Apple says iPhone battery life longer than expected

hiake · Jun 19, 2007

SciAm.com said:

Apple says iPhone battery life longer than expected

By Sinead Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc.'s <AAPL.O> iPhone will have a longer-lasting battery than it originally expected, exceeding those in rival phones, the company said on Monday.

Apple shares rose almost 4 percent as analysts said the company put to rest two of several concerns about the iPhone, which combines a music player and cell phone. It is due to hit stores on June 29.

Apple said the iPhone would provide up to eight hours of talk time, or six hours of Internet use. In January, it said the battery would last as long as five hours of talk time. An Apple representative would not say how it achieved the improvements.

Apple also said the top surface of the touch-screen phone, which will sell for about $500 to $600 through a subscription with AT&T Inc. <T.N>, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass, making it more resistant to scratches.

Because users will control the phone by moving their fingers across its screen, the materials used could be crucial to the acceptance and durability of the phone, analysts said.

AT&T, the biggest U.S. wireless provider, has an exclusive agreement to sell the phone in the United States for at least two years. The company has said that more than a million people have inquired about the phone via e-mail.

But wireless experts have questioned whether Apple's first phone, built off the success of its iPod music and video player, will live up to the industry hype ahead of its launch.

"It all depends what (consumers) use it for, but I think it would make quite a bit of difference ... versus traditional smartphone talk times," Yankee Group analyst Lauren Cotes said, comparing the iPhone's eight hours of talk time to rival devices with four or five hours.

The iPhone battery cannot be easily removed, unlike those of traditional cell phones, so power efficiency is an even more important feature in this device, Cotes said.

Shaw Wu of American Technology Research questioned whether the phone would live up to its claims.

"We hope those times are accurate, but our sources have indicated iPhone's active use battery life may be closer to around 4-5 hours for heavy use, similar to other smart phones," Wu said in a note to clients. He did not name his source.

Apple shares closed up $4.59, or 3.8 percent, at $125.09 on Nasdaq.

A BATTLE FOR BATTERIES

Manufacturers are always battling to improve the battery life of cell phones, as constant communication with radio broadcast towers tends to drain power more quickly than unconnected consumer electronics devices.

Smartphones such as the iPhone also need lots of power as they also aim to handle Web browsing, personal data storage and music and video playback.

Apple said its battery claims are dependent upon specific configurations and "many other factors." Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock said the January battery-life estimate was based on a pre-production model of the iPhone.

Analysts said Apple had likely kept power management as a priority in writing the phone's operating software and used the best available battery technology for the device.

"I think it's a combination of factors, better battery technology, more efficient software and also hardware, such as power management chips," said Wu.

Sony Ericsson, a venture of Sony Corp. <6758.T> and Ericsson <ERICb.ST>, has touted a talk time of up to 9 hours for some of its Walkman music-playing phone models.

The Upstage music playing phone from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd <005930.KS> has a battery life of up to 6.3 hours, according to Sprint Nextel Corp. <S.N>, which sells the phone.

Apple said all told, the iPhone can support up to eight hours of talk time, seven hours of video playback, or 24 hours of audio playback.

(Additional reporting by Franklin Paul)
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Source: SciAm.com

Hmmm, perfect timing? Although I wonder if the conditional "extra long" battery life is a publicity stunt or what...

Knoctur_nal · Jun 19, 2007

was reading this earlier too...as always, sceptical and will wait tiil a non apple associated real world review...
also..a tech columnist by the name of Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has the iphone...but no reporting yet on its battery life...

pirvee · Jun 19, 2007

hmmmm.....I never got the promised batterylife of my SE w800, got about half of the time ...we will see how performance will be when product is really on the market...

hiake · Jun 19, 2007

The batterlife of my SEK750i was quite similar to its supposed spec (it was around 9 hours talk time or something) I got my iPod from a batch of terribly made ones... the battery life max at 80% of the promised span >.<

pirvee · Jun 19, 2007

hiake said: ↑

The batterlife of my SEK750i was quite similar to its supposed spec (it was around 9 hours talk time or something) I got my iPod from a batch of terribly made ones... the battery life max at 80% of the promised span >.<
Click to expand...

aahh..lucky u(with ur k750i) ......i dunno for sure...but i believe battery performance deterioriated(yes, got worse) since I came back from HK...mayb influence by the humidity during summer??

sh*t happens....unlucky with ur Ipod battery...that sucks...

hiake · Jun 19, 2007

LOL, I guess it has something to do with me charging it constantly (always has it hooked up and sync'd with the PC), that iPod of mine, but to be frank, I am glad that it survived the hypthetical death of expired warranty... I've heard quite some stories, from friends who bought an iPod or iShuffle or whatnot, and it went dead in the most literal sense a week or so past the expiry date of warranty (which is a year)...

Seeing that my iPod survived its first birthday (and the batterylife is still respectable at around 75% of promised span even with my incessantly charging) I think I got off easy

wind2000 · Jun 21, 2007

Let the battery drain completely once in a while and it should help battery last longer and better performance.

Vinnie_boy · Jun 21, 2007

hmmm interesting i want one but will have to wait until Q4 to reach the UK = ="

[N] · Jun 21, 2007

don't really care too much about apple products, too overated sometimes, but 8 hours talk time not bad, wonder how long the batteries for the music player last cause that's one of the main reason it's an "iphone."

Yeah_Ken · Jun 22, 2007

Let it come out so consumers can really test how long it lasts lol.

Apple says iPhone battery life longer than expected

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pirvee Well-Known Member

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

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hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

wind2000 Self Schemata

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