Running the same test on the iPad 2 the hottest reading I saw was 87 degrees, in the same spot. The edge with the camera read around 83 degrees on the iPad 2.

That's a higher temperature on the new iPad, to be sure, but not the sort of thing that's going to make you drop your tablet howling like Major Toht when he tries to grab the fire-heated amulet in .

Just for comparison's sake, I also took some readings on my mid-2010 15-inch MacBook Pro. In those tests, the MacBook Pro's temps peaked at 110 degrees while running Cinebench, with the hottest spot being on the bottom, about an inch away from where the screen connects to the body.

In the less exacting "lap comfort" test, the new iPad is noticeably warmer than its predecessor, but it's not at all uncomfortable when using it in the controlled climes of the Macworld Lab. If the underside of the iPad ever did get too warm for my liking, simply turning the tablet so its camera edge was closer to my body would probably lower my lap temperature. The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, felt like I was having my clothes pressed while wearing them.