There was nothing from stacked batteries in the iPhone 15 that was hoped for in July this year.
This is probably many years away
Neither is Apple's battery revolution, i.e. with its own batteries with a chemical composition the industry has not seen before, something that will be launched immediately. We wrote the story on 6 November and then the source mentioned a launch as early as 2025, but according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, that is far too optimistic. The fact that Apple is certainly researching its own batteries makes sense, especially if they are going to launch their own car in a few years, but that is probably many more years away than two.
What Apple can do in collaboration with its partners, before they possibly manage to revolutionize batteries, is to improve individual components. Now the rumor is that Samsung is developing very special OLED panels for the iPhone 16 that use even less energy than the Pro models that can already go from 1 to 120Hz. Not only does it enable an advanced always-on panel, but the refresh rates are automatically set in relation to what is happening on the screen.
Maybe 3nm with the new panels is the magic needed for two days of iPhone battery life
Rumors of a new panel emerged from The Elec as early as April this year. Back then, they mentioned that the iPhone 15 uses M12 material for the iPhone 15, whatever that actually means. At the same time, they announced that the iPhone 16 series will get M14 panel technology, and it is not known what that actually means in terms of the technical aspects. The hope is, however, that these will be even more energy-saving.
There is not much, if anything, to be gained from the 3 nm A17 Pro chips in terms of battery life as we mentioned in our test of the top model iPhone 15 Pro Max. This is in contrast to the MacBook Pro 14 M3 with 3nm which keeps it going for over 20 hours – that is several hours longer than the MacBook Air 15 M2.
Bigger screens next year have previously been rumored
Samsung's original plan was to use these panels in OLED foldables in the Galaxy Z series, but they are apparently difficult enough to develop for flat panels. Therefore, the theory goes that they reserve them for Apple. After all, Samsung makes money anyway, and they will be able to charge better. Will Apple have to increase the price of the iPhone 16 models?
It is expected that the iPhone 16 Pro will have a larger screen of around 6.3″ (6.27″) and the iPhone 16 Pro Max a screen of a whopping 6.9″, around up from 6.85″ (which may also raise the price for the customers.) This is in contrast to the iPad Pro, which will be upgraded next year, albeit with OLED, but still with the same screen sizes as for several years. The advantage will probably be smaller trays with a new design that may weigh less and smaller frames around the screens.