The new iPad was recently released and there has been a lot of talk about the battery. It is indeed impressive that Apple has added a terrific new screen, albeit energy sucking by its very nature, and yet battery life seems to be unchanged. But, as with most things in life, you do have to take care of that ginormous battery.
Charging your mobile device, be it a cellphone, tablet, e-reader, or laptop has always seemed to be more voodoo than science but that really is not the case with the devices we use today. This came up in a recent episode of iPad Today so I decided to do some research. With lithium ion batteries you are best off charging it at least every night and then, about once a month, draining it down to about the 20% remaining charge level before plugging in and recharging. Leaving your device plugged in charging all the time is not good for a lithium ion battery and neither is fully discharging the battery every day.
For those that want to dive deep, this Ars Technica article does a good job of explaining the care and feeding of a lithium ion battery. You can also talk to the capable staff of VCU’s fixIT Computer Service Center if you have any questions about your device. For everyone else, just use your device normally and plug it in each night or more often if you like. Once a month, run the battery down to about 20% and you should have a long living, happy battery. How long, well, lets not forget these are consumer devices so life varies based on use.
