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Results: 60% want Apple to thicken the next iPhone to improve battery life

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A recent poll of over 3,100 9to5Mac readers indicates that most are not satisfied with current-generation iPhone battery life. Over 90% of respondents said that they want to see Apple improve iPhone battery life, versus less than 7% saying that “iPhone battery life and battery cases are good enough as-is.”

The split in responses interestingly suggests that Apple can safely stop prioritizing thinness over superior battery performance. A solid majority of over 60% of respondents said that Apple should thicken the next iPhone to improve its battery life, which is especially noteworthy given that there were other poll options. Over 31% said that Apple should achieve whatever battery improvements it can by improving the iPhone’s chips, while just under 2% said that Apple should instead focus on improving battery cases.

While not scientific, our poll results corroborate the views of The Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Mims, whose article Our One Wish: Longer Battery Life suggested that making iPhones “thinner and lighter is a trend that has outlived its usefulness,” since further reductions are becoming counterproductive to the functionality users need.

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Comments

  1. Tom Matsaev - 9 years ago

    My iPhone 6 Plus is holding a full day from one charge.

  2. The ironic thing is, it is precisely ignoring these kinds of feature requests that have given apple the unrivaled success they’ve found. Every product is a series of compromises and as Steve Jobs used to say, people vote with their money. The compromises they’ve chosen are driving wild sales, people are voting “yes” to their current form factor. I hope they don’t stop pushing the envelope and making it just a little uncomfortable to get there. Missing floppy drive, missing optical disc, missing expandable memory on the phone, missing replaceable battery. They’ve all been cutting edge, all a little uncomfortable, and ultimately just to push the form-factor of their devices, and you know what? We’ve all voted “yes”

    • That’s all well and good, but people have been complaining for years that Apple sacrifices looks for functionality. I like the iPhone enough to put up with that nonsense, just barely, but that doesn’t make it the correct decision. The second another phone maker releases something that entices me away then I’m gone. I am on the fence and Apples idiotic race to be the thinnest everything can be is getting really old, really fast. There’s no justifiable reason to do it other than bragging rights. It doesn’t improve anything about the phone and comes with severe drawbacks. Battery life and fragility being the biggest ones.

      Jobs is dead, let it go. He was wrong on many, many things and sacrificing usability for looks is the worst of his “legacy” that I hope disappears from Apple. They make their products good enough for people to buy them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make seriously incorrect decisions in the process. The iPhone NEEDS to stop this “thin at all costs” nonsense because it’s starting to compromise it’s overall usability. Never before have they made a phone that absolutely required a case to avoid serious damage and never before have the sacrificed battery life to get an unnecessary tenths of a millimeter reduction in thickness. There’s no reason to make the next phone thinner. None. This race to be thinner every year needs to stop.

      • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

        Opinions

      • Aaron Jarvi - 9 years ago

        The “looks for functionality” argument is just a bitch from power users and geeks that really has no bearing on product standards, value, or longevity. The market decides the looks / functionality ratio, and I don’t mean to go way out on a limb here, but I think the market is fairly happy with Apple.

      • Isitjustme - 9 years ago

        You want better battery life get a juice pack.

      • If you really believe this: “He was wrong on many, many things and sacrificing usability for looks is the worst of his “legacy” then you really should stop buying apple products. Its in the DNA and for those of us that have been along for the ride, we crave that boundary pushing. Buy yourself and android sir.

        “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” – Steve Jobs

      • r00fus1 - 9 years ago

        People have been complaining – what % of the total installed base is that?

        I’d be surprised if it’s more than 10%.

      • endthefed1913 - 9 years ago

        The tired argument “people vote with their wallets; the iPhone is wildly successful and sells more every year than the previous, therefor Apple shouldn’t listen to what the MAJORITY of their users want” is completely invalid. People who want to buy a smartphone do not have 10+ platforms to choose from. Hmm lets see, the options are: iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone. Of those options the best option (for me) is iPhone. I don’t buy iPhone’s because they’re perfect, or out of some insane brand loyalty, I choose iPhone because of my three options it’s the overall best choice for me. Like clockwork, every two years Apple does get my money, and I do ‘vote with my wallet’ so now that disqualifies myself and others from preferring one feature enhancement (battery life) over another (additional thinness)?

        Do I have any proof to substantiate this claim? Well, lets learn from recent history. For two full years prior to the iPhone6 release we had THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS across nearly every post on 9to5 and macrumors about how 4 inches was the perfect screen size, how a larger screen would be a disaster, how Steve Jobs is perfect and therefor could never be wrong about anything, and most importantly how anyone who wanted a larger screen needed to ‘just switch to Android’. I mean people really got upset over it in the comments, it was a 2-year comment war. Yet poll after poll showed that a decent majority of iPhone users preferred a larger screen. Sure the exact sizes varied, some wanting it just slightly bigger 4.3 or so, some wanting 5.5, and everything in between.

        Am I throwing it back in your face “HA HA WE WON YOU GUYS WERE WRONG BLAAARRG!!”.. no, I’m not. I’d just like those of you who take the ‘Apple can never be wrong’ stance to please look back and realize that a change Apple themselves and you personally were against, yet more than 60% of users wanted, resulted in the LARGEST INCREASE in iPhone sales ever for year over year. People who wouldn’t have upgraded early- did, people who would have bought the previous years model to save a little money- did not, people who were on the fence choosing their first smartphone and were going to buy Android only because of the screen size- did not, people who had been waiting for years for a larger than 4″ screen and were considering leaving the platform for android- did not. It was a huge success in part because Apple gave the ‘largest slice of the pie’ exactly what they wanted, and more than ever before people were willing to pay for it.

        Now that we’ve reviewed how that ended. Lets look again at the poll up top, as of 9:00PM 2/26 it’s currently at:
        “Apple should thicken the next iPhone to improve battery life: 65.83%
        “iPhone battery life and battery cases are good enough as-is”: 6.74%

        Everyone is entitled to their opinion, your opinion that the battery life doesn’t need to be improved or that it needs to be thinner is perfectly valid. Just realize before you come down on people with an unbelievable sense of superiority, and are completely baffled that someone dare say the phone is thin enough as-is, you are in the extreme minority. You are in the 7% of iPhone users. The healthy majority of the rest of us, would prefer the battery life. I can’t speak for others, but if the iPhone6s is near-identical to the 6 with the only improvement being battery life, I will absolutely buy it full price for $900 cash or whatever it costs without my 2yr renewal.

  3. standardpull - 9 years ago

    I think that Apple should make an iPhone with a battery that never needs recharging, but is 0.5 mm thicker. And I imagine that the vast majority of customers would agree. I also think they should increase the power and storage of the handsets by a factor of 10000. Again, I am willing to compromise and would be willing to have the phone 2 grams heavier for this capability.

  4. It’s interesting that the 6+ fully addresses this in a bigger screen, not thicker body.

    My 6+ was purchased primarily for the larger battery, not just the larger screen. If more people knew that they’d never have a battery problem again in the 6+, they might not mind the bigger phone in their pocket.

    • paulthefencerfencer - 9 years ago

      I agree with you. I bought my first iPhone last November and it was the 6. i’d have preferred the 6+, but i have a hand condition that makes it difficult for me to hold onto a phone that big without dropping it so I settled for the 6. It’s great. I’m not a heavy user so I get a full day and a half, although I charge it every night anyway. But I really wanted the 6 Plus for the bigger screen, the better battery and also the camera had more features than that of the 6.

  5. rogifan - 9 years ago

    And yet Apple keeps making the iphone thinner and is selling more iphones than ever before. Of course people will say this. But then put a thicker, heavier iPhone 6 in their hands and their opinions might change.

  6. jrox16 - 9 years ago

    This is absurd. I get amazing battery life out of my iPhone 6, and so do 3 other friends which have the same phone, always a full day, if not more. I regularly get 1.5 to 2 days with usage stated at between 7 and 8 hours and standby at 1 to 1.5 days. The 6 Plus lasts twice as long and isn’t even an issue. But to not get a full day out of a 6, one is either really spending way too much of their time on their phone (look the fuck up at the world around you!) or they have a bad battery. I suspect the people who complain are the vocal minority who have the bad batteries and should go get replacements. 7 to 8 hours of usage is good for a 4.6″ smartphone, and the competition of equal size doesn’t do much if any better. The limitation is in battery technology unfortunately. I hope Apple does not make the iPhone thicker, but I also hope they don’t make it any thinner at this point.

    • chimpitout - 9 years ago

      I agree, but I think the root cause of short battery life is being on Facebook way to effin’ much and because people don’t reset their settings when they notice the problem. I’ve done it a couple of times in the past and my phone was back to where it should be.

      People should be charging their phones every night anyway. You never know – a e-mail fetch process might get blocked, drain the last 40 percent of your battery overnight and you may not have an alarm to wake you up! What is more, you’ll always have a good idea of how long your battery will last and be able to see its wear over time.

      • o0smoothies0o - 9 years ago

        Totally agree and I wish Facebook drained more battery because people that use that garbage deserve it.

    • The 6 Plus lasts twice as long and isn’t even an issue.

      Not even remotely true. Mine barely lasts a day. I SERIOUSLY doubt you get two solid days of standby time with 7 to 8 hours of use each of those days. In fact I don’t believe you at all. With my useage pattern which is probably not as much each day as yours I have about 5-10% battery left when I plug it in at night. No iPhone has been that good, certainly not the 6+. And I love that someone that doesn’t agree has a bad battery. The iPhone has always had an issue with battery life since the first one and there’s no excuse for having a $600-900 device to have a “bad battery” less than 6 months after it was released. Those “bad batteries” don’t exist in the numbers you want them to. The fact is that the iPhone shouldn’t be thinner every year because battery life suffers. End of story. They need to stop this idiotic race to be as thin as engineering allows because it’s a tangible compromise and it’s unnecessary.

      • Gregory Hilts - 9 years ago

        I feel like I should speak up on this, based on my smartphone experience which I will detail below…

        First, I have been an Android supporter for YEARS, having owned, among others, two different Galaxy Note phones, the original Moto X and second version as well, the LG G3, and MANY other Android cutting edge smartphones for their time. In between, I also owned a iPhone 4s, 5s, and now own a 6 Plus.

        I have been in search of a phone that would operate flawlessly (or as close as possible) while also offering good screen real estate, good-to-excellent battery life and decent looks. The last factor being the least important…

        I own a 6 plus because NOTHING ELSE COMES CLOSE. Whoever says iPhone battery life is terrible needs to get their device looked at, or track their daily usage and battery usage, which, by the way, iOS 8 now tracks wonderfully. You can find out EXACTLY what is using your battery life on a 24 hour and last 7 days basis. This phone’s battery life is the REAL DEAL. This is the first phone that has hit all the marks I am looking for. It’s the best phone on the market, hands down, and while that is difficult to say coming from an Android background, it is the TRUTH. Its screen is excellent, battery life is amazing (I am this phone all day for work and come home regularly with 30-40% battery life left, which is better than the Note 2 used to do, the second best battery life phone I’ve owned) and since I have used larger phones ever since the Note 2, the size of the phone doesn’t bother me. But honestly, this device is superior to everything else I have ever used. I wanted a phone that just worked, and lasted all day, and looked good – this phone is it! If you want to find something to complain about, you will…with anything. There’s a reason this phone (and the 6 as well) are blowing away sales records…I welcome any criticism, and I will give my experience. You can either complain and try a bunch of other phones, or just look at my user experience and get this phone!

      • mgroot - 9 years ago

        My 6+ currently stands on 26% battery, with 14 hours and 10 minutes of use and shows a standby time of 2 days and 10 hours. So you may think that people don’t agree and say you’ve got a battery.. But looking from my own experiences with the 6+, I too would suggest there might be something wrong with your battery

      • jrox16 - 9 years ago

        iPhone 6/6 Plus battery life is great and right in line with most of the competition. There are people who will always complain no matter what you give them.

        Just go to Anandtech.com and check out the battery life benchmark section of the Note 4 review. Case closed.

  7. Alistair Halls - 9 years ago

    Trouble is, if they make it thicker, there is no doubt people will be happy, though when it comes to holding the phone, it probably won’t feel as modern. The iPad 3 feels crap compared to the iPad 2. Conversely, the iPad Air 2 feels weirdly more modern and sleeker than the original.

  8. gkbrown - 9 years ago

    I haven’t had any battery issues with my iPhone 6. A single charge lasts me 2 to 3 days, sometimes more.

  9. Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

    Currently there are 60 (Sixty) Smartphones with better battery life than the newest iPhone6+ let alone the 5, etc

    *Source: Phonearena Benchmarks List.

    Just saying …..

  10. So to be clear, that’s 60% of the readers of this technical blog, which I’d guess is a pretty nerdy group. I’m perfectly happy with the thickness and the battery life of the 6. IF anything, I’d want a smaller phone in general. The 5 was a far more pocketable size.

  11. rahhbriley - 9 years ago

    This is so stupid guys.

    That poll you had was horribly framed with poor choices.

    I genuinely think less of this site based on this and similar issues you’ve been focusing on in the last year or so.

    • chimpitout - 9 years ago

      I second that. There’s way too much lame speculation that appeals to the fan boys who’ll only be disappointed at the next reveal.

  12. rahhbriley - 9 years ago

    How about the option of…Apple keeps improving battery life, but with an exponential break through so I can have a thinner phone that last a lot longer on a single charge?

    Why, in all of your ridiculous options, is that not an option? This is actually more likely than Apple adding thickness to the phone. 9to5…you’ve been losing your edge for awhile now.

  13. This is article describes what everything is wrong with this country. my 6 plus gets plenty of battery life on heavy use. everyone needs to stop playing some many damm games. put down the phone for 5 minutes and have a normal conversation with the outside world .

  14. Greg (@gary32283) - 9 years ago

    Better battery or thin phone that bends? Not sure why they need to go thinner and thinner.

  15. davesmall1 - 9 years ago

    I like my iPhone 6 Plus and haven’t had a problem with battery life. I do keep a charging cable by my bedside, another in my office, and a third in my car. I’m in the habit of plugging it in frequently without really thinking about it. As a result, my phone almost always carries a good charge.

  16. wallofloyd - 9 years ago

    This is a bullshit poll. How about an option saying, “the battery is much better”?

    The battery lasts at least a day and sometimes more. I have no issues with it. I don’t want it thickened at all. You people are idiots.

    • rahhbriley - 9 years ago

      Agreed.

      It isn’t just this, and I’m not saying the community is allowed to complain about things, but 9to5 really seems to have been on a complaining kick for the last 6 months or so. And it seems they’re complaining for the sake of complaining, and with illogical suggestions to fix it.

      Take this issue in-particular. They, of all people, know Apple will not make a thicker iPhone. Sure better battery life would be great, we all want it. That will never stop being true. But it will come from improved battery tech and other efficiencies. Not making the phone thicker. Plain and simple. Case closed, no story, move on. But that doesn’t get the clicks, amirite?

    • You people are idiots.

      Yeah, not really. You should take a look in the mirror to see who the idiot is.

      • gpdiller - 9 years ago

        You must be a really great person in real life with your irrational judgements and insults generalizing people you don’t agree with.

  17. Isitjustme - 9 years ago

    I wish Apple will make a battery that doesn’t need to be recharged…./s

  18. My iPhone 6, with low-to-moderate usage hardly makes it through a second afternoon without recharging. While this is definitely an improvement over the 5S, I would definitely not mind if it were 1-2mm thicker and that took the battery life to over 3 days. Not at all.

    My work phone is an LG G2 mini, which I bought particularly for its long-lasting battery and I’m absolutely happy with it (it easily lasts me 3 days on a charge).

    I noticed on my LG that if I disable cellular data (since generally there’s wifi wherever I am and there’s a very handy toggle on swipe-down for that), this takes the battery life to well over 5 days. It would be nice if Apple could take this into account.

  19. Meshfreak (@meshfreak) - 9 years ago

    Forget that! I want an iPhone half the thickness that it is now. I hope apple doesn’t listen to this poll.

  20. jdacal - 9 years ago

    I’d rather just add the Mophie and keep the phone thin for use without the case in certain occasions.

  21. ashutoshkg - 9 years ago

    I used to to work in sales for a cellphone company, and let me tell you, nobody cares about the Sony Xperia with its insane battery life.

    Android is a superior phone, but Apple goes for the regular people and it does what it can do really well.
    I don’t think they care that much about specific needs for nerds.
    I on the other hand, love my 5s because of my apple ecosystem at home (apple tv. iMac and retina macbook pro). Since I could never do without my apple computers, might as well stick with their phones.

    I realize a long time ago that the extra stuff I can do on Android, well, I don’t even need those, I just want a phone that works really well. Iphone 5s has been so good to me.

  22. Jurgis Ŝalna - 9 years ago

    How about a power-save button in the control center – kills GPS, 3G/4G, cellular data, bluetooth, wifi, etc.