iPhone 14 users are seemingly unhappy with the phone's battery longevity, as after less than a year of usage, several owners are reporting that their maximum capacity has already suffered (via The Verge). AppleTrack's Sam Kohl claims on Twitter that his smartphone is already at 90% after less than a year, while Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern is already at 88%. It's easy to understand why users would be unhappy about this, as lower maximum capacity means the battery will last less and less between charges.
However, Apple officially claims that iPhone devices are "designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles," which would mean these reports are within expectations. But rumors revolving around the iPhone 15 could be great news for those getting worried in response to these concerns, as the power of 3nm architecture could have massive implications on battery life.
iPhone 15 rumor could be huge for battery life
One of the grandest iPhone 15 rumors revolves around the A17 Bionic chip, which features 3-nanometer architecture. This would make it the smallest processor to ever go into a smartphone, and beyond the expectations for it to make the Pro series incredibly powerful, it could also result in longer battery life.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chairman Mark Liu believes this could result in up to 35% less power consumption by the phone, which could have incredible results on longevity. We measured the iPhone 14 Pro's battery life at 10 hours and 13 minutes, and if we were to assume that this percentage is accurate and will be a direct addition to that number, we could see as high as 14 hours of battery life from this year's model.
The only issue here is that the iPhone 15 Pro models are the only phones receiving the A17 Bionic 3nm chip, but that won't be the case for long. We're expecting the lower-tier iPhone models to receive the previous generation's Pro processor. The iPhone 14 had the A15, while iPhone 14 Pro had the A16. If rumors are true, we're expecting iPhone 15 to have the A16, and iPhone 15 Pro models to have an A17.
Continue down this chain and it's possible that the base iPhone 16 will also feature the A17, which could mean incredible battery life for all models. We're anticipating the iPhone 15 Pro's launch to confirm or deny whether or not the rumored 3nm architecture truly has that much of an impact on battery life, but we're excited to say the least.