Rumor: 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has 2,100mAh battery

iPhone 6 battery (NowhereElse 003, teaser)

As Apple gears up to unveil the iPhone 6 on September 9, rumors of the handset’s battery capacity have been picking up steam lately, especially in light of Samsung’s anti-iPhone ‘Wall Huggers’ advertisement which slams the handset’s inadequate battery module.

We’ve already shown you images of a purported 1,810 mAh iPhone 6 battery and now one analyst has reopened the topic, alleging that a 4.7-inch variant will have a bigger 2,100mAh module versus a 1,570mAh battery found inside the iPhone 5s/5c…

According to ESM-China analyst Sung Chang Xu quoted by GforGames, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 variant will pack in the stronger 2,100mAh battery.

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c both feature a meager 1,570mAh battery so the rumored 2,100 mAh component would translate into a 33 percent boost in battery capacity.

As for the recently leaked 1,810 mAh part, it was actually a test unit that will be replaced for the final production iPhone 6, said the analyst.

Reportedly, the 1,810 mAh battery we’ve seen in the aforementioned leaked picture is as real as it can be, but according to Sung Chang Xu’s sources, these units have been used solely for testing purposes. As such, the final product could be launched with a meatier 2,100 mAh unit under the hood.

Note the use of “could”.

The usual caveat applies here: you’re advised to take the claim with a few pinches of salt. Even GforGames is unsure about the veracity of the source, cautioning that “we can’t confirm or refute these claims”.

As a reminder, the same analyst back in March claimed the iPhone 6 would come with a slew of new sensors for measuring air pressure, temperature and humidity.

By comparison, devices such as LG’s G3 and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 pack in a 3,000 mAh and 3,200 mAh battery, respectively. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 2,800 mAh battery and the HTC One M8 packs in a 2,600 mAh unit.

Here’s Samsung’s recent Galaxy S5 ad that I mentioned earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzMUTrTYD9s

Keep in mind that only Apple is able to exercise super tight control over the design and manufacture of its hardware and software. That being said, the iPhone 6 and its energy efficient iOS 8 software could easily provide a much longer runtime than the battery capacity alone would have you believe.

iOS 8 includes technologies that help extend battery life, such as a new section in the Settings app that lists energy consumption on a per-app basis, helping you detect and disable battery-hog software.

How important a longer-lasting battery is to you in terms of new iPhone 6 features?