I've got a number of these iPhone USB Power Adapters lying around the house. When I got the iPad 2, I knew of the higher power requirements for charging, but I just never thought much about it because I usually charged the iPad by plugging it into my iMac.
iOS 5 & iCloud changed all that. With backups now going to iCloud, I really had no reason to plug the iPad into the iMac. So I started plugging the iPad directly into the wall, using the iPhone USB adapter. Was charging slow? When I paid attention, sure, but I usually didn't notice because I charged overnight.
When I got the iPad Retina, aka iPad 3 or the new iPad, I noticed charging took a long time. I mean a really long time. I rationalized this away because I know how much larger the iPad Retina battery is. But I started to kind of plan around having to charge the new iPad, making sure the battery was topped up if I knew I needed to use it for an extended time on battery.
I don't remember who, or how it came up, but recently someone mentioned you have to be using the iPad 2+ included adapter or charging takes forever. I of course dismissed this out of hand. How could I, with all the iDevices, detailed knowledge of the development platform and hardware, possibly not be using the correct adapter? I certainly didn't remember any fancy adapter!
Yesterday I opened the iPad 2 and iPad Retina boxes, and sure enough, there's a 10W USB Adapter included! I immediately took my 50% charged iPad Retina and plugged it into the 10W adapter. A few hours later, 85% charged, BOOM! That is simply astonishing charging speed compared to what I was seeing before.
Best of all, the 10W charger works with all iDevices for the fastest charging possible. The cherry on top is that the 10W has a removable plug so you can use it with the World Travel Adapter Kit or the US extension cable.
I was feeling super dumb when I saw the 10W adapter in the iPad boxes, but I quickly got that once I realized how much an improvement this was. If you never took your 10W adapter out of your iPad's box, now would be the time.
Update
While doing laundry this morning, I saw the iPad 1 box, which has been demoted to the basement. I wondered what charger was included with the iPad 1 ? Was it the iPhone Adapter? Opening it up, I see the box layout is the same as the iPad 2 and new iPad, but a charger wasn't in the box! I went back up to the office and opened my junk electronics drawer. Sure enough, another 10W adapter was there collecting dust. I obviously completely forgot about it when I moved houses late last year.
Feel like I should be busted to Apple geek private or something.