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iPhone 6 May See Only Modest Battery Capacity Boost as Apple Pursues Ultra-Slim Designs

I don't know about the hardware, but iOS is better designed for battery life than Android. Imagine iOS without the ability to turn off location services or background app services per app and you have Android (unless things changed since 4.1.2).
 
bpcookson said:
This is a legitimate concern. My wife keeps her phone in her back pocket, which always seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
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I hate it when people do that and then sit down so hard! And this girl I knew couldn't figure out why her phone cracked! Ugh.
 
I'm still happy with my iphone 5. It still does everything I want it do. It's a marked improvement over the 4 and 4s I had before (I couldn't wait to upgrade thsoe). The only complaint I ever had with the 5 was that it just doesn't last a full day with heavy usage.

Give me seriously better battery life (either bigger battery or more efficient design) and I will upgrade... otherwise I don't see a compelling reason. My 5 has no other pain points.
 
Foss said:
There is no way in the world that I can go a whole day on a full single charge in the morning. Most people I know in NYC no matter what their phone is cannot go a whole day without trying to get some charge here or there. Power users vs casual. That's all it is.
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I find that it depends on where you are as much as how you use it.

I generally have no problems running a full day without charging, but if on a business trip or at a conference where the phone is (presumably) constantly trying to connect to wifi or is having trouble staying connected to the cell towers, it seems to run down faster. Combine this with apps that overuse the location services, and the battery can be seen to go down to zero in a matter of a few hours.

All this to say that Apple could go a long way to solving the battery problem by making location services smarter and by making the wifi connection/reconnection more intelligent.
 
skwash said:
3 points...

1) A8 processor should be more battery efficient
2) iOS8 has more battery saving tricks
3) This is a Rumor site, so none of this can be taken as fact.

I'm a "heavy user" on my 5S and generally don't have a problem with battery life.

I think with the updated hardware & software, plus a slight capacity bump, battery life will be equal to competitors.
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Wishful thinking! You forgot about the big penalty; the 0.7” screen increase. And there is no guarantee that the A8 is going to be more efficient; it’s only a guess. And don’t forget that the GPU will have to push more pixels. But we do know that the bigger the screen the more power consumption.
 
What I have suggested to Apple numerous times is that iOS include some kind of screensaver feature. Here's how it could work (and also have some degree of user customization):

1)The iPhone basically shuts off all stuff except the phone portion (so I can receive a call) from 11pm to 5am (or whatever the end user customizes it to).

2)The screensaver is automatic during the above timeframe, but if a call comes in or I use the iPhone, the screensaver kicks back in 15 minutes after the phone goes into lock mode.

3)Depending on the end-user customization levels, Apple could simply a)turn on "airplane mode" if you truly don't want any connectivity (including phone calls)...this is faster than turning off/on the iPhone all the time and needing to remember to do it...b)only enable cell phone calling (no 3G data and no wifi)...and c)only enable cell phone calling but include wifi (I think wifi uses less power than 3G but it probably all depends.


Right now my iPhone 4S with iOS 5.x magically burns 15-20% of its battery life while I sleep...and I touch my phone and there are 0 missed calls and 0 texts and 0 new emails...so it's not like my iPhone was actually doing something. That % adds up quickly if happen to be traveling for a day or 2 and forgot your charger. By implementing some kind of screensaver feature, maybe it would only burn 5% while I sleep. As I mentioned in #3, even just being able to auto-enable Airplane Mode from 11-5 would be a great help as it does not require me to physically go and enable Airplane Mode and then remember to disable it later.
 
blackhand1001 said:
Actually thats a terrible comparison. Motorola offered both a regular droid razr and a razr maxx. The maxx outsold the regular one buy a giant margin, proving that consumers will take extra thickness for better battery.
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He's talking about the original Razr which was a breakthrough product for Motorola due to its thinness, not the Android phone.

I'm curious, is there evidence for the Maxx outselling the original Droid Razr by "a giant margin"? I'm not saying you're wrong, just the first time I hear of it.
 
pmz said:
I like how one can artificially trivialize a whole new design with one word" "thinner"

Its not just THINNER. It is a whole new design, top to bottom. And it this one is a big deal for iPhone.....this is finally THE design Apple has wanted to use in the iPhone for years, but couldn't due to practical limitations of technology.

The foreshadowing of this design came with the iPod touch a while ago....but it just wasn't possible to cram in all of the iPhone's internals. Rounded, ultra slim...the perfect design for an aluminum handheld....only now is it finally possible to take that strategy to iPhone.

But yea....lets pause on innovation for a small bump in battery.
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Everything you're mentioning is not innovation.

bpcookson said:
You're being obtuse. A bigger screen, sure, but what screen tech? How much more juice will it really consume? And if we're considering screen size, then why not consider the other items folks have mentioned throughout the thread, like improvements to come with the A8 or iOS 8 optimizations? We've already seen a huge push from OS X towards battery conservation; I think we can expect more of the same.



Oh, really? I seem to have missed the objective evidence supporting this fact. Please point me to where I can find your extensive analysis on the topic. And have you shared these findings with Apple? Better hurry before Apple makes a big mistake or they'll be doomed!
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We saw huge battery improvements in 10.9, and they're throwing that out all for the love of a new and buggy UI. So forgive me if I don't have as much faith in them as you seem to. By the way, I can already read part of your response.

"It's a beta"

And so was Mavericks, but my battery life wasn't shredded by that. It was actually better.

A8 will have "performance optimizations" and so will iOS 8. The extent of which will likely not offset the battery drain of a bigger screen. It'll be okay, though, all will be forgiven because people love their iPhones. Gotta be thinner each year, right?

----------
bpcookson said:
Hi. I'm just going to keep on posting this link as it continues to be extremely relevant:
AnandTech iPhone 5s Review

The 5s does pretty darn well here. This is mostly against phones released afterwards, all of which have much larger batteries to boot.
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Maybe the rest learned something that Apple hasn't.

You can optimize all you want, but a bigger battery sure does a lot of good.
 
iPhone 6 May See Only Modest Battery Capacity Boost as Apple Pursues Ultra-Sl...

SmoMo said:
I have some questions, that I haven't seen answered yet, hopefully you can help



1) Why don't people who want a bigger heavier phone with more battery buy a battery case ( or multiple battery cases if they are really into that kind of thing ) ?



2) Is it mainly fat people who don't like thin phones? My friends and I all like thin phones, but we're not fat. Is it something to do with having fat fingers, like a row of 5 bloated piggies?



3) Are people joking when they say they won't be able to hold onto the iPhone6 if it is any thinner? I understand that physically handicapped people will ( possibly ) have a problem, but again, why not just buy a nice case from the many thousands available.



I look forward to your answers...
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Other than your obvious prejudices is there any reason to bring up 'fat' people in a discussion of iPhone batteries?
 
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Zxxv said:
nah, the keynote will go like this...

phill steps on stage

this is the new iPhone 10 or as we like to call it the iPhone 1.0

phill holds up his hand

there are murmurs round the room

wtf?!?

huh?!?

phill breaks the uncomfortableness

*cough* this is our thinness lightest achievement yet, its so thin you can hardly see it

shouted from the crowd

its air you prick!!! its the Emperors New iPhone

Phill Shiller

and its available now running iOS Badger

2 minutes later on release day

Apple fans cue round the block. Apple sells thin air proving once and for all people are iDiots if the marketing is right.
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Hilarious!
 
How long are we suppose to wait for Apple to make solar charging iPhones? And if you're gonna say that iPhones can't charge in your pocket, then don't answer phone calls or text messages or look at your Facebook. But if you want to do that, you have to take it out of your pocket no? Obviously it would charge during exposure to light.
 
Nobody wants thicker iPhones for a few minutes extra battery life. What people do want though is an extremely efficient operating system that prolongs battery life. And this is something only Apple can do because they control the entire hardware and software experience.
 
Tim Cook:

"Good news, we're finally giving what the consumers want...a bigger screen iPhone.

Bad news, the battery life will be atrocious."

:apple:
 
apolloa said:
I wonder if Johny Ive actually looks at the side of a sheet of paper and REALLY dreams.... one day?

2500mah in a 5.5" device is... pathetic, really pathetic.
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Honestly I want a bigger screen and longer battery life, but you cannot judge a phone to be 'pathetic' if you can't test it. Let us reserve judgement until the phone arrives.

In any case, I hope that if Apple slavishly sticks to the 'thinner is better' design principle, that the they have energy saving tricks that compensate for a thinner battery and that the phone is sufficiently robust that it won't bend. Personally, I thought the 4S thickness was fine....
 
Seriously?

Apple sometimes listens, sometimes doesn't.

This goes in the "doesn't" column.

Apple: please hear us -- the phone is THIN ENOUGH! Give us MORE BATTERY CAPACITY! :mad:
 
I think people are forgetting the importance aesthetics plays in purchases.

Look at automobiles, how the car LOOKS is one of the MOST important factors affecting buying decisions.

what this translates to: if a car has "competitive" (not standout) fuel economy, or horse power, or room, etc... but looks great it will find huge success in the market, and in many times, far more success that a bland car with better practical specs.

Now looks can't gloss over really bad specs; it can't be a crap car, but quite a bit will forgiven at the alter of good looks.

I would say that for smartphones the same applies; Apple (and all manufactures) have to balance form and function. Especially Apple, whose products and brand are seen a premium and stylish, form is of great importance. This next phone needs to be seen as a significant improvement of form.

Now it should also have improvements in the "practical" specs(processor, battery, etc..), but not to the detriment of the style and form of the phone.


And to all those who are saying that they would like a thicker phone with more life. I say two things:

1) This IS why we have competition, Apple CANNOT make 100 different devices for every possible set of priorities.

2) There are also people who would not buy the phone unless it was seen as an improvement in style (though they may not admit to it)
 
VulchR said:
Honestly I want a bigger screen and longer battery life, but you cannot judge a phone to be 'pathetic' if you can't test it. Let us reserve judgement until the phone arrives.

In any case, I hope that if Apple slavishly sticks to the 'thinner is better' design principle, that the they have energy saving tricks that compensate for a thinner battery and that the phone is sufficiently robust that it won't bend. Personally, I thought the 4S thickness was fine....
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I did not state the phone was pathetic, but this rumoured battery life IS pathetic. Looking at the competition...
 
i know I am the minority on this, but I have found my iPhone to get my through the day with moderate usage. My friends seem incapable of what to turn off to preserve it and I hope Apple releases a feature called power save mode like they do on their macs.
 
apolloa said:
The same as all the other 5.5" ish devices on the market. The Note 3 has a 3100mah battery for example. Even the Galaxy S5 has a 2800mah one, the Oppo Find 7 has a 3000mah one, the Sony Xperia Z2 has a 3200mah one.

So yeah, as I said, 2500mah is really pathetic.
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You misunderstood my question.

What is your estimated battery life time for the 5.5 iPhone? In hours will do.
 
pmz said:
I like how one can artificially trivialize a whole new design with one word" "thinner"

Its not just THINNER. It is a whole new design, top to bottom. And it this one is a big deal for iPhone.....this is finally THE design Apple has wanted to use in the iPhone for years, but couldn't due to practical limitations of technology.

The foreshadowing of this design came with the iPod touch a while ago....but it just wasn't possible to cram in all of the iPhone's internals. Rounded, ultra slim...the perfect design for an aluminum handheld....only now is it finally possible to take that strategy to iPhone.

But yea....lets pause on innovation for a small bump in battery.
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Are you being sarcastic or is that a serious post? Reason I ask is because you do know Apple's competitors have been comfortably making thin big screened smart phones for a while now right? Apple won't be innovating a thing, just copying everyone else.
 
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