The Rumored iPhone 17 Air Might Have a Surprising Way to Deal With Battery Life
The rumored iPhone 17 Air has created buzz with the prospect of a slimmed-down iPhone. But one nagging question has lingered: Would a skinny iPhone have to sacrifice battery life?
The latest rumor, reported by AppleInsider, is that a skinnier iPhone might use a silicon-anode battery that could help extend its battery life.
DigiTimes first reported that Japanese supplier TDK was preparing a supply of silicon-anode batteries that could store about 15% more energy compared to graphite-based batteries of the same size.
Silicon battery technology could be new to iPhone, but some other smartphones -- like the Magic V3, the world's thinnest book-style foldable phone -- have already begun using silicon carbon batteries.
The rumored iPhone 17 Air, expected to be introduced this fall as the newest device in the iPhone line, could potentially replace the Plus in the iPhone lineup.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Tom's Guide
21 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17 Pro: How big will the gap be this year for new iPhones?
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USA Today
6 hours ago
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Forbes
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David Phelan looks over the choices of September 2/3, 9/10, or 16/17: "We can rule out the first pair as that completely clashes with the big consumer electronics show in Berlin, IFA, which runs Sept. 5-9… The final pair of dates seems too late for me, though they're not impossible — if Apple hits a snag in production, it can move the launch to that week. Most likely are Tuesday, Sept. 9 or Wednesday, Sept. 10. My gut says it will be on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific in Apple's Cupertino HQ." (Forbes). iPhone's Stunning Display Upgrade Apple is working hard to bring new display technology to the iPhone. Although these won't be ready for the iPhone 17, and perhaps not even the iPhone 18, but the allure of an OLED display that draws less power is one it is investigating: 'Apple is reviewing a plan to apply a new low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) organic light-emitting diode (OLED) to the iPhone series to be released in 2027 at the earliest. The core of the new LTPO OLED is whether to apply oxide (oxide) to the driving TFT. If the proportion of oxide increases, it can reduce power consumption,' the site says." (The Elec via Forbes). Apple Already Adding New iOS 26 Features Apple has released a second build of the next iOS 26 release in public development. While there are some questions on the need for a rebuild (with suggestions of battery life or a significant security issue being discussed online), one of the key quality of life updates is present in the release; smart storage, which helps manage memory during install, updates, and upgrades: " We don't yet know how this dynamic reservation of space will work, or how much will be automatically be set aside, but it may 'align with similar mechanisms in macOS. If you are not familiar with it, Apple already uses temporary system storage management during updates, even in the case of iOS, but the new feature could mean that the system actively manages and holds onto space as part of its background maintenance,' the report adds. (Forbes). 2026 MacBook Pro's Anticipated Upgrade Following a burst of engagement in the move to Apple Silicon in 2020, the MacBook has seen little change in terms of design and features beyond the chipset. With an expected redesign in 2026, one of the biggest missing features could finally arrive, replacing the LED displays with OLED. "The OLED MacBook Air is also expected to get a standard single-stack display, rather than the more sophisticated Two-Stack Tandem displays we reported on for the MacBook Pro. Single-stack displays have one red, green and blue layer, while two-stack tandem OLED has a second RGB layer. Two layers stacked in tandem increases the brightness of the screen, while also increasing longevity. (The Elec via 9to5Mac). The iPad, The Mac, And Returning To An App Apple continues to thread the needle to increase the capability of the iPad while avoiding any clash with the Mac (specifically the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops). Federico Viticci has a deep dive investigation and interview with Apple's Craig Federighi on the new iPadOS 26 changes, and much of that is built around a long-standing issue… multitasking, windowing, and using apps concurrently: "In listening to Federighi's analysis of iPad multitasking over the years, I get the sense that Apple has been trying to understand the iPad's audience for over a decade. At some point, they realized that the device has two types of users: those who just want a tablet, and those who want a tablet plus more traditional computing features. The company tried to reinvent those classic functionalities but ultimately understood that some users would rather have classic windowing, a file manager, and a menu bar that 'simply' worked with either touch or indirect manipulation, rather than entirely new UI metaphors." (MacStories). Only What Can Be Delivered After the hot takes of last week's Worldwide Developer Conference come the considered responses. Longtime Apple follower John Gruber makes an important observation on what was announced this year, compared to the vast promises of 2024: "I might be overlooking a minor exception or two, but every major feature announced in the WWDC 2025 keynote was both demonstratable in product briefings, and is currently available in the developer beta seeds. I was also told, explicitly, by Apple executives, that Apple plans to ship everything shown last week in the fall." (Daring Fireball). And Finally... Apple continues to lag behind the curve in the use of generative AI—the recent delay announced at WWDC points to nothing practical till 2026. Apple's work on AI has led to a research paper that suggests the promises made by the competition may be too generous: "In particular, the researchers assail the claims of companies like OpenAI that their most advanced models can now "reason" — a supposed capability that the Sam Altman-led company has increasingly leaned on over the past year for marketing purposes — which the Apple team characterizes as merely an "illusion of thinking.'" (Futurism). Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don't forget to follow me so you don't miss any coverage in the future. Last week's Apple Loop can be read here, or this week's edition of Loop's sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
