The 12.9 Inch iPad Pro And The New 29 Watt Charger
With screen brightness set to maximum, the 29W adapter was able to charge the iPad Pro, albeit a bit slowly. Ultimately, it reached almost 15% in 20 minutes of charging.
With screen brightness set to maximum, the 12W adapter could basically only hold the current charge. When using the iPad Pro with screen brightness set to max, I’ve seen the iPad Pro actually lose charge, even when connected to the 12W power source.
As a 12.9 inch iPad Pro owner, I was naturally stung by the improvements that Apple managed to roll into the new 9.7 inch version (new screen technology, better cameras). At the end of the day, though, I can’t really be upset. I bought the product at the time with the features that it had. As an Apple commentator, I definitely wouldn’t want Apple to hold back on features for the new iPad Pro just to make the few million people who bought the bigger model not feel hard done by.
What I do think is unacceptable is the power adapter that Apple ships with the big iPad Pro. The wattage is simply not high enough; the 12.9 inch iPad battery takes forever to charge using the bundled adapter. It is bad. As part of the announcements on Monday, Apple has released a new USB-C to Lightning cable, meaning the iPad Pro can now connect to Apple’s more powerful 29 W USB-C charger (also used by the Retina MacBook).
This higher-wattage charger should come bundled in the box with all new 12.9 inch iPad Pros sold. I don’t care that it didn’t exist at first. The current charger Apple ships is mediocre, bordering on unacceptable. It barely does the job: you can’t use the iPad whilst charging and expect the battery percentage to go up. Apple should not punish new Pro customers with the 12 watt charger just because it shipped a 12 watt charger initially. Now that something better is available, include that in the box. Enough said.