Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) just wrapped up the successful launch of its flagship smartphone, the iPhone 7. Though the new iPhone failed to wow in terms of design, it does offer a load of new features. As expected, iPhone 7’s dust and water resistance, along with its brilliant display (326 PPI pixel density), are winning over hard core iPhone fans but there’s one key feature that isn’t getting enough love: the almost supernaturally long battery life.
Battery life has always been one of the most common complaints about Apple smartphones. For heavy use, an iPhone 6S has to be charged twice, one in midday and another overnight to last all day. To resolve the issue, Apple promised that the newest iPhone would come with the “longest battery life ever in an iPhone,” thanks to its quad-core A10 processors and larger battery.
The specs of the iPhone 7 battery were published by Chinese certification agency TENAA, noting that iPhone 7’s 1,960 milliamp-hour battery and iPhone 7 Plus’ 2,900 milliamp-hour battery featured significant increase over their predecessors. Because of its efficient processors, the iPhone 7 is able to take on more intensive tasks, reducing power consumption.
Over the years, the iPhone featured an increasingly thinner design, which critics say created a disconnect with users who’d rather sacrifice thinness for a better battery. In fact, countless of surveys made it clear that longevity was the most desired feature among iPhone users.
The iPhone 7 remains wafer thin but Apple made drastic improvements to battery life by eliminating the much-loved 3.5mm headphone jack to maintain its slim form factor. The controversial adjustment caused a backlash and launched a thousand memes but Apple remains adamant on nixing the headphone jack. Apart from sacrificing the headphone jack, Apple made significant improvements on the battery.
Even more impressive, Apple managed to increase the iPhone 7’s battery life without making the device thicker. That means users are getting the best of both worlds, enviable thinness and longevity in one device. The iPhone 7 offers 12 hours of 3G and LTE browsing as well as 14 hours on Wi-Fi. The iPhone 7 Plus features 10 hours on 3G and LTE as well as 11 hours on Wi-Fi.
To illustrate iPhone 7’s amazing battery life, the 3G, and LTE browsing has improved by up to 20% while Wi-Fi browsing saw an impressive 27% increase. As for playback, the iPhone 7 has enough juice for 2 hours, non-stop video play. In addition, the iPhone 7 is the first Apple smartphone to increase LTE browsing time since the unveiling of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 7 Plus offers an hour longer battery life compared to its older sibling, the iPhone 6S.
It’s incredible that despite the changes Apple made over the battery to improve longevity, users are still stuck complaining about the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack. Was it worth the sacrifice? Sure. The elimination of the audio jack is a standard in smartphones and it will be sorely missed. However, users can still use their old headphones using an adaptor that Apple developed. The transition to lightning ear buds is difficult but for the most part, the tradeoff is worth it.
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