iPhone 8, 8 Plus Feature Smaller Batteries with ‘Similar’ Battery Life

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are better than their predecessors in almost every way save one. Both devices, which were revealed on Tuesday’s keynote, have a smaller battery than the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. This fact was discovered by Apple leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer in the TENAA listings (China’s equivalent of the FCC), and was publicized it in a tweet.

The iPhone 8 comes with a 1,821 milliamp-hour battery, which is marginally smaller than the iPhone 7’s 1,960. By contrast, the iPhone 8 Plus battery is rated at 2,675 milliamp-hours, compared to the iPhone 7 Plus’ 2,900.

This means that the iPhone 8 Plus should see significantly better battery life than the iPhone 8. The iPhone 8 Plus is estimated to get 21 hours of talk time, 13 hours of internet usage, 14 hours of video playback, and 60 hours of audio playback. The iPhone 8, on the hand, should yield 14 hours of talk time, 12 hours of internet usage, 13 hours of video playback, and 40 hours of audio playback. Both are fast-charge capable, meaning they can achieve around 50 percent charge in under 30 minutes.  

Apple likely downgraded the batteries to accommodate more, or larger, internal components. Apple, however, says that the phones’ battery lives should be “about the same” as their predecessors, which may be thanks to software adjustments made in order to optimize battery life. 

Details of the iPhone X’s battery are still unknown, but its performance almost matches that of the iPhone 8 Plus. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated earlier this year that the iPhone X, which features a 5.8-inch OLED screen, would squeeze a Plus-sized battery into a smaller form factor by shrinking other internal components.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]