Here’s Why the iPhone No Need A Large Battery Capacity

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: January 02, 2020

As people uses mobile phones more frequently, the battery capacity of phones which affects battery life has been gaining wide attention. When it comes to the iPhone battery, it's its smaller capacity that arouses doubts and curiosity of the public.

Indeed, since the first iPhone was introduced, Apple has been designing the iPhones with small battery capacity. From iPhone 4(1420mAh )to iPhone 11(3110mAh), the iPhones battery capacities have been always kept at a low level. Moreover, Apple sometimes introduced a new iPhone model with a smaller battery capacity than a previous one. For example, iPhone 8 has a battery capacity of 1821mAh smaller than iPhone 7(1960mAh). However, Apple claimed that the iPhone 8 would offer the same battery life as the iPhone 7.

Why? Why does the iPhone always have a smaller battery capacity? Why doesn't the iPhone require large battery capacity but still keep good battery life? Here are the reasons. Continue to read.

Battery Capacities Comparison: iPhone vs. Peer Competitive Flagships in 2019

Prior to the analysis of all the possible reasons, let's make a direct comparison of battery capacities between the top best iPhones and other top best peer flagships in 2019. After that, you'll notice how small the iPhone battery capacity is. 

As the above table shows, all the top best iPhones in 2019 are designed to have smaller battery capacities compared with their competitive flagships of Samsung and Huawei. Their battery capacities are always around 3000mAh or less. Overall, Apple always keep the battery capacity at low a level.

Here's why the iPhone has a smaller battery capacity:

To Make the iPhone Thinner And lighter

One of the most common misconception regarding iPhone is that Apple could double the thickness for increasing the battery capacity. However, it never did that. Apple has been putting an obsession for thinness of the iPhone and has never brought bigger batteries at the expense of thinness. Just like Apple's previous head of design Jony Ive once said, you wouldn't like a bigger battery in your iPhone since it would make your phone heavier and more cumbersome.

Designing a smaller iPhone battery capacity in pursuit of thinness doesn't mean that Apple attaches importance to thinness over usability. Actually, to make the iPhone thinner is to make it lighter and more usable. That is, thinness of the iPhone can enhance the lightness which makes it more comfortable in the hand while using and more portable in the pocket. In this way, thinness improves usability of the iPhone.

Conversely, if the thickness of the iPhone is increased to make the battery capacity larger, the iPhone will be heavier which is uncomfortable to use and hold up especially for long period of time.

Smaller Battery Is for Controlling Production Cost And Selling Price

Strict control of production cost is another reason for iPhone's smaller battery capacity. Since Apple can extend battery life by other alternative  approaches, it is reluctant to increase the battery capacity of iPhone, which will lead to higher production cost. Higher production cost refers to higher marketing price, which will make against market competition.

For safety reason - Battery Also Hold in Heat

Battery not only hold in power, but also hold in heat. This is part of the reason why the iPhone aren't always designed to have a larger battery capacity. The increased battery capacity means more heat to be released, which may have risks to the damage of the iPhones. Apple at all time put emphasis on the safety of phone use. Thus, it's not advisable of Apple to increase iPhone battery capacity at the expense of phone safety.

iPhone New features Require A Smaller Battery

Another reason why the iPhone has a smaller battery capacity lies in its new features on new models. These new features appear to come at a small cost - the size of the battery since they take up the space previously allocated to the battery. For instance, iPhone 6S was designed with a smaller battery than iPhone 6 due to one of the new features of it - 3D Touch. 3D Touch is an useful multi-touch technology that allows the iPhone to perceive the strength of the press you apply to the screen and then displays shortcuts on the app and other pressure sense operation interaction. It improves the usability of the iPhone greatly. However, it leads to smaller battery.

Moreover, take another new feature of the iPhone 6S - Taptic Engine as an example, it also occupies the space that previously belongs to battery which causes smaller battery capacity. Taptic Engine is a sensor technology that provides tactile sensations in the form of vibrations. It is beneficial to improve user experience.

The iPhone Doesn't Need A Larger Battery Capacity

The main reason why the iPhone battery capacity is small is that it doesn't need a larger one. Apple has been extending the battery life of the iPhone by other power-efficient approaches rather than increasing battery capacity. Here are the approaches:

* Battery Optimization: Part of the reason why the iPhone's battery life increases lies in the improved power efficiency of chipsets and the processes used to fabricating the battery.

* Hardware And Software Optimization: To help conserve battery life, Apple put much effort into the optimization of both the software and hardware of the iPhone to make them more power-efficient. On the hardware side, operating system, processors performance, screen technology, radios and RAM are optimized. On the software side, Apple software updates which make sure your device is using the latest version of iOS, macOS, or watchOS often includes advanced energy-saving technologies.

* Power Management Techniques: iPhone also bring lots of power saving methods on UI for users to extend battery life such as Low Power Mode and Battery Usage Information.

Conclusion

Now the reasons why the iPhone has a smaller battery capacity are clarified. Overall, designing the iPhone to have a smaller battery doesn't mean that Apple is incapable of designing a larger one. Without increasing battery capacity, the iPhone battery life is still extended while keeping the iPhone light and usable.