iPhone Batteries Could Have Apple-Designed Power Management Chips Within Two Years

[iamgalt]

While I think this will be good for the consumers in the long run, with tighter integration between hardware and software; I can't help but think that a whole new series of lawsuits will be coming against Apple for this, claiming that Apples chips are infringing on multiple patents.

 

[Glideslope]

I’d put money on the superior management abilities of an Apple Designed Chip.

 

[DTECHQUE]

About time there was some progress with battery life, for the last few iPhone releases Apple have simply announced that they "last as long as the last iPhone!"

That's because they've optimized their software, therefore giving newer iPhones better battery life.

 

[thebeans]

About time there was some progress with battery life, for the last few iPhone releases Apple have simply announced that they "last as long as the last iPhone!"

Progress is always welcomed but I have to say, for me at least, battery life gets better every year. I get a new iPhone each year. The 7 was a little better than the 6s. The 8 is significantly better than the 7. If they can add some gains from better power management then we may see even more improvement in a year or two. Fantastic!

 

[spacemnspiff]

Except that routinely competitive phones offer similar performance and better battery life.

The example below clearly shows that Android's phones with far larger battery capacity are the only ones with better battery life. In apples to apples comparison, battery size vs battery life, iPhones have for the most done better than the competition.

iPhone 7 battery size is 1960mAh vs Samsung S7's 3000mAh. 7 Plus battery size is 2900mAh and Mate 8 is at 4000mAh.

Just shoehorning a bigger battery masks the efficiency that I was claiming, Apple clearly is superior in that regard. Competition has yet to catch up.

 

[Jambalaya]

Apple is designing its own power management chips for use in iPhones within the next two years, according to Nikkei Asian Review.Apple plans to replace around half of the main power management chips that go into iPhones with its own as early as 2018, but the transition could be delayed until 2019, according to anonymous sources cited in the report.

If the report is accurate, it could be a serious blow for Dialog Semiconductor, the British company that exclusively designs the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models. Apple reportedly accounted for nearly three quarters of Dialog Semiconductor's revenue in 2016.

The main power management chip controls an iPhone's battery, including charging capabilities and energy consumption. Apple's in-house version will supposedly be "the most advanced in the industry," which could pave the way for future iPhone models to have a better performance-to-battery life balance.

Taiwanese supplier TSMC will be the exclusive manufacturer of Apple's in-house power management chip, according to the report.

Today's report corroborates a prediction by Bankhaus Lampe analyst Karsten Iltgen, who earlier this year said that Apple will at least partially cut back on Dialog Semiconductor's supply of power management chips for future iPhones. Iltgen said Apple already has engineers working on the chips in California and Germany.

Dialog responded to the report with a statement claiming that "business relationships are in line with the normal course of business."

Dialog Semiconductor could be the second large British company to lose significant business from Apple within the next year or two. In April, Imagination Technologies shares plunged after Apple informed the firm it plans to stop using its PowerVR graphics technology in its devices within two years.

Apple appears to be moving towards in-house design of several components, potentially including ARM-based Mac processors and iPhone modems.

Article Link: iPhone Batteries Could Have Apple-Designed Power Management Chips Within Two Years

How about just making the phone a bit thicker and putting in a bigger battery ? It’s not rocket science

 

[rishic89]

Awesome news, can't wait for better improvements! Although, my iPhone X battery has been really impressive. Definitely the longest battery life I've ever had on an iPhone and I've had iPhone's since 2007

 

[guzhogi]

Good, iPhones have been getting thicker since iPhone 6 and could do with losing a bit of weight.

If you like thinner, right on. More power to you. Personally, I'd be willing to have it a few mm thicker if it meant I only had to charge it only once every 2 days rather than everyday. Different strokes for different folks, right?

 

[xxray]

Love rumors like this. Apple bringing anything in-house is always good news.

 

[rikscha]

Anything to improve battery life, more battery life is always good.

Impressed with the iPhone X battery so far though. I think I’ve hit low power mode twice since owning it (since launch day) and it’s usually 40% when The day is done.

Same experience here - I am very impressed - I haven't had an iPhone for years that didn't require me to charge it once or twice a day.

 

[NoNothing]

Dialog's market cap is about $2.25b. Wouldn't it be easier for Apple to buy them instead of recreating what they do internally?

I guess Apple must be pretty confident that it can do this stuff better and more cost effectively.

I would think it would be a good purchase. Avoid any legal issues (that has to be some type of cost saving assuming Dialog has substantial patents in the space) and getting all the talent.

 

[alphaod]

It’s just easier to depend on oneself to do the best job than someone else. This is good news.

 

[nutjob]

I guess it's a good way to improve margins, and they can also pretend they're "innovating."
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It’s just easier to depend on oneself to do the best job than someone else. This is good news.

Except when that someone else has better patents than you.

 

[kemal]

Furniture sale at iFixit.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

And while it will save Apple tons of money, it will only add $200 to a $1000 iPhone.

Call it the cost of a "feature."
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I would think it would be a good purchase. Avoid any legal issues (that has to be some type of cost saving assuming Dialog has substantial patents in the space) and getting all the talent.

Oh, they will get sued over this too regardless. You can bank on that.

 

[44267547]

iPhones have been getting thicker since iPhone 6 and could do with losing a bit of weight.

These types of complaints are completely frivolous. The iPhone is less than an inch thick, and even with increased weight, it's almost unnoticeable by somebody that would use their device on a daily basis with the difference of a few grams. If that's your main concern with the iPhone, I'm not sure how you survived with a phone 10 years ago.

 

[macs4nw]

Any company that depends on Apple for a large percentage of their revenue had better diversify. Eventually they’re going to bring everything in-house.

I for one wouldn't be surprised if once the transition is complete, there'll be some sort of lawsuit by Dialog claiming infringement by Apple of some of Dialog's patents, and the realistic chance of Dialog's demise not long after losing such a significant channel of revenue.

All of which would be a shame, but a reality in the world of narrowly-specialized component fabbing with one or few major sustaining clients.

 

[CWallace]

Dialog's market cap is about $2.25b. Wouldn't it be easier for Apple to buy them instead of recreating what they do internally?

While Apple may be their largest customer, they are not their only customer so if they buy the company, they would still have to service the pre-existing contracts with other smartphone vendors.

Also, with the goal being to integrate these functions into the A-Series systems on a chip, Apple would need to maintain two separate development lines - one for their integrated product and one for the existing external solution for other smartphone vendors or pay cancellation penalties and possibly face lawsuits for suppression of competition if other options are not available to those customers.



And yes, I fully expect Dialog will file patent-infringement lawsuits against Apple just to be certain Apple is not using or leveraging their patents for their own system.

 

[calzon65]

Great ready for some sort of patent infringement claim against Apple from Dialog Semiconductor.

 

[Mike MA]

Well, maybe there already was some starting point with this by how Apple started assembling the MacBook batteries lately.

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Hopefully they can shoehorn this into the Mac as well. Would love for my MBP to get at least the advertised battery life.

I was thinking of the same thing. I think once they have manufactured and implemented the necessary hardware to extend the battery life, it's only a matter of time that they will do the same for the other lines like iPad and MBP. They've already done a great job with the battery life on AirPods with the W1 chip that can extend it as long as 4-5 hours per use without charging, in my case.

I like how they want to have more control of the internals of their products. That way, they can design iOS or MacOS and work just seamlessly. Good times ahead!

 

[cmaier]

The market has decided that these circuits are complicated enough to merit the creation and operation of a company worth over $2,000,000,000. If they are so simple, why has Apple ever needed such a company?

Apple didn't always have a chip design team. Now they do. They've also designed their own power management chips for several of their devices over the recent years. As someone who's designed many much more complicated chips (exponential x704, Sparc v, AMD K6/Opteron/Athlon 64, etc.), all of which were of similar complexity to chips Apple now designs in-house (A-series), trust me when I tell you that power management chips are far far simpler.

 

[Johnny Vegas]

How about just making the phone a bit thicker and putting in a bigger battery ? It’s not rocket science

The reason Apple keeps making phones thinner and thinner and ignoring battery complaints is not because they think it makes the phone pretty, it's because it saves them money. It take less materials to build, less weight to ship and so on. Even if it is just pennies per phone, when sold in such large quantities the amount of revenue Apple brings in for making the phone as thin and light as possible is astronomical. As long as the battery is "good enough" for the majority of people, this will not change.

 

[DevNull0]

Now this is the kind of innovation we need.

Love my iPhone X and its battery life really impresses me coming from a 7.

Given the risks of buggy battery management code, I sure hope they don't use anyone from the iOS or MacOS teams on this project.

 

[Barry Bishop]

If I were in the M&A team at Apple I would suggest a Dialog and Energous purchase. With the recent acquisition of Silego it would be a great deal for Apple PMIC's and Wireless Charging with the IP's to boot.