Connect with us

Hardware

Apple Tablet Battery Life 2 or 3 Hours?…This Could Be a Problem

Published

on

A lot of us have been taking stabs in the dark as we try and guess what features will/won’t make it into the Apple tablet. But we’re starting to see what appears to be credible specifics from people who’ve actually seen and used the yet to be announced iTab, iSlate, iNewt, iPad, device. Over the past few hours Jason Calacanis Tweeted about his experience with the Apple thus far. He’s supposedly had it for the past two weeks and will be doing a media tour to show it off.

Some of the specifics he lists sound pretty cool. Who wouldn’t want to watch or time shift HDTV on the go? Or use one of two built-in cameras for video conferencing? But there’s one tweet that really got my attention:

Screen shot 2010-01-27 at 12.30.03 AM

That’s right, it lasts for only two or three hours when using the device for things besides reading. Tomorrow I fully expect an Apple spokesperson to proclaim something like “UP TO 10 HOURS of BATTERY LIFE….,” which will be followed by rambunctious applause. But like all mobile devices, this claim will be based on best case scenario- in this case that means reading ebooks or magazines.

In this day and age do you think it’s acceptable that a mobile content consumption device can only eek out two hours? I sure don’t. I’m hoping that Jason’s got a bum unit or is underestimating battery life, but I doubt that’s the case.

Another problem is that if Apple holds true to its current design principles the tablet won’t have a removable battery or extended batteries.

The guys at Mophie (or whoever else can design an extended battery sleeve) are going to be rich.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Rodfather

    01/27/2010 at 3:09 am

    Or perhaps Calacanis made it all up.

  2. GoodThings2Life

    01/27/2010 at 5:02 am

    First the McGraw-Hill CEO spoiling that it only has the updated iPhone OS (confirming the “giant iPod” theory) and now claims on battery life… this is shaping up to be a bad day for Apple fans, and if so, I’m not gonna lie… I love it. Of course, even I still hope for something truly amazing, just so it will push the competition into overdrive again, but I just can’t help in taking a little bit of joy if Apple’s announcement is disappointing to the fanboys.

  3. Osiris

    01/27/2010 at 5:27 am

    Is there a tablet out there that has more then a cpl hours battery life? This is just a fact of technology, anyone believing you can do more than e-readers and expect hours of battery life is dreaming.

    **Spoiler Alert**
    The HP slate is gonna be no different when we learn about that.

  4. Sumocat

    01/27/2010 at 5:48 am

    Can’t adequately judge this without knowing what type of gaming and wifi use he was doing. 3D gaming guzzles juice, as does streaming video. Also don’t know how much he was pushing the multitasking during that. If he was pushing the limits (that’s how I would test it), 2-3 is actually pretty good. Need more data.

  5. Rob

    01/27/2010 at 5:59 am

    agree with sumocat. also, if what jason is saying about the tablet is only half true, I’m suspecting that Microsoft and their partners are going to have a real problem on their hands. We’ll wait and see, but I suspect that schools and healthcare are going to jump to this thing like crazy – wrap one of those babies up in an otterbox and you have a rugged tablet that is doing dual conferencing, dedicated healthcare apps – crazy stuff, but I know one doctors office that will be eyeing this really closely.

  6. drphysx

    01/27/2010 at 6:03 am

    I will be ROFLMAO if that thing has worse battery life than my Latitude XT2 :D

  7. Scott

    01/27/2010 at 10:51 am

    If it comes with a required wireless carrier contract, it’s a non-starter for schools (IMHO). I’m not saying it won’t appear in schools, I just don’t see it as a serious One to One contender. I’m sure students would love to have one though.

    And will it pass the The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind test (unlike the Kindle)?

    However, if it helps the public think about what tablets might be used for or just generally increase the overall visibility of the platform, I’ll be happy. When rotating the screen and putting a display machine in tablet mode no longer freaks out the salespeople at Fry’s and other stores, we will have won (though I’ll miss the entertainment).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.