iPhone 7 may come outfitted with a slightly stronger battery than iPhone 6s

iphone-7-battery sina weibo

According to a post on the Chinese social network Sina Weibo, Apple’s next-generation iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones may come outfitted with slightly larger batteries than the current-generation iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models. Based on a claimed spy shot of purported battery packages for the upcoming devices, the iPhone 7 should have a one percent stronger battery than the iPhone 6s while the iPhone 7 Plus should pack in a more than two percent stronger battery versus its iPhone 6s Plus counterpart.

In terms of the numbers:

  • iPhone 7—1,735 mAh battery
  • iPhone 7 Plus—2,810 mAh battery
  • iPhone 6s—1,715 mAh battery
  • iPhone 6s Plus—2,750 mAh battery
  • iPhone 6—1,810 mAh battery
  • iPhone 6 Plus—2,910 mAh battery

There’s more to battery life than capacity

Battery capacity doesn’t tell the whole story as a number of factors influence the effective run time of a mobile device. For example, even though the previous-generation iPhone 6 models offer notably stronger batteries than the iPhone 6s series, both phone generations sport comparable battery life due to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus using chips manufactured on a smaller process technology.

Smaller chips = greater power savings

The smaller the chips are, the faster they get because the electrons travel a shorter distance. Plus, smaller chips generally dissipate less heat than larger ones.

And with Apple’s next-generation A10 processors said to be fabbed on TSMC’s cutting-edge ten-nanometer process versus the 14/16-nm A9 chips inside the current iPhones (which again would make the A10 more power efficient than the A9), a stronger battery may actually translate into a longer run time this time around.

iPhone 7 to increase battery life?

As both new iPhone 7 models are said to have approximately the same size and depth as the current models, it’s unclear whether the slightly larger batteries might be due to advances in battery and packaging technology or the fact that the upcoming handsets will have fewer chips that will be more tightly integrated on the logic board.

Source: Sina Weibo via 9to5Mac