iPhone 6s will have smaller 1,715 mAh battery, but Apple advertises identical battery life
Despite sporting a more powerful processor and other new technologies, the iPhone 6s will actually use a smaller battery than the one found in the iPhone 6, apparently squeezing out the same amount of uptime with new efficiencies in the handset.
In a portion of Apple's promotional video showing off the interior of the iPhone 6s, the lithium-ion battery is marked as being a 1,715 milliamp-hour unit, iMore noted on Thursday. That's below the 1,810 milliamp-hours for the iPhone 6.
Apple nevertheless claims that the iPhone 6s should be able capable of identical battery life, for instance 10 hours of 3G or 4G data use, or 11 hours of video playback. That would imply optimizations to reduce power consumption.
Battery life, though, has been a regular complaint about iPhones since the first-generation model, and more smartphones have been pushing towards the goal of lasting a full day or more without recharging. Apple's own iPhone 6 Plus can meet that mark, and the 6s Plus may be able to as well. A few Android phones can last up to two days.
As a rule, Apple doesn't publish exact specifications for the batteries it uses in its mobile devices. That information is only uncovered later, often through teardowns.
Both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are due to ship on Sept. 25, following a round of preorders starting on Sept. 12. Upgrades on the devices include things like A9 processors, 3D Touch controls, and 12-megapixel rear cameras.
In a portion of Apple's promotional video showing off the interior of the iPhone 6s, the lithium-ion battery is marked as being a 1,715 milliamp-hour unit, iMore noted on Thursday. That's below the 1,810 milliamp-hours for the iPhone 6.
Apple nevertheless claims that the iPhone 6s should be able capable of identical battery life, for instance 10 hours of 3G or 4G data use, or 11 hours of video playback. That would imply optimizations to reduce power consumption.
Battery life, though, has been a regular complaint about iPhones since the first-generation model, and more smartphones have been pushing towards the goal of lasting a full day or more without recharging. Apple's own iPhone 6 Plus can meet that mark, and the 6s Plus may be able to as well. A few Android phones can last up to two days.
As a rule, Apple doesn't publish exact specifications for the batteries it uses in its mobile devices. That information is only uncovered later, often through teardowns.
Both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are due to ship on Sept. 25, following a round of preorders starting on Sept. 12. Upgrades on the devices include things like A9 processors, 3D Touch controls, and 12-megapixel rear cameras.
Comments
I thought you were going to do a self-ban.
You know these self-bans are dumb, right?
He obviously has a ghost writer.
Thus far both my iPhone and iPad have larger batteries than their successors, and in the case of the iPad that contributes significantly to runtime. We'll have to see on the phone. At least the iPhone's reduction was because of new features, not just for thinness.
The 1810mah unit in my 6 is already inadequate. This is the wrong way.
The **** are you talking about? Why are you still allowed anywhere near the internet?
The 6 already lasts all day. When I plug it in at night its never less than 40%. You're on drugs if you think battery life is not already more than adequate and has been for the last year.
If you find the 6 inadequate you are a candidate for a Plus - the vast majority easily find the 6 lasting a full day.
The **** are you talking about? Why are you still allowed anywhere near the internet?
The 6 already lasts all day. When I plug it in at night its never less than 40%. You're on drugs if you think battery life is not already more than adequate and has been for the last year.
I have to agree with pmz here, I can usually get through the day with 40% except if I use my phone hard, GPS, cellular data, etc, then I need to charge up by 4PM. I imagine those that play games have worse problems. Days that I travel, the 6+ is barely enough, if it is; sucks for those with the regular 6. The 6+, during very moderate use, I can manage nearly 36 hours without charging but I am definitely at 0% by 36 hours (day, night, day). A slow and constant improvement would be nice. Keep the next iPhone at the same thickness, and fill all the extra space with battery. Along with more efficiency, this would boost battery life nicely.
Yes, how dare I have a different experience than you!
Except the 6+ is too large. And I never meet the 10 hour average runtime, it's normally around 6 or 7, and there's always a 4PM topoff to get me through the night.
Not to mention I would have been waiting easily a month to get a Plus as the store only had three on launch day, which were sold to the first three customers.
Yes, how dare I have a different experience than you!
Except the 6+ is too large. And I never meet the 10 hour average runtime, it's normally around 6 or 7, and there's always a 4PM topoff to get me through the night.
Not to mention I would have been waiting easily a month to get a Plus as the store only had three on launch day, which were sold to the first three customers.
Either there is something wrong with your phone, or you're just lying. Enough of you already.
Apple currently tells me to get lost when I try to get it checked, pawning the issue off onto the iOS 9 beta, ignoring the fact this was an issue under 8 as well even after a reset and restore. I don't use GPS at all, or movies. Podcasts, browsing, messaging, 99% of which is on wifi. A few minutes of BT a week for AirDrop, it stays off the rest of the time.
When I finally get the GM of 9 (because screw you public beta users!) I'll take it into the Apple Store again and get them to recheck it, though I'm sure some other boogaloo will come up and I'll end up replacing it myself.
Which part is odd? That haptic engine isn't small. In fact, just eyeballing it I'd say it's size is right in line with the capacity lost.
So they made the device thicker, managed to (I'm assuming) reclaim some PCB space by incorporating the M9 on-chip and they made the cut the battery capacity? Seems odd...
Probably gained good efficiency from the new A9/A9X IC process (14/16nm FinFET) to reduce the battery size but maintain the same battery life. A8/A8X is 20 nm non-FinFET.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/08/25/rumor-tsmc-apple-working-on-16nm-finfet-process-for-a9-chips
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-a9-a9x-16nm-finfet,28748.html
Which part is odd? That haptic engine isn't small. In fact, just eyeballing it I'd say it's size is right in line with the capacity lost.
The M8 co-processor wasn't small either (IIRC). I just thought it seemed odd to lose a bit of capacity despite the fact that there was reclaimed space by the M9's absence on the PCB (unless the A9 is physically larger).
Most likely, I think the slide for the iPhone A9 showed "new transistor architecture" so I figured they'd gone FinFET.
Ah. Yeah, that's a big chip, but my guess is that it's likely still discreet. I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks. Two weeks from today, most likely, when iFixit flying to New Zealand or Australia to wait in line and then tear one down for us.
Most likely, I think the slide for the iPhone A9 showed "new transistor architecture" so I figured they'd gone FinFET.
And Apple absorbed the M9 functionality inside the A9. Perhaps they applied some of the current-drain saving tech of the M9 on other A9 circuitry. Win-win-win.
Edit: yes they did. See my post #26 below.
Pretty amazing if Apple did indeed shrink the battery without sacrificing use-time and at the same time introduced a number of energy-consuming new features. For instance, at the presentation, Apple mentioned that starting with the 6s, you no longer have to have your iPhone plugged in to invoke Siri via "Hey Siri". That restriction was likely there because of the power needed to always listen. With the 6s, they introduced a discrete chip that does this 24/7 monitoring. While I'm sure they made it as power efficient as possible, it does mean an extra draw on the battery that is *always* there. Also, the haptic feedback whenever you use the 3d touch (aka ForceTouch) feature will draw some energy (but at least not often).