Apple Boosts iPhone 5s Battery Capacity by 10%, iPhone 5c by 5% Over iPhone 5

[twigman08]

Batteries desperately need some major technological improvements. Nothing happened in the last 10 years.

10 years really? That is false.

Even though it is totally different, 10 years ago I raced electric RC Cars. The batteries used in them were pretty bad (even back in those days we said they were bad). 4 years ago I got back into racing electric RC Cars. Why? The battery technology. Battery technology changed drastically during that time. From relying on using Nickle Batteries to a move of using Lithium Polymer batteries. Using Nickle Type batteries we had to fully discharge the battery before we could charge them back up to get best performance. Plus the battery life dramatically improved in that move.

I don't know the exact history of when most laptops started using the newer type of Lithium-Ion Batteries but 10 years this type of battery technology wasn't in every day use or popular by consumers.

 

[Virinprew]

I don't buy that, everyone I know with an iPhone 5, myself included, has lousy battery life. Before iOS 7 I got 5 hours of usage, after iOS 7 I get about 3-4 hours. Not only that, the battery bleeds out even when its asleep. This is true of everyone I know who has an iPhone 5.

Yeah. Everyone who has an iPhone 5 knows. Don't need to tell them.

p.s. Everyone also knows that iOS 7 will be released on 18 Sep 2013.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Apparently most of the 10% are around me.

Your friends might want to think about spending a bit more time in the real world interacting with real people. One great way to solve battery issues.

 

[haruhiko]

Your friends might want to think about spending a bit more time in the real world interacting with real people. One great way to solve battery issues.

For the people with great battery life on an iPhone 5: are your phone on an LTE network?

 

[dol4n]

Steve would never have released a unfinished phone...

I think it's time to question Cook's CEO-position.

 

[lannisters4life]

10% isn't good enough i'm afraid

iphone 5 is a great phone, the best phone i have used, but its battery life is horrendous.

 

[pickaxe]

No. Actually Apple is accurate/slightly conservative with its battery estimates. My iPhone 5 lasts for about 9 1/2 hours under heavy usage on LTE, while my 2013 MacBook Air usually lasts 13 hours.

Congrats. My iPhone 5 lasts 5 hours under moderate-heavy usage (without MobileSubstrate!) and my 2013 MacBook Air lasts around 10.5 hours under optimal conditions.

But guess what? Anecdotal evidence is meaningless. Certainly not enough to proclaim that "Apple's estimates are conservative".

 

[kdarling]

No. Actually Apple is accurate/slightly conservative with its battery estimates. My iPhone 5 lasts for about 9 1/2 hours under heavy usage on LTE, while my 2013 MacBook Air usually lasts 13 hours.

If they're accurate for you, then you must match their usage tests. A lot of people will not. Time to review how Apple tests:

First, they note the obvious... that a lot depends on how close you are to a signal, and what features you have turned on (e.g. push/pull mail, notifications) or are configured (screen timeout, etc).

Someone near a non-city tower is going to have a lot better battery life than someone who is on the fringe and/or on a cell with lots of other users, because distance and/or congestion boost the radio power output.

Second, their surfing tests are not exactly strenuous. This is how Apple tests Internet over 3G, LTE, and WiFi:

Internet over [3G/LTE/WiFi] tests were conducted [...] using a dedicated web server. iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s browsed snapshot versions of 20 popular web pages and received mail once an hour.

- Apple's Internet battery endurance test

That's it. Mail and 20 captured static web pages from a dedicated server, once an hour ... all undoubtedly over Apple's own lab cell site. Also, depending on how often their test procedure changes web pages, the screen could be blank a lot of the time. (This is why they use default settings.)

OTOH, audio/video playback tests should be more accurate, since they depend less on the user actions, and how much mail you get. (Although cell power is still a big overall factor.)

 

[keatth]

with all the portable battery chargers, who cares anymore how long the battery life is? you plug it in at home, you plug it in in your car, you carry the external battery in your bag (I have Anker Astro 3, 12,000 mah), you charge it at work, whats the problem??

 

[egoistaxx9]

the bigger battery is for the new hungry processor, that's all, dont expect for longer standby time.

 

[tongxinshe]

no, you do not need to remove normal apps from the recently-ran list.

http://speirs.org/blog/2012/1/2/misconceptions-about-ios-multitasking.html

You got only one part of the fact. Those apps are not actively running, instead they are in a "suspend" state, but that doesn't mean they definitely equal to "quit" in behavior. For most apps, you don't need to worry about them. Some of the apps intentionally wake up itself continuously, to check status, to update information, etc., even if your phone is in the sleep mode. Although waking up once every 1 millisecond isn't considered "too frequent" given the speed of the modern APU speed, those operations consumes a lot of battery over time. Just try it yourself, then you will know. Viber is one of those I identified myself as a "bad citizen" in this regard.

 

[Altis]

the bigger battery is for the new hungry processor, that's all, dont expect for longer standby time.

This, and it has the new M7 which will consume a considerable amount (despite being of little use to many).

Comparing times is meaniningless as there are so many variables. Time between charges depends on usage, features enabled, and critically, your reception. If it struggles to reach the tower, it needs to use much more power.

I side with those in favor of a larger battery in lieu of razor thin. People say you can get lots of hours per charge if you turn off all the features Apple goes on about, which is absolutely true. But then what's the point?

Especially now that Apple is all crazed about the cloud... Seriously, your own music has to be streamed through cell towers? Like that won't kill your battery... Or having 4 antennas running (GSM/CDMA, 3G/LTE, Wifi, Bluetooth).. Which apple made turning on and off a royal pain, and is only now addressing it.

I'm amazed at how long the batteries last, it's incredible... But if we can improve it, that would make a greater difference than anything else in terms of usability. "Range", in the electronic world, is crucial.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

For the people with great battery life on an iPhone 5: are your phone on an LTE network?

I'm on LTE.

 

[robotphood]

Battery life can vary so greatly between users you can never compare with someone else. Things like brightness, signal strength and usage patterns will never be the same. And usage times don't really say much because it doesn't take into account whether the screen was on or off. I can get about 6-7 hours usage out of my i5 and idle times (not standby) around 20-22 hours. I have 2 mail accounts pushing and probably a dozen other apps with push notifications. The battery life on the iPhone 5 is actually quite decent considering the size of the battery. There are phones with larger batteries that don't do much better. And it's quite unfair to compare an iPhone 5 with a droid maxx or note variant with batteries well over double the size.

 

[itguy06]

It depends if your company's password policy supports biometrics as part of what is called the "simple password". Currently neither Microsoft (I assume you are talking about Exchange ActiveSync) nor Apple have yet confirmed the answer to this question.

Also you will need your password/passcode when switching on the phone.

Not sure as we're a Notes shop but that uses ActiveSync via Notes Traveller. All I know is when I had them put my corporate e-mail on my iPhone now I need a 5 digit passcode and it's a PITA. I see no reason they wouldn't allow the
more secure fingerprint.

 

[egoistaxx9]

This, and it has the new M7 which will consume a considerable amount (despite being of little use to many).

Comparing times is meaniningless as there are so many variables. Time between charges depends on usage, features enabled, and critically, your reception. If it struggles to reach the tower, it needs to use much more power.

I side with those in favor of a larger battery in lieu of razor thin. People say you can get lots of hours per charge if you turn off all the features Apple goes on about, which is absolutely true. But then what's the point?

Especially now that Apple is all crazed about the cloud... Seriously, your own music has to be streamed through cell towers? Like that won't kill your battery... Or having 4 antennas running (GSM/CDMA, 3G/LTE, Wifi, Bluetooth).. Which apple made turning on and off a royal pain, and is only now addressing it.

I'm amazed at how long the batteries last, it's incredible... But if we can improve it, that would make a greater difference than anything else in terms of usability. "Range", in the electronic world, is crucial.

agreed, if they really want to add a BIG battery they'll have to increase the size of the iphone, and, why not, they should make a bigger iphone 4.5 to 4.7 inches wold be really cool

 

[gatearray]

What the hell are you people doing with your phones? I charge every day and a half. If I start a morning with a full charge, I can usually make it until noon the next day before it's near drained.

Turn your brightness down and turn off push. Your emails are probably not so important that you can't get by with a 15 minute fetch.

Exactly right on all fronts!

My guess is, the kids whining about battery life have about 200 bullsnip apps they agreed to "send push notifications", so an email account or two would probably be the least of their concerns.

And constantly dicking around with your smartphone for no apparent reason will kill your battery pretty quick, as well.

Battery life can vary so greatly between users you can never compare with someone else. Things like brightness, signal strength and usage patterns will never be the same. And usage times don't really say much because it doesn't take into account whether the screen was on or off. I can get about 6-7 hours usage out of my i5 and idle times (not standby) around 20-22 hours. I have 2 mail accounts pushing and probably a dozen other apps with push notifications. The battery life on the iPhone 5 is actually quite decent considering the size of the battery.

My experience as well, 6-7 hours of actually usage, and all the standby time I need for a whole day, no sweat.

 

[Ironclaw27]

excellent, more reason why I waited for the 'S'

 

[harlemexplosion]

with all the portable battery chargers, who cares anymore how long the battery life is? you plug it in at home, you plug it in in your car, you carry the external battery in your bag (I have Anker Astro 3, 12,000 mah), you charge it at work, whats the problem??

for anything and anywhere in between. It's a bit bothersome to lunk around a powerbank.

 

[imageWIS]

there goes the argument that the iPhone 5c has at least an improved battery life over the iphone 5, 5% is like nothing.

No, 0% is nothing.

 

[twoodcc]

well i know running with my iPhone 5 with GPS and using nikeplus app, it didn't make 2 hours

 

[keatth]

for anything and anywhere in between. It's a bit bothersome to lunk around a powerbank.

they make ones that are extremely portable, i could fit into my jeans pocket and not notice with 3,000 MAH enough to charge the iPhone twice.

 

[jonnysods]

My 5 had pretty poor battery life. Wonder how these will do in the wild.

 

[mtneer]

I just got my launch day iPhone 5 replaced under warranty last week. Over the past one year the battery had lost about 20% of its capacity. The phone that got replaced would struggle to stay over 50% after a full day at work; whereas the new phone coasts through to about 80%. Hopefully by the time this phone degrades, I will be ready for my iPhone 6 upgrade.