Katie Marsal
A battery claimed to be destined for the anticipated "iPhone 7" shows a larger capacity than the current iPhone 6s, suggesting Apple may be able to squeeze more capacity into a smaller frame — and potentially with an all-new casing material.
The alleged "iPhone 7" pictures and details were shared on Friday by digi.tech.qq.com, which came across a purported Apple battery advertised with a 7.04Whr capacity. If legitimate, that would be larger than the 6.61Whr battery found in the iPhone 6s.
Without corresponding voltage, the true capacity of the battery in terms of milliampere-hours cannot be determined. But presumably a larger watt-hour rating would result in a battery with greater capacity. The images were spotlighted by MacRumors on Friday.
The original report also included somewhat questionable, though interesting claims to go along with the pictures.
Specifically, it said that Apple's "iPhone 7" will sport a ceramic body. If so, that would be a major change for Apple, which has previously made iPhone chassis out of metal, glass and plastic.
The idea of a ceramic handset is not new — Â the 2012 HTC One S featured a ceramic body with "Micro Arc Oxidation" which gave it a robust exterior. However, at the time, the technology was also prone to chipping, which led HTC to abandon that design.
Apple itself has toyed with the idea of ceramic iPhones, as revealed by patent filings from the company. However, Apple has dabbled in many materials, including sapphire glass and an alloy branded as Liquidmetal, but has not used them in significant ways largely due to prohibitive costs. As a result, the claims of a ceramic "iPhone 7" should be taken with a grain of salt.
To date, most of the "iPhone 7" related leaks have supported rumors that the biggest — and most controversial — change to the device might be the elimination of the 3.5mm headphone jack. It's been said Apple is considering removing the port to allow the device to have an all-new, thinner-than-ever design.
Part leaks said to be for the "iPhone 7" have ramped up in recent weeks, which likely corresponds with Apple's own start of production ahead of an anticipated fall launch. It's expected that Apple will officially announce its next-generation iPhone in September.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
25 Comments
Ceramic body is a nice idea to get rid of antenna bands completely. Bring it on even though I don't believe it due to the manufacturing pri where metal is 100x easier to fabricate.
Not even considering the possibility that Apple is probably testing multiple batteries, sizes, materials etc. to determine what would be the best in the new phones?
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A ceramic iPhone body would be pretty cool, except for the fact that it would add another component I would worry about cracking when dropped.
Obviously ceramic mic has come a long way and can be made to survive very demanding environments. The car I'm getting has ceramic buttons and control pieces which have a decidedly better feel than the plastic and metal parts they replaced and I assume they will last longer as well.
Way back in 2006, Apple did file a patent for a zirconium dioxide electronic device enclosure.
It would be extruded instead of machined, of course, so the result would be an empty, flat tube.
The end caps could presumably be made of aluminum or something easy to machine:
http://ceramica.wikia.com/wiki/Zirconium_dioxide
The zirconium dioxide article in Wikipedia no longer references the Apple patent.
But it was there for years.
I think patentlyapple.com also had a story about that patent, with images even.