maybe these will offset some of the powerdraw of the retina screen on the new macbook air? it'll be awesome to have a 12" MBA with a 12 hour battery life 
iPhone battery size has increased with nearly every iteration of the phone. If they do indeed got a 4.7" or larger device, you can bet that the battery will see a significant jump.
LPDDR4 comes along fast considering LPDDR3 was only just adopted by Apple in last year's models. I believe LPDDR was in Apple's 1st 4 generations of iDevices, LPDDR2 was in the subsequent 2, so if LPDDR3 only lasts 1 generation, things are definitely accelerating. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple stuck to something more evolutionary like LPDDR3-2133 in the upcoming 2014 models up from the current LPDDR3-1600.
I mean over the years every new RAM technology promises lightning quick performance improvement, which usually ends up in actual low single digit percentage improvements. RAM has never been the source of significant improvement in over-all performance from generation to generation.
Simply put, RAM is not the bottleneck of today's electronics.
Also when Apple says that the A7 CPU is not fully utilized or taxed by apps on all their iDevices, really what should we expect from faster RAM? Speeding up an engine when you can only drive 40 km/h isn't and impressive feet.
Anything that can save power is great, but Apple is in an "arms" race for performance but at the same time claiming nothing is using the performance they are already throwing at their customers.
This is nothing more then using newer and more expensive technology to justify the high price of their devices. Heaven forbid that Apple should reduce their price of iDevices by a third or even by half and perhaps actually win over more customers by bringing more value to the platform.
I love my devices with removable batteries. I have spares for my cameras and flashlights.
I used to have spares for my MacBooks. Now I have to carry chargers with me.
I used to have spares for my cell phones, one of my old Samsung Palm OS phone had a regular and and extended battery pack that lasted longer if you didn't mind the bulk. Now I have chargers everywhere.
Now when flying (or taking the train) instead of a spare battery for my MacBook, I just carry my iPad and use it for functions that I don't need the MacBook to do. I feel like we're going backwards in terms of powering our devices.
(Yeah, I've got some external batteries that'll charge my USB devices, but they can't be as efficient as changing the battery.)
Gary
I love my devices with removable batteries. I have spares for my cameras and flashlights.
I used to have spares for my MacBooks. Now I have to carry chargers with me.
I used to have spares for my cell phones, one of my old Samsung Palm OS phone had a regular and and extended battery pack that lasted longer if you didn't mind the bulk. Now I have chargers everywhere.
Now when flying (or taking the train) instead of a spare battery for my MacBook, I just carry my iPad and use it for functions that I don't need the MacBook to do. I feel like we're going backwards in terms of powering our devices.
(Yeah, I've got some external batteries that'll charge my USB devices, but they can't be as efficient as changing the battery.)
Gary
No one's complained about 1 GB of RAM in the current iDevices yet? I'm surprised.
I love my devices with removable batteries. I have spares for my cameras and flashlights.
I used to have spares for my MacBooks. Now I have to carry chargers with me.
I used to have spares for my cell phones, one of my old Samsung Palm OS phone had a regular and and extended battery pack that lasted longer if you didn't mind the bulk. Now I have chargers everywhere.
Now when flying (or taking the train) instead of a spare battery for my MacBook, I just carry my iPad and use it for functions that I don't need the MacBook to do. I feel like we're going backwards in terms of powering our devices.
(Yeah, I've got some external batteries that'll charge my USB devices, but they can't be as efficient as changing the battery.)
Gary
I agree, but that's not what I was trying to say.
I'm saying IF the new phone consumes 20% more power, I don't want a 20% more powerful battery, I'd want a 40% more powerful battery so that it lasts longer.
I don't see a lot of complaints from people that the phone isn't thin enough, I hear complaints that the battery doesn't last long enough. Which is why I gave the analogy of the AAA battery flashlight, get a flashlight with D batteries and it'll last longer. (Which I know you saw, I'm reiterating for others)
Gary
Except you can get battery life improvements in many other ways other than making the battery bigger.
That's why I specifically said "more power" and not "larger volume". I don't care if they make the battery larger or smaller, I just want more power.
And not just me, I see a lot more people complain about how long the battery lasts vs. the size of it.
Gary
The removable battery argument was lost long ago. There simply aren't enough people in your usage scenario to make it worth it in terms of product design/thickness. More people would rather have it thinner.
That's primarily because the limiting factor of battery is currently chemistry, where other parts are limited only by manufacturing processes, better tooling yields improvements in CPU, memory, GPU, even display, but batteries don't benefit from small er transistors.
Purely guessing, I doubt they will make it much thinner. As you point out, they're going to start limiting things like the optics they can use for the camera.
No one's complained about 1 GB of RAM in the current iDevices yet? I'm surprised.