Higher Capacity Battery For iPad 3, iPhone 5
Posted by Michael Nace on Friday Dec 30, 2011 Under iPhone 5 Opinion, iPhone 5 RumorMore detailed rumors are leaking out of the rumor mill about a vastly superior battery pack for the upcoming iPad 3. But can we also count on this technology for the iPhone 5? And could a bigger battery mean a beefier iPhone?
One of Apple’s favorite upgrades to its products is to put them on a diet. The ever-diminishing size and profile of Macbooks, iPhones, iPads, and iPods has become a mainstay for Cupertino’s R&D department, and it gets touted by the marketers as a leap forward in design: “now XX% thinner!” While thinner, smaller mobile devices have more curb appeal for the average Apple user, salt of the earth upgrades like battery life are really what define a great mobile device, and interestingly enough, gadget size and battery life are inextricably linked.
And for a first time in a long time, a rumor is surfacing in the Applesphere of a device getting larger, not smaller, in order to accommodate a larger battery and/or higher screen resolution.
9to5Mac has a nice piece out this week that outlines several new reports for the iPad 3, namely, a much bigger battery, improved display, and slightly thicker form factor. Citing DigiTimes, Seth Weintraub reports that “the next iPad will have a monster battery that will more than double the current 6579 mAH to a whopping 14,000 mAH. Apple currently uses battery suppliers Simplo Technology and Dynapack who both denied to comment on the report.” It doesn’t take a rechargeable battery expert to understand the significant increase here. As a comparison, the Kindle’s battery tops out at 1530 mAh, but allows the Kindles to run for an incredibly long amount of time, given the fact that they are lower profile performance-wise compared to the iPad. But it appears that Apple might be looking to give the iPad 3 the same kind of longevity as the Kindle devices while at the same time offering a much more feature-rich tablet.
But accompanying this rumor is the prospect of a thicker iPad 3.
DigiTimes is also reporting that the iPad 3 will indeed feature the higher QXGA resolution (1,536×2,048 pixels) and dual LED bars to increase brightness, all of which would require more battery juice. But because of this, “We have heard earlier reports that the next iPad would be significantly thicker and this might be a reason.” It would be an odd form factor reversal for Apple to feature a thicker iPad 3, after boasting a thinner iPad 2. But if the thickness brings with it lavish new features and performance, I doubt that users will sweat a few extra millimeters.
A Thicker iPhone 5 With Bigger Battery?
This isn’t an iPad 3 blog, and so we have to pivot this discussion into talking about how new battery technology, resolution, and form factors on the iPad 3 might impact the iPhone 5 as well. It is likely that any of the new battery technology deployed on the iPad 3 will find its way onto the iPhone 5 since, as we have already discussed, the iPhone 5 is going to sport a wave of new features that will require more battery capacity, namely, a larger screen, an A6 processor, LTE, a more intelligent Siri/Assistant, and who knows what else.
Rumors have persisted that the iPhone 5 would ultimately be a thinner device — some have even said that it would be as thin as a credit card. Our own source claims that the form factor will be thinner as well. But the thinness rumors and large screen/A6/LTE rumors are currently on a collision course. There’s no way we’re going to get an iPhone 5 with all the new features and have it be smaller and thinner. Why? Simply put, all this new gear will need a bulkier battery and larger form factor to house it — just like the iPad 3.
Would a slightly thicker iPhone 5 be a big problem for users? Well, the tech community is always looking for something to complain about, and if Apple manages to deliver an iPhone 5 with all of the above-mentioned landmark features — albeit with a slightly portly form factor — the geeks will just have to complain about that.
But my opinion is that the ever-shrinking mobile device is outmoded and obsolete.
Even the sub-9″ iPad rumor is (once again) faltering, as 9to5Mac reports: “The 7.85-inch display iPad that DigiTimes had originally rumored is no longer in the plans (or likely never was).” Ultra-small mobile devices were a fad, and once users started to see how smaller didn’t mean better, as a rule, most people are willing to scale up their smartphones a bit in order to improve battery life, performance, viewing, and typing.
My feeling is that Apple rather likes its screen sizes and form factor dimensions for the iPhone and iPad. I think that Steve Jobs would have been content to keep them as-is for the foreseeable future. Now that Tim Cook is at the helm, it remains to be seen how his ideologies on screen dimensions will diverge from that of his predecessor. But one thing’s for sure: Apple will be hard pressed to make the iPhone 5 the “wonder device” it is rumored to become and make it thinner.
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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December 30th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
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December 30th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
I still enjoy reading your blog, however, all this speculation is lost on me. It will be 22 months for me and 24 months for my wife before either of us can upgrade. But that’s ok, because I very content with my 4S. If worst comes to worst, I guess I can add another line, if the newest iPhone is worth it. I’ve done it before!
The real reason for this post is to update you on the case I got from Uniea. (here is the link to the actual model that I bought: http://www.uniea.com/Phone-Cases-case/iPhone-4/4S-case/U-Feel—Actor-Series-for-iPhone-4/4S_22.aspx )
If you recall, I bought one of their cases on black Friday and promised a report back. To be honest, at first I was dissapointed in the case. I felt the design left too much open. The sides of the case do not rise very much above the bezel, leaving the entire glass front of the phone open to a flat front drop. Most other cases clip on to the bezel and rise above the glass, and if the phone hits face first, there is a tad of protection. Also, the top of the case, all the way around is slightly belled. I didn’t really like that either. I used it for a week and then put my Incipio Feather back on. If you remember, I didn’t like the texture of the Feather and opted for the feel of hard plastic offered by Uniea. But then the texture thing got to me and I change back again to the Uniea. Actually, I’ve grown quite fond of the open feel of the Uniea case because I’ve always liked the feel of my phone without any case at all.
The shiny gloss finish of the Uniea is tough and I’ve not scratched it at all. I like laying the phone down on a certain concrete table during my lunch hour, and although I don’t slide it around or anything rough, their should have been some scuff marks by now and there aren’t.
The case feels solid on the phone but is easy to remove. OK, this case is not for a clutz, but it does protect the majority of the phone and looks good.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I composed the above on my iphone, and now have noticed a couple of gramatical errors. Please excuse them.
December 30th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
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December 30th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Glad to hear that you are at least mostly satisfied with your case, Ron7624. I was watching one of the most recent AppMinute podcasts, and they were reviewing all of these new case designs from Speck and Case-Mate, and they seem incredibly tough and protective. But I guess there is another side to case designs that are less about protection and more about style. The dream case is one that would balance both.
December 31st, 2011 at 12:16 am
See, I think this is the problem for consumers and Apple, rumors usually consist of outrageously better features i.e. double battery, and when the real product comes out people are ‘disappointed’. I’m not saying its anyones fault or anything I just find it misfortunate. And also an apple news website Cult of Mac is barley reporting the rumor of the IGZO screen when you reported it a long time ago, keep up the good work!
December 31st, 2011 at 2:48 am
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December 31st, 2011 at 3:08 am
I think that the case that is most protective and actually looks very good is the Otterbox. Only flaw: “It’s hard to take it off”. I’m using a Ballostic case on my iPhone 4 and it’s good! Looks kinda buff ( my friends all my phone “The Transformer” ) but not “ugly”.
December 31st, 2011 at 3:36 am
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December 31st, 2011 at 7:23 am
Apple have always been into being green, well at least the last decade, give or take, and the ORB (organic radical battery) is green, it charges quickly and lasts for a good amount of time as I understand combine that with inductive charge (let’s face it, cables suck and break at anytime [trying to find Bluetooth head phones that I can use for my new 4S is a real pain]) plus lets face it, as we blatantly saw with ios 5, apple are far from above using other companies good ideas (don’t get me wrong I love iOS 5 and would never use anything android, windows phone or black berry [or mego, Symbian, ect]) and come on, apple take the good ideas and improve on them, as they should do with HP’s pre 3 innovation of having built in inductive charge, it would be great too if it would still work with a case on, oh the other advantage of ORB tech, it’s not that big something like 0.3mm and offers 1 mWh per square cm
December 31st, 2011 at 4:11 pm
my biggest problem is how long case companies need to produce a case after a new phone is released. I hear that the lifeproof case for iPhone 4/4s. I don’t know how it stack’s up against the otterbox defender case in terms of shock protection (although it feels like a brick in your pocket) but should be taken into considered since its completely water proof. the only drawback is the price tag. if the iphone 5 were to come out, how much longer would it be to engineer a case like that and have it for sale(that’s the problem)?
p.s thay spent millions designing it-_-
December 31st, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Hi, everyone! I hope that you all are enjoying your holiday season! I have been using my Bookbook case for the past two months and I absolutely love it! It is surprisingly protective and I love having my wallet and phone all in the same place. As far as the problems that I had when I got the phone, we have discovered that I have a faulty smart meter from my electric company. Now the fight begins to get them to replace it. I am glad to hear that they are supposedly going to put a better battery in the new phone and iPads. Mine is fine, but for heavier users than me, it might be a little bit of a problem. I still love my phone! It’s awesome!
January 3rd, 2012 at 1:20 pm
when Ipad 3 it come out do you know & Iphone 5 ?? Thank you’ (~!~),,
April 16th, 2013 at 5:43 pm
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