40mm Apple Watch Series 5 Features New Battery Design, 10% More Capacity

[MacRumors]

A teardown of the 44mm Apple Watch Series 5 conducted by repair site iFixit found few design changes compared to the 44mm Apple Watch Series 4, but a subsequent teardown of the 40mm model has found some more significant design deviations.

The battery inside of the Apple Watch Series 5 has a new metal casing, likely constructed from aluminum, rather than the foil pouch that surrounds most lithium-ion batteries.

Based on an Apple patent, iFixit suggests that the new metal casing is designed to be a more space-efficient method for sealing batteries. The size of the battery compartment in the Series 5 doesn't appear to have changed significantly over the Series 4 model, but the battery in the Series 5 offers 10 percent larger capacity than the Series 4 (0.944Wh vs. 0.858Wh).

Foil pouches feature a larger seal than the metal enclosure, so with the design change, Apple may have been able to use the space saved for a slightly larger battery.

New battery design on left, old design on right​

iFixit says that the metal casing also makes the battery physically stronger, which is ideal for repair purposes. An aluminum enclosure makes it more difficult to puncture during repairs.

The new design is limited to the 40mm Apple Watch Series 5 and was not seen in the 44mm Series 5 model. iFixit says that it's not clear why the updated design was used in one watch and not the other, but it could be that the smaller watch needed additional battery or Apple wanted a "low-key" way to test the design.

Article Link: 40mm Apple Watch Series 5 Features New Battery Design, 10% More Capacity

 

[rosegoldoli]

i guess i won something by waiting for the 5 😁

 

[Rorosbutt]

Personally don’t like the always on display. I would’ve upgraded if it had the normal display but bigger battery. I could get a couple of days out of a charge.

 

[IRockThat828pScreen]

or Apple wanted a "low-key" way to test the design.

Hello fellow kids...

 

[mtneer]

Would this have any safety implications when the battery swells and expands? My first thought is that a foil pouch with "give" would be a safer bet to the let the battery expand as opposed to a hard shell that might constrict the expansion and cause rapid onset of problems??

 

[now i see it]

Dissecting the thing right after its released

 

[IRockThat828pScreen]

Dissecting the baby right after its born

^this dude has had an account longer than I've been alive

 

[benshive]

Personally don’t like the always on display. I would’ve upgraded if it had the normal display but bigger battery. I could get a couple of days out of a charge.

You can turn off the always on display.

 

[JosephAW]

Helps keep it from expanding and breaking the crystal.

 

[CarpalMac]

This would never have been allowed if Jonny was still alive popping into the office.

The watch would have been made thinner. Though, it is actually the one device Apple sells that could do with that!

 

[AirunJae]

Hello fellow kids...

Not really, I had heard low-key used as a descriptor in this manner before it became more popular recently ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[fmcshan]

Maybe this new design will help pave the way for a longer lasting battery in series 6 models next year🤔

 

[44267547]

Maybe this new design will help pave the way for a larger battery in series 6 models next year🤔

It’s not the battery needs to become ‘larger’, it’s the efficiency of the chip and eventually Apple adopting micro LED, which will also help improve the battery life significantly.

 

[OregonSasquatch]

^this dude has had an account longer than I've been alive

😆 welcome, young blood!

 

[fmcshan]

It’s not the battery needs to become ‘larger’, it’s the efficiency of the chip and eventually alApple adopting micro LED, which will also help improve the battery life significantly.

Right, that’s what I was getting at: switching from OLED to micro LED technology. I meant a longer lasting battery not larger.... I do agree that chip efficiency improvements will drastically improve battery life.

 

[JackANSI]

I wonder what happens when the battery eventually puffs up... maybe it won't push the display off this time?

 

[Itada]

-

 

[noraa]

Personally don’t like the always on display. I would’ve upgraded if it had the normal display but bigger battery. I could get a couple of days out of a charge.

You can easily turn off the always on display in settings. It'll then act just like previous generations, where the display will only turn on when you lift your wrist (or tap on the display itself).

 

[mooreaa]

"likely constructed from aluminum, rather than the foil"...

You mean aluminum foil? The new one is STILL an aluminum foil.

 

[whoknows2597]

Personally don’t like the always on display. I would’ve upgraded if it had the normal display but bigger battery. I could get a couple of days out of a charge.

It’s mentioned somewhere that you CAN turn off always on display, though it is called something else in the Watch App.

 

[Seoras]

You wouldn't want a Lithium battery exploding or melting down on your wrist. This is great news.

 

[Rorosbutt]

You can turn off the always on display.

did not know this! Thank you! Wonder what the battery life is that way?

 

[incoherent_1]

did not know this! Thank you! Wonder what the battery life is that way?

I’m also curious to see the the impact on battery.

I hope it’s easy to toggle between always on and not. If I know I’m going to have a long day of usage (for example an international flight), it’ll nice to switch disable always on to try to eek out as much battery life as I can.

 

[choocn]

From my estimates on my daily use case so far. having AOD ON takes ~20% more of battery vs OFF. This is without any workouts.

 

[Nozuka]

This would never have been allowed if Jonny was still alive popping into the office.

The watch would have been made thinner. Though, it is actually the one device Apple sells that could do with that!

i wish the iPhone would get thinner again... i prefered the thickness of the iPhone 7 compared to the X.