It seems like the latest generation iPad is too hot to handle. Just days after Apple’s much anticipated official release, reports keep rolling in of the tablet becoming uncomfortably hot, especially while playing graphics-heavy games. But some informal investigations suggest the problem is not that serious, and no worse than in other computers.

Many bloggers are quick to point out that with a larger battery and superior display (requiring more backlights), heating is to be expected. They point out that heating has been reported in both previous generations of iPads. Gizmodo also notes that the circuit board in the new iPad is 310% larger than in the original iPad; and that instead of fitting more transistors into the same amount of space (i.e. making the circuitry more sophisticated and efficient), Apple simply made the space much bigger.

CNET conducted their own testing, and found that the iPad maxed out at 98 degrees Fahrenheit in the back center after 45 minutes of gaming. Sounds like a lot, but it’s actually just under body temperature. The same testing also found a Dell Inspiron heating up to 113 degrees under the same conditions.

But Consumer Reports found the iPad heating up to a whopping 116 degrees Fahrenheit! Gizmodo (in a separate article) points out that this is still not hot enough to burn skin, but is hot enough to do damage to your reproductive health (ahem, gentlemen). They also criticize Apple for allowing such heating in a product designed to be held, unlike a laptop.

Do you have a new iPad? Has it been overheating?

[via CNET]

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