New iPad investigated for claims of overheating

Measured running 5.3 degrees hotter than iPad 2

Owners of Apple's new iPad have taken to the web to claim the tablet is overheating, with temperatures rising to what some have claimed is an unacceptable level.

Comments posted on Apple's forum point to the device running especially hot when playing 3D games, with the bottom left side of the iPad's screen apparently the area worst effected.

Others, however, have suggested the whole device heats up, making it uncomfortable to hold.

Hot gossip

As a result of such complaints, Reuters states electronics review specialist Consumer Reports is to publish findings on claims iPad emits excessive heat when in use based on a "battery of tests" designed to simulate actual usage.

The firm has, however, been beaten to it to some extent, with Dutch website Tweakers – translated by the Daily Mail – claiming a photo taken with a thermal imaging camera illustrates that the latest iPad does indeed run at a higher temperature than its predecessor.


New iPad on the left, iPad 2 on the right

The site claims iPad 2 (using the dual-core A5 chip) runs at a temperature of 28.3° Celsius, while Apple's latest update (with the A5X chip, including a quad-core GPU) runs at 33.6° Celsius – proof that those who have complained aren't imagining the jump in temperature, the site claims.

Nonetheless, Tweakers does state that, while the new iPad's "warming housing is noticable", it isn't – as some have claimed - "too hot to touch."

Apple itself has offered little in response, with a spokesperson for the company telling Reuters that the new iPad operates "within our thermal specifications."

[source: Reuters]

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