Every 2018 iPhone model could get a battery boost thanks to this new tech

Hands up who wants more battery life from their smartphone? The good news is that noted mobile analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, of KGI Securities fame, reckons that all three of the 2018 iPhones are going to get a boost in capacity across the board, thanks partly to a new L-shaped battery design.

That L-shape is actually going to be formed by two separate cells linked together, according to a memo written by Kuo and seen by AppleInsider. You'll apparently see that fitted to the 6.5-inch and 5.8-inch OLED iPhones, bumping the capacities as high as 3,400 mAh and 3,000 mAh respectively.

For comparison, the iPhone X features a 2,716 mAh battery pack, so you get some idea of the improvement. Bear in mind though that battery life depends on a variety of factors, including the size of the screen and the efficiency of the internal components.

Three's a crowd

At the relatively cheap end of the scale, a third 6.1-inch LCD iPhone won't get the new L-shape design but will take advantage of some other Apple battery improvements to hit a new capacity of up to 2,950 mAh. We're still a long way out from September 2018, so take these specs with a pinch of salt for now - though Ming-Chi Kuo does have a good record in predicting which direction Apple will go in next.

As we previously reported, Kuo is tipping Apple to use the iPhone X tech on two flagship phones next year. A less expensive LCD version will also arrive, Kuo says, but it's still going to feature the distinctive notch design, consigning the iPhone 8 look to history.

In other words the iPhone X is the blueprint that future iPhones are going to follow, and it sounds like there's going to be more battery life to go around as well. We've also heard that the LCD version is going to come rocking a metal back rather than glass, so stay tuned for another 10 months of rumor and speculation.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.