Apple didn’t mention the new iPhone 6s battery life as part of the keynote and there may be a reason for that. In the promo video, Apple shows a shot of the iPhone 6s internals. As it happens, this render is extremely detailed and you can actually make out the battery specifications inscribed onto the battery. Its rated at 1715mAh, which is down from the 1810mAH packed into the previous iPhone 6.
It seems that Apple has had to shrink the battery to make space for new features like the 3D Touch screen and the Taptic Engine. However, according to Apple’s technical specifications, it shouldn’t make a difference. The battery life estimates for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 are identical …
From Apple’s Tech Specs pages:
iPhone 6s has up to 14 hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of data usage on 3G, 10 hours on LTE, 11 hours on WiFi and 10 days of standby. These are the same numbers quoted for the iPhone 6.
You may wonder how this is possible if the battery actually shrunk. Apple could be taking some creative license in its estimates, but what has likely happened is that the A9 chip and other components within the phone have become more efficient, less wasteful, such that total power usage of the phone is lower. Hence, Apple can ship the iPhone 6s with a smaller battery but continue offering the same power and battery statistics as the iPhone 6.
People wanting longer battery life on iPhones will have to keep waiting but it is good that despite the smaller capacity battery, Apple believes customers should not see a difference in battery longevity. We’ll have to see if that plays out in reality, when the iPhone 6s is available to buy on September 25th.
We would expect that the iPhone 6s Plus also has a smaller battery capacity to mirror the change in the iPhone 6 but Apple’s video doesn’t depict that device’s battery so we can’t be certain just yet.
You can see the pictures of the new battery in the iPhone 6s video, around the 2:50 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTEB8cdQwo
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The phone could have been slightly thicker i’m curious to see how this battery will age , i guess after 3 months of heavy usage we will be forced to use a cover with an additional battery…
The phone is slightly thicker. But that space is used for 3D Touch components, not battery.
They needed the space for the Taptic Engine which to me is fine, they made improvements else where. After a year of heavy use on my iPhone 6 I still get all day battery (my day starts at 7 am and usually ends at 10 or 11 pm), with my Apple Watch it has made my end of the day percentage increase. I think the 6S will be fine with a battery that has about 100 less mAh.
I see 3D Touch using up some extra battery. On both my iPad Air 2 and Iohone 6 plus iOS 9 has been using more battery then iOS 8. Maybe the a9 gains in efficiency will keep the usage the same. I just doubt it with how much less battery capacity there is in the 6s batteries.
I would still preferred a thicker phone to get rid of the camera bulge and the feeling the phone will fly out of your hands.
It’s really not that much smaller…just a bit over 5%. There’s no reason efficiencies elsewhere can’t make up for that.
M9 being integrated into the A9 will probably one of the biggest sources of efficiency. Smaller battery will also mean faster charging.
Curious how accurate the ru Ning and walking pace tracking of the m9 is.
The battery capacity shrunk by 5%, Assuming ‘all day battery life’ means 18 hours of average usage, it would mean a drop of around 50 minutes. IOS9 only is able to save up to 1 hour of battery life. Adding a more efficient chip will lead to at least the same battery life.
Another boneheaded step backwards.
iOS 9 is also supposedly using a feature “preserves” battery power, so defenders of the reduction will try and point to that. While I can see the benefits of force touch, I’ll just blend this battery saving plus with my current 6+ to extend my battery even further.
Disappointing, Apple! At least you could have used that slightly thicker case to house the camera in exchange for that!
Longer operational time would have been a nice bonus and the idea of a smaller battery and lighter phone is also very nice. I’m not inconvenienced when it comes to charging my phone or watch at 3pm every day or charging my phone in the car. My statement is; why does it bother so many if a battery lasts a day versus a day in a half – if you aren’t regularly charging your phone, you will still run out of battery. At least with a 10 hour battery, you are forced to charge before you begin your day.