Future iPhones, Apple Watches May Use New Power-Saving Backplane Technology to Extend Battery Life

[riverfreak]

Not sure I understand the value of this. When it happens, the watch will be made thinner, and the batter smaller, so we'll still only get a day or less of battery life. Whats the point.

Why? Are the battery saving capacity of this technology and future heretofore unannounced designs entirely linear?

 

[Martius]

It would be amazing if there is a darkmode in iOS which could use the possibility of turning off individual pixels on OLED screens. Some kind of API that the developers could use in their apps to enable a super-saving mode. I know it might not be useful in Safari, where you want to see the website as it was designed, but what about iMessage, Messenger etc. And of course the iPhone could be a little thicker to have more battery life and to get rid of that ugly camera bump... oh god I can't get over the camera bump. What a design fail!

 

[Solomani]

Let's just make Jony Ive thinner. Once he's thin enough, throw him in an envelope, and mail him off to Tesla where he can start making anorexic cars.

 

[luvbug]

Given the materials that go into these batteries, and the fact that have been know to become unstable in some real-life situations, why would any company want a battery any bigger than what's needed to meet the large majority of use cases? Do we really want hundreds of millions of devices (a year) to include larger batteries just because a couple of percent of user demand it (rather than arrange their daily routine to accommodate topping off the battery)?

 

[tridley68]

Have you ever tried to add a bigger battery? Just saying.

That would be to easy to do that.

 

[twolf2919]

I thought Apple was pretty close to productizing micro-LED screens big enough for Apple Watch. The power savings from micro-LED are greater, if I recall correctly, than the 5-15% mentioned above.

 

[NT1440]

Not sure I understand the value of this. When it happens, the watch will be made thinner, and the batter smaller, so we'll still only get a day or less of battery life. Whats the point.

You say this as if newer SoCs don’t ALSO get more energy efficient.

 

[chrisbru]

Is this going to be the same battery saving tech that Apple sneaked onto to iOS, slowed down phones and called it a "Feature"?

No. Did you even read the article?
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Apple did. iPhone 5 model. We consumers loved it and bought "all they could make."

There's no challenge in making such a phone again- just a choice. Apple chose thinner in spite of creating the camera wart issue as a byproduct. Buyers buy in spite of it because the whole is valued enough to put up with any individual shortcomings... but "a billion" doesn't necessarily mean that "a billion" people voted FOR the wart... some slice of them just puts up with the wart because they want the rest enough to not make that the proverbial straw issue.

Same with the notch. The most faithful will defend ANY decision Apple makes. But those proclaiming to like/love the notch are probably not making notch stickers to make their other screens have notches too... nor has any entrepreneurs jumped on this apparently high-demand opportunity to make such stickers for our computers and TV screens, maybe windows in our homes too? Once again, for those that don't welcome the notch, they may indeed be 1+ of those "a billion" because they want the rest bad enough to roll with the perceived negative choices- in their opinion- made by Apple.

Personally, I am still Apple everything but I would much prefer an iPhone 5 level of thin for a flush camera and bigger battery (even if that made it a bit heavier), a notch-less front because a thin bezel up there is better- IMO- than looking like there's a bite taken out of everything that plays on that screen, and I'd much prefer to have the option of using traditional wired "just works" headphones with everything than having to use dongles and/or just doing without when trying to embrace "the future" (and trading off some sound quality to boot).

BUT, I'm still Apple everything anyway- not thrilled about any of those courageous corporate choices, but not yet at the "straw" to make me deal with changing to something(s) else. Apparently, I'm not the ONLY Apple everything consumer who both has Apple stuff but doesn't love every Apple decision made for us.

At least the notch has a functional reason - there needs to be a speaker and camera, plus FaceID is nice. It was that, or leave an asymmetrical chin at the top, which would also have drawn criticism.

I don't think anyone would have given Apple flak if they didn't make the iPhone 6 as thin as they did.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Actually, there was real (consumer-friendly) opportunity with the "6". All of us were accustomed to the thinness of the 5. It had lasted for a couple of generations. The "6" was going to be an obvious redesign by rolling out the bigger screen. Had Apple kept the thinness of the "5" or maybe only very slightly "thinned" off the of the 5's "thin", they would have had abundant internal space to do something crazy like maybe stuff in more battery and/or eventually keep the headphone jack because they wouldn't thin themselves into courageously "needing more space".

Yes, more battery probably would have removed the "and lighter" bit at the big reveal, but would we have really been so unhappy with an obviously bigger-sized phone rolling out slightly heavier than the prior-gen smaller phone... especially if the reason for the extra was more battery life (AND we could still buy the last incarnation of the "5" even if we felt that way)?

But Apple chose to "thinner" with "same great battery life" because why listen to customers wanting longer battery life?

 

[KPandian1]

Thanks but no thank you.

Please may I have the micro-LED when it is ready!

This interim "solution" is just a costly misstep en route to what is better than the OLED.

 

[SBlue1]

The vast majority get through the day on a single charge without issue. This shows that their current battery is more than adequate for the majority of users.

Maybe people charge their phones at work so they can still use it on the subway on the way home? Maybe other people stop using their phones to save battery until they make it home? Maybe people would use their phones more if the batteries would be bigger?

 

[Glideslope]

Let's not forget that currently, regardless of protestations to the contrary, Apple has a built-in disincentive for the glued-in battery to experience an extreme long life -- beyond 70-80% of capacity. This may change dramatically as Apple morphs financially to its Service Sector, de-emphasizing the financials derived from hardware sales.

dis·in·cen·tive
noun

1. a factor, especially a financial disadvantage, that tends to discourage people from doing something.

Protestations is a word I’m going to utilise more often after today. Well done.
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It would be amazing if there is a darkmode in iOS which could use the possibility of turning off individual pixels on OLED screens. Some kind of API that the developers could use in their apps to enable a super-saving mode. I know it might not be useful in Safari, where you want to see the website as it was designed, but what about iMessage, Messenger etc. And of course the iPhone could be a little thicker to have more battery life and to get rid of that ugly camera bump... oh god I can't get over the camera bump. What a design fail!

A Complete Black Mode.

 

[PaulRustad007]

Every time Apple finds a power saving technology, they reduce the battery size to get their "10" hours of life....

 

[Septembersrain]

Well, OLED I hope improves for LG first on the phone level. They did a pretty iffy job on the V30. Went through 3, one I have still has minor black crush.

Samsung does well with this.

 

[clauzzz203]

Everyone here talking about Apple making things thinner and putting in bigger batterys knows every iPhone after the 6 has been thicker right?

Indeed the 6S is thicker than the 6, 7 thicker than the 6S, 8 thicker than the 7 and X thicker than the 8.
It all started before the iPhone 6 throttle scam was uncovered, proving prior knowledge

 

[Bone Ranger]

Have you ever tried to add a bigger battery? Just saying.

APPLE should make some major improvements to a piggyback battery/case.

 

[Novus John]

Can't wait to get my next paper thin iphone. It's gonna be so epic! /s

 

[Ploki]

Less stuff inside iPhone = cheaper phone to make.
Cheaper phone cost with same or higher price = higher profit margin.
Higher profits = richer company.
Richer company = fat bonuses PLUS everyone in the press and their cousins touting your name with words like "genius."

I seriously doubt 0.1mm of thickness in aluminium makes iphone cheaper. By that logic, glass back iphone 8 should be 200$. Battery and enclosure are probably the cheapest parts and cost the least to develop.

Implementing new tech is usually more expensive than making same tech thicker.

We are way overdue for a breakthrough in energy storage tech, its been limping behind and being worked around with power saving
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Don't be fooled. They very likely know that to be true. We'll just make up spin to try to help rationalize corporate decisions... like the key to waterproofing a phone is getting rid of a headphone jack hole (spun almost every time) while ignoring the larger rectangular hole just millimeters away and the rows of smaller round (speaker) holes also nearby... as if water is prejudiced to only sneak in though a headphone jack hole.

I have a car battery in my car that is thicker than all of my mobile devices batteries from all the time there's been mobile devices COMBINED. It never explodes.

There are people with solar panel battery arrays made up of upwards of dozens of car battery-sized batteries or bigger batteries. They pretty much never explode either.

It's likely that Apple themselves USED to use bigger batteries in prior generations of these very devices. They pretty much never exploded.

They thinned the battery because "thinner" batteries support "thinner" marketing spin... and less battery costs less per unit. Now they've "thinner"ed so much that the camera module sticks out (because the laws of physics can't be thinned). We are to like it because that is what a corporation has chosen to make. Some of us will write down anything to rationalize it because that corporation is always right.

I dont think car batteries are lithium ion tho.. and teslas did explode.
(my point is li-ion batteries have couple of times bigger energy density which means there more pote

Iphone 1 had 1400mah battery and iphone X has 2700mah...

quick edit:
one small car battery stores as much energy as roughly 20 iphone X batteries. in a MUCH larger space. Packing a lot of energy into small space is literally how bombs are made

 

[I7guy]

Don't be fooled. They very likely know that to be true. We'll just make up spin to try to help rationalize corporate decisions... like the key to waterproofing a phone is getting rid of a headphone jack hole (spun almost every time) while ignoring the larger rectangular hole just millimeters away and the rows of smaller round (speaker) holes also nearby... as if water is prejudiced to only sneak in though a headphone jack hole.

I have a car battery in my car that is thicker than all of my mobile devices batteries from all the time there's been mobile devices COMBINED. It never explodes.

There are people with solar panel battery arrays made up of upwards of dozens of car battery-sized batteries or bigger batteries. They pretty much never explode either.

It's likely that Apple themselves USED to use bigger batteries in prior generations of these very devices. They pretty much never exploded.

They thinned the battery because "thinner" batteries support "thinner" marketing spin... and less battery costs less per unit. Now they've "thinner"ed so much that the camera module sticks out (because the laws of physics can't be thinned). We are to like it because that is what a corporation has chosen to make. Some of us will write down anything to rationalize it because that corporation is always right.

So then, why did the note 7 battery explode.

 

[Ploki]

So then, why did the note 7 battery explode.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/58855dcaf10a9a09778b7756-640-2356.jpg

 

[I7guy]

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/58855dcaf10a9a09778b7756-640-2356.jpg

Yep, rhetorical question.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So then, why did the note 7 battery explode.

Did I write that no battery ever explodes? The point that made me respond was someone implying that putting a bigger battery in a theoretical iPhone 6 that wasn't maxing on "thin" would lead to an exploding battery because it was bigger.

There have been times that Apple has put more battery in newer Apple products. Just because they did did not lead to explosions. I have faith that if Apple chose to insert a bigger battery in an Apple product, they'd do the work to minimize risk of explosion.

More battery or less battery is just corporate choices- not a choice to make mobile bombs instead of mobile phones.

If I'm not mistaken there is multiple rumors about Apple themselves putting bigger batteries in the next generation of iPhones. Yep, here's the image tossed around implying that...

If we want to believe bigger batteries = exploding phones and this rumor pans out as true, I guess we should all avoid new Apple iPhones this year.

 

[I7guy]

Did I write that no battery ever explodes? The point that made me respond was someone implying that putting a bigger battery in a theoretical iPhone 6 that wasn't maxing on "thin" would lead to an exploding battery because it was bigger.

There have been times that Apple has put more battery in newer Apple products. Just because they did did not lead to explosions. I have faith that if Apple chose to insert a bigger battery in an Apple product, they'd do the work to minimize risk of explosion.

More battery or less battery is just corporate choices- not a choice to make mobile bombs instead of mobile phones.

If I'm not mistaken there is multiple rumors about Apple themselves putting bigger batteries in the next generation of iPhones. Yep, here's the image tossed around implying that...

If we want to believe bigger batteries = exploding phones and this rumor pans out as true, I guess we should all avoid new Apple iPhones this year.

So then what exactly did you mean by this:

I have a car battery in my car that is thicker than all of my mobile devices batteries from all the time there's been mobile devices COMBINED. It never explodes.

 

[Icaras]

Yes, how about this kind of energy-sipping innovation plus bigger battery? Best of both worlds?

Whenever I see this kind of rumor, I envision a future "same great battery life" announcement with an even "thinner" battery inside. How about going the other way: imagine an announcement of "with double the battery life" for a change.

I definitely wouldn’t want that. I’d love for a thinner phone and watch, with more focus on the watch please.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

So then what exactly did you mean by this:

I meant size of battery doesn't automatically drive likelihood of battery exploding. If Apple inserted a bigger battery in anything, it doesn't automatically make that thing more likely to explode. That thing will just have a bigger battery and hopefully longer battery life compared to the very same thing with a smaller battery.
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I definitely wouldn’t want that. I’d love for a thinner phone and watch, with more focus on the watch please.

Based on the past choices by Apple, your wish is much more likely than mine.