it 'back' down on a room temperature desk, with the smart cover under it (it's leather, which holds heat well). After a 44min. show, it was metallic cold to the touch. On every corner!



    I'm starting to think that either I'm lucky, or the heat thing is just troll stuff. I thought that at first until I had seen this article from AI. Is AI feeding off troll bait? It just doesn't make sense.



    You're doing it wrong. Forget about LTE.



    I would suspect that these two huge GPU's have something to do with it.



  • Reply 17 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    With increased power in the iPad, comes more chips, which generates more heat.



    Strange, my brother kept saying today "With increased power, comes increased responsibility."



    I don't know why, but I found your post funny!



    My brother is 14 by the way...
  • Reply 18 of 80
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    You're doing it wrong. Forget about LTE.



    I would suspect that these two huge GPU's have something to do with it.



    So why then isn't the Tegra 3, burning people's finger prints off? 4 "Huge" GPU's plus I would guess 4 "Huge" CPU's, but wait, there's a fifth... oh, and if you look at other blogs, I guess it has 12 cores.
  • Reply 19 of 80
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by enzos View Post


    Fahrenheit! You Americans use quaint lingo..



    Not just Americans. At least Americans own* it while Britons have some wonky usage where they use Fahrenheit in the Summer to exaggerate the temperature.



    It is rather odd that the since France started metrication in the late 1700s that the nearly all the world has adopted it except, inarguably, the most powerful nation on the planet. That seems rather odd to me but if the UK can't get on board and they are part of the EU would chance do 350 million Staunch Americans have.



    I remember being in grade school being told that I need to learn the metric system because it will be standard in a couple years. I later found out this has been told longer before I was in school and long after I was in school. I'm sure it's being told to kids today.



    PS: i used Fahrenheit because that is the 10 degrees noted in the article, though oddly omitted from the title.





    * Own, as in make use of it fully, not a pronouncement that we invented it. That title goes to geman physicist Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit.
  • Reply 20 of 80
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vadania View Post


    So why then isn't the Tegra 3, burning people's finger prints off? 4 "Huge" GPU's plus I would guess 4 "Huge" CPU's, but wait, there's a fifth... oh, and if you look at other blogs, I guess it has 12 cores.



    What model are you using to compare them? The results from the Tegra 3 showed it was mostly inline with the iPad 2's GPU performance. Are you just looking at cores?



    Note that Apple's A5X is about 4x the area of the Tegra 3 which includes RAM on the package. I think you are seriously under estimating what is required to fun this display.
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