Wasted battery space

[samiznaetekto]

Why there's so much empty space surrounding the battery?

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/O2r5KUFwY4HHc51F.huge

It looks like if all that wasted space (and that ridiculously thick diagnostic port bracket) was used for bigger battery, the battery life would be 20-25% longer (almost 24 hours) or would allow the always-on low energy clock face for the same 18 hours.

This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs was alive:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/in-praise-of-bad-steve/246242/

"When engineers working on the very first iPod completed the prototype, they presented their work to Steve Jobs for his approval. Jobs played with the device, scrutinized it, weighed it in his hands, and promptly rejected it. It was too big.

The engineers explained that they had to reinvent inventing to create the iPod, and that it was simply impossible to make it any smaller. Jobs was quiet for a moment. Finally he stood, walked over to an aquarium, and dropped the iPod in the tank. After it touched bottom, bubbles floated to the top.

"Those are air bubbles," he snapped. "That means there's space in there. Make it smaller.""

Even waitresses would understand this.

 

[Eorlas]

Why there's so much empty space surrounding the battery?

It looks like if all that wasted space (and that ridiculously thick diagnostic port bracket) was used for bigger battery, the battery life would be 20-25% longer (almost 24 hours) or would allow the always-on low energy clock face for the same 18 hours.

This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs was alive:

Are you talking about the space below it or above it? This photo doesn't give any perspective about potential space above it so I feel the need for clarification.

What math did you come up with that presented you the idea that we would get 20-25% more battery life?

If you seem to know so much and it bothers you a lot, perhaps you should get a watch, go the iFixit route and dismantle it, then engineer a better design that doesn't piss you off and provides better battery life.

Finally, why the implication that waitresses are not intelligent? Your sexism and ignorance is appalling.

 

[samiznaetekto]

why the implication that waitresses are not intelligent? Your sexism and ignorance is appalling.

"Even waitresses [...]" is now a meme in this forum.

 

[Armen]

Why there's so much empty space surrounding the battery?

Image

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/O2r5KUFwY4HHc51F.huge

It looks like if all that wasted space (and that ridiculously thick diagnostic port bracket) was used for bigger battery, the battery life would be 20-25% longer (almost 24 hours) or would allow the always-on low energy clock face for the same 18 hours.

This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs was alive:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/in-praise-of-bad-steve/246242/

"When engineers working on the very first iPod completed the prototype, they presented their work to Steve Jobs for his approval. Jobs played with the device, scrutinized it, weighed it in his hands, and promptly rejected it. It was too big.

The engineers explained that they had to reinvent inventing to create the iPod, and that it was simply impossible to make it any smaller. Jobs was quiet for a moment. Finally he stood, walked over to an aquarium, and dropped the iPod in the tank. After it touched bottom, bubbles floated to the top.

"Those are air bubbles," he snapped. "That means there's space in there. Make it smaller.""

Even waitresses would understand this.

It's possible that the original design had additional sensors/electronics in it that Apple had to scrap for whatever reason before going to production. So no, it's not a waste of space, its a placeholder of what used to be there.

 

[samiznaetekto]

It's possible that the original design had additional sensors/electronics in it that Apple had to scrap for whatever reason before going to production. So no, it's not a waste of space, its a placeholder of what used to be there.

Mmmm... this is soooo unapologetically apologetic! ("Apple is God.. whatever they do is good and has reason.")

Scrapping additional sensors is not like nipping buds, it still requires substantial engineering effort. If that effort is done, why wouldn't an effort to make a bigger (~250mAh) battery be done as well? It's not like making a bigger battery an impossible thing for Apple, is it?

 

[Eorlas]

"Even waitresses [...]" is now a meme in this forum.

Then my ignorance to that meme is unfortunate, but the point stands on the subject presented. Unless you have relevant data to present or have the education to make the device any better, then there isn't a discussion to be had here.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Where do you see 25%, guess my engineer eyes are missing something.

 

[mcdj]

Watch Minus Air. Coming April 2016.

 

[Armen]

Mmmm... this is soooo unapologetically apologetic! ("Apple is God.. whatever they do is good and has reason.")

Scrapping additional sensors is not like nipping buds, it still requires substantial engineering effort. If that effort is done, why wouldn't an effort to make a bigger (~250mAh) battery be done as well? It's not like making a bigger battery an impossible thing for Apple, is it?

So, you'd rather believe they wasted space on purpose? Ok

 

[samiznaetekto]

Where do you see 25%, guess my engineer eyes are missing something.

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/O2r5KUFwY4HHc51F.huge

You don't see S1 peeking from below on top of the battery and on the bottom? You don't see the thick diagnostic port bracket? I didn't measure the wasted space precisely, just eyeballed it, though, but it looks like 1/5th to 1/4th of current battery size is Air.

Maybe, it's no ordinary air? Apple Air? Specially engineered by Apple Metallurgists?

 

[jabingla2810]

You don't just cram in the biggest battery you can, these things are thought out.

How the battery is seated into the case?
How the battery is connected?
Will the battery produce heat?
Dissipitation of heat?
Expansion?
What if it leaks, that stuff needs to go somewhere without bursting out of the device and harming somebody?

Look at the teardown of the new Macbook, same thing, lots of space around each battery.

 

[troy14]

Yes, Apple should just invent a battery they stick in there and inflate it so it takes up every last millimeter of the case

 

[MrGimper]

Why there's so much empty space surrounding the battery?

Image

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/O2r5KUFwY4HHc51F.huge

It looks like if all that wasted space (and that ridiculously thick diagnostic port bracket) was used for bigger battery, the battery life would be 20-25% longer (almost 24 hours) or would allow the always-on low energy clock face for the same 18 hours.

This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs was alive:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/in-praise-of-bad-steve/246242/

"When engineers working on the very first iPod completed the prototype, they presented their work to Steve Jobs for his approval. Jobs played with the device, scrutinized it, weighed it in his hands, and promptly rejected it. It was too big.

The engineers explained that they had to reinvent inventing to create the iPod, and that it was simply impossible to make it any smaller. Jobs was quiet for a moment. Finally he stood, walked over to an aquarium, and dropped the iPod in the tank. After it touched bottom, bubbles floated to the top.

"Those are air bubbles," he snapped. "That means there's space in there. Make it smaller.""

Even waitresses would understand this.

/interest

 

[h9826790]

There is no direct relationship between size and capacity in lithium battery. They can make a bigger battery to make you feel better but with exactly the same capacity and more weight.

 

[zmunkz]

"Even waitresses [...]" is now a meme in this forum.

Not sure this is catching on, although I do still chuckle every time I see it.

 

[Mascots]

From a practical standpoint, that gap allows the battery to sit away from the casing, which prevents direct inward heat transfer into the battery from the exposed frame while also providing more surface area for the battery to diffuse its own heat outward the surrounding air.

I agree that many Apple products have gotten substantially less-pretty inside as the years have passed, but they're also producing tighter and denser components on a higher scale than ever. The ends always justified the means in these early designs.

The cost of expanding the battery oh-so-much in this case must have far exceeded the positives - even with a sliver larger battery, which may have to of been custom designed instead of bought-off-the-shelf, I doubt you'd get 20-25% more battery or even enough to justify it.