The new iPad Pro is exciting in many ways, but its battery life is pathetic

Apple fans are properly excited about the new iPad Pro. It has a lot going for it, particularly with the addition of cutting-edge technology like a LiDAR scanner and a new Magic Keyboard accessory that finally includes a built-in trackpad. One thing that hasn’t changed, right from the time the original iPad was launched by the late Steve Jobs – its 10 hours of battery life. Although a fantastic achievement at the time, it is now passé.

Virtually every year since the iPad was first launched, mobile SoC efficiency has improved by around 10 to 20 percent each generation. Yet Apple has never really taken advantage of these gains in delivering mobile devices with 10 to 20 percent better battery life. Instead, it has used these efficiency gains to strive for thinner and lighter devices. While this is a worthy goal, it has resulted in iPads that still continue to deliver what we can now comfortably say is “just” 10 hours.

This almost self-imposed 10-hour limitation has become even more pathetic when you consider that similar like the new ARM-based Snapdragon 8cx-powered Samsung Galaxy Book S is offering well over 20 hours of battery life by comparison. Even Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 models, which are similarly thin and light, offer 50 percent more battery life at up to 15 hours. The 10 hour battery life claim for the iPad line is no longer a selling point, but is becoming a potential liability.