The guys at Anandtech has reported that Apple has quietly upgraded the Apple iPad 2 that will result in positive benefits as far battery life is concerned.
The new iPad version, referred to as iPad 2,4 (which takes into account the three other versions of Apple’s best-selling tablet) has junked the 45 nanometer, dual core A5 processor in favor of a smaller 32 nanometer version of the same chip. The new chip is smaller by forty percent compared to the 45 nanometer version. The new 32 nanometer iteration of the A5 chip is also being used for the newest version of the Apple TV.
The 32 nanometer A5 chip has the same performance specs as the 45 nanometer A5 chip, but the difference is that the smaller chip has lesser power requirements, which translates to lower power consumption. Aside from this, it will also run a little cooler than the bigger chip.
According to tests conducted by Anandtech, the iPad 2,4 will likely give a user an extra two hours of battery life, especially when used for web surfing, watching movies and playing games.
Based on the Anandtech article, the gains in battery life is significant. The battery life when web browsing increased by 15 percent, an almost 30 percent increase when gaming, and an 18 percent increase when watching videos.
It may be a little hard to locate the new iPad 2,4 though, because Apple still has a lot of stocks of the old iPad 2. Additionally, the new iPad 2 version will be installed with iOS 5.1, the old iPad 2 comes preinstalled with iOS 5.0.1.
