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Thoughts on the iPhone 5 Battery

U

Uabcar

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 31, 2009
382
2
With all the recent mock-up looking some much thinner than the iP4- One thing that doesn't add up for me is this - assuming the new ip5 has a dual core processor (given), larger screen (likely) and a 4g radio (possibly) - all in a case that appears to contain somewhat less overall less volume than the current IP4 - how will Apple get anywhere close to the battery life they get with a iP4?

Has battery tech come along over the last 18mths so support the offset? (serious question btw- as I have no idea).

Seems to me that the safer route right now, while you can still get away with it (due to the competition not yet knocking at the door), is to continue with a design more like the iP4 - which is a bit thicker allows for more space for a larger battery.
 
I happen to think this will be the "antenna-gate" of 2011, battery life. I expect 10 threads a day of; "OMGWTFBBQ my phone is dead by 8:30pm".
 
Uabcar said:
With all the recent mock-up looking some much thinner than the iP4- One thing that doesn't add up for me is this - assuming the new ip5 has a dual core processor (given), larger screen (likely) and a 4g radio (possibly) - all in a case that appears to contain somewhat less overall less volume than the current IP4 - how will Apple get anywhere close to the battery life they get with a iP4?

Has battery tech come along over the last 18mths so support the offset? (serious question btw- as I have no idea).

Seems to me that the safer route right now, while you can still get away with it (due to the competition not yet knocking at the door), is to continue with a design more like the iP4 - which is a bit thicker allows for more space for a larger battery.
Click to expand...

More like, Dual core (given), larger screen (unlikely) and a 4G radio (not a chance)

I.e the next iPhone will have even better battery life, because chances are we might not see the teardrop design. Rumors point to just a 4S.
 
Reach9 said:
More like, Dual core (given), larger screen (unlikely) and a 4G radio (not a chance)

I.e the next iPhone will have even better battery life, because chances are we might not see the teardrop design. Rumors point to just a 4S.
Click to expand...

Right- I probably should have been more clear and differentiated between the more likely iPhone coming this Oct vs. the more substantial upgrade everyone is pining for.

Maybe by the time the phone people are wanting actually comes out (next year??)- battery technology will have advanced even further such that this is not the issue is seems like it would be today.
 
I'll will be curious to see how they manage battery consumption if the specs reach anywhere close to the levels that are rumored. Esp since expanding the batt isn't even an option.
 
jfrancis04 said:
Guys, it's called innovation.
Click to expand...

Right- thanks for that... :cool:

The question is- has it advanced enough to support the rumored designs. Seems hard to believe that in just 12-18 mths that battery / amp hr density has increased to a point where you can draw meaningfully more power from a materially smaller package.
 
Uabcar said:
Right- thanks for that... :cool:

The question is- has it advanced enough to support the rumored designs. Seems hard to believe that in just 12-18 mths that battery / amp hr density has increased to a point where you can draw meaningfully more power from a materially smaller package.
Click to expand...


Right, it's something mobile devices with better specs than even the rumored 5 have been fighting with for years. Only difference is they have the ability to expand their batteries if they like.
 
It's always going to be the same cycle, more power fit into the same size battery each year while the phones also get more powerful. So we're kind of stuck.
 
If we were talking about HTC or another 2nd-tier handset vendor then you'd have to be worried. But we're talking Apple here, they don't cut corners. Battery life will be iPhone 4 level or better. I'm betting on better.
 
Given Apple's over-obsession with thinness and power consumption/battery life, I'm sure whatever battery iPhone 5 will have, will somehow end up giving even more battery, or at least the same, as the iPhone 4.

With $76 billion in their cash pile, you'd think they would have thought of some new super battery!

Honestly, my first order as CEO would be to assign like $10 billion towards research for a new type of battery that breaks all boundaries, (and to patent the hell out of it). A new type of battery will indeed help humans in countless other endeavors.
 
I agree with the above poster. My Galaxy S2 last all day and more and is thinner than any phone I have ever used.

In only a year or so, they are making circuits that are faster and yet use less power. The SG2 is a screamer and has a breath taking screen and yet sips on the battery.

I am betting that the iP5 battery will do just fine. It will not make everyone happy but most will be MORE than happy!
 
i think battery life will be the same, if not better than the i4. the bigger screen and the dual core processor will kind of negate each other, right?
 
Assuming we get the 5 with the bigger screen, I expect the battery to be about the same.

The battery might be a tad smaller, but given the advancements in the last year it can probably kick out the same amount of power.

The A5 processor will have been designed with power consumption in mind, so even though it's more powerful, I wouldn't have thought it would draw that much more power, certainly not while doing menial tasks (maybe some games would hammer it).

Same for the larger screen, advancements would mean inch for inch a screen pulls less power, so perhaps a bigger screen would pull the same as the existing.

I'm not saying what I've written is correct, but it's very plausible.
 
As stated their are lots of the things that could both take away and give the iPhone more power. A dual core A5 processor could in fact save power while increasing performance. since 2 smaller chips use less energy yet can produce higher results than one chip, and with chip advancements be more efficient. The chip itself is one of the biggest drainers, the other being the screen.

A larger screen would make it much more difficult but of course there are developments on a spectrum of things, i had just been reading an article about a better battery management chip. Oh yes I forgot to mention the operating system can also affect the battery life, hopefully iOS5 will be optimized enough
to produce better results than the current OS

http://venturebeat.com/2011/09/26/q...ficient-power-supply-chips-for-mobile-phones/
 
The A5 in the iPad 2 doesn't eat more battery than the A4 in the iPad. So that's likely going to be the same. If the phone is wider it'll mean more battery space even if it's thinner. Battery technology does improve, but not significantly. They generally improve the iPhone's battery life from generation to generation by making the battery physically larger, by reducing the size of the other components while making them as effective.

Notice how the iPhone 4 had a better battery than the 3GS while being thinner, having more components (gyroscope, facetime camera, flash, better screen) and being more powerful.

I guess it will have about the same battery life, if not slightly more, than the iPhone 4. I don't recall a time Apple lowered battery life of a product from a generation to another.
 
pgiguere1 said:
The A5 in the iPad 2 doesn't eat more battery than the A4 in the iPad. So that's likely going to be the same. If the phone is wider it'll mean more battery space even if it's thinner. Battery technology does improve, but not significantly. They generally improve the iPhone's battery life from generation to generation by making the battery physically larger, by reducing the size of the other components while making them as effective.

Notice how the iPhone 4 had a better battery than the 3GS while being thinner, having more components (gyroscope, facetime camera, flash, better screen) and being more powerful.

I guess it will have about the same battery life, if not slightly more, than the iPhone 4. I don't recall a time Apple lowered battery life of a product from a generation to another.
Click to expand...

The new Macbook Airs.
 
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