Mossberg's tests found that with the new screen, upgraded CPU and optional LTE "battery life degraded by just 11 minutes, a figure that is still much better than on any tablet I've tested."

"[A]fter dicking around on the web and email for close to two hours — all of it using LTE — battery life was still showing over 80 percent capacity," says John Gruber. "I'll leave comprehensive battery life testing to other reviewers, but anecdotally, the iPad 3's battery life seems indistinguishable from that of the iPad 2, even when using LTE. This alone strikes me as a remarkable engineering accomplishment."

Siegler agrees. He points out that Apple carried this off by means of a "fairly major breakthrough in their battery technology. While the new battery clearly isn't much bigger than the old one, it can hold much more juice (42 watt-hours versus 25-watt-hours)."

But he noticed two consequences. "I've found it takes quite a bit longer to charge the new iPad. As in several hours — you'll probably want to do it overnight," he writes. Secondly, the "new iPad does get noticeably warm in the lower left corner after prolonged use. It's never hot, just warm. But again, I never noticed this on other models."

LTE: "as fast...as a rock-solid Wi-Fi" link