We’re still the better part of a year before the iPhone 7 Plus and its smaller counterpart are likely to be unveiled, but that hasn’t kept the rumor mill from churning out fresh fodder for the tech community. Now we’re hearing that fans may finally see one of their biggest complaints dealt with – or not, depending on the demands of the rest of the phone’s hardware.
iPhone 7 Plus may have a bigger battery
Apple’s preference for an ultra-thin design over better battery life has been a pain point for iPhone users for years (although clearly not such a serious issue that it kept people from buying the smartphone), but that could be about to change. Chinese language website MyDrivers reports that the iPhone 7 Plus may have a 3100 mAh battery, compared to the 2750 mAh battery that’s in the iPhone 6s Plus.
The report doesn’t say anything about Apple bumping up the size of the iPhone 7 battery, however. The iPhone 6s has a 1715 mAh battery. MyDrivers cites unnamed sources within the iPhone maker’s supply chain for the information. The website has a mixed record in terms of success in reporting reports, according to the Independent.
It’s important to point out though that increasing the size of the battery will likely mean increasing the size of the phone. This seems unlikely though because of how strongly Apple has favored design and appearance over arguably more important things like battery life. Plus we’ve heard several times that this year’s iPhone iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be even thinner than last year’s – a trend the company has kept up with for years.
Bigger battery doesn’t necessarily mean better battery life
BGR notes that even if the Chinese language site is correct and the iPhone 7 Plus sees a boost in the size of its battery, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the battery life will improve. It all depends on what the rest of the components look like and whether their demands on the smartphone’s battery will be the same or whether they will increase, making the bigger battery not result in a longer battery life and possibly even decreasing the phone’s battery life even though the battery has grown.
In short, Apple may simply be accounting for components that require more juice by including a bigger battery in order to keep the battery life the same as that of previous models. BGR also suggests that the company may seek to improve the battery life only on the larger iPhone 7 Plus for the purpose of pushing consumers toward the most expensive models by leaving the battery on the iPhone 7 the same size as the batteries in its predecessor.
After all, some consumers may choose the larger, more expensive iPhone 7 Plus simply because they hate the shorter battery life in the smaller models. And a mix shift toward the more expensive models means a higher average selling price and more profits for Apple.
iPhone 7 Plus may get a huge storage boost
In addition to the bigger battery, MyDrivers also reports that the iPhone 7 Plus may see a significant boost in storage size to 256 gigabytes. Once again, it doesn’t mention the phone’s smaller counterpart, which could mean that there won’t be a 256-gigabyte option for the smaller iPhone 7. Further, the website doesn’t say whether there will still be a 16-gigabyte version of either of Apple’s next two phones.
As a reminder, the company did away with the 32-gigabyte models, and some have speculated that the reason was to push consumers who would have bought a 32-gig model to buy the more expensive 64-gigabyte models because 16 gigabytes of storage just isn’t enough anymore. The current storage options for the iPhone are 16, 64 and 128 gigabytes.
