Consumer Report says new iPad reaches temps of 46.6 degrees Celsius

The new iPad runs hotter than the iPad 2 – yesterday we saw the first exact numbers of just how much hotter and also Apple’s response. Today, it’s Consumer Report’s turn to weigh in on the issue and their measurements show a much more drastic difference in operating temperatures.

They put the new iPad on a smart cover, plugged it in, switched off 4G connectivity and left the Wi-Fi on. The temperature in the room where the test was conducted was 22°C (72°F). Infinity Blade II was left to run for 45 minutes and then the measurements were made.

The new iPad hit 46.6°C (116°F), well over what Tweakers.net got, while the iPad 2 went up to at 39.4°C (103°F) using the same setup.

Consumer Report repeated the test after unplugging the chargers for both iPads, which let to slightly cooler results – 45°C (113°F) for the new iPad and 38.3°C (101°F) for the iPad 2.

The heat was concentrated around the chipset (unsurprisingly), which made that corner (lower left or lower right depending on how you hold the iPad) uncomfortable to hold.

Another interesting finding is that the new iPad won’t charge – actually, the battery continued to discharge – when running a heavy game like Infinity Blade II. Quitting the game resumed normal charging.

We’re running our own tests using various methods to see how much different components contribute to the heating – the GPU obviously, but also the processor and just the new screen itself.

We’ll report back with our findings (which should represent various use cases) soon, so stay tuned!

Source