The interior of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) new iPad – including its high-resolution Retina display, which is handled by a dual-core A5X processing chip (with quad-core graphics processing) – is designed to significantly boost the device’s performance. Some iPads also feature 4G LTE wireless compatibility. All include a battery that, with 42.5 watt hours of capacity, is about 70% larger than the iPad 2’s 25Wh battery.

So there’s a lot going on inside the slim tablet, and one of the byproducts of its operation is going to be heat.

Over the past couple of days, some people who own the device have complained it actually generates very high heat. In fact, notes CNET Blog Network contributor Brooke Crothers, the original iPad and the iPad 2 generated similar user comments. And when the new iPad does get too warm, it usually shuts down and a message appears advising the user that “the iPad needs to cool down.”

A Consumer Reports test showed that the temperature of the front and rear of the new iPad, when plugged in and running the role-playing game Infinity Blade II for 45 minutes, peaked at about 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Unplugged it hit 113. That was with the iPad’s Wi-Fi link turned on but without activating its 4G LTE connection. Compared to the iPad 2 during the same tests, the new iPad ran about 12 degrees hotter.

Like Apple’s other mobile devices, Crothers added, the iPad is not equipped with a cooling fan.

“The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications,” Trudy Miller, a spokeswoman for Apple, said in a statement. “If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.”

In a comment to a Los Angeles Times post on the subject, one reader said he visited an Apple store to see for himself whether the heat generated by the dozen or so iPads on display seemed excessive. Each machine was running at maximum brightness during store hours, he noted, although none of them seemed overly warm.