Shawn Lee with DisplaySearch weighs in on the iPhone 5 rumors

Aug 30, 2012 09:41 GMT  ·  By

Shawn Lee, senior analyst for DisplaySearch, believes the battery capacity of the iPhone 5 will see a 40% spike, compared to the Li-Ion packs powering this generation’s iPhones.

Lee specializes in panel maker capacity, TFT LCD components and product plans. His analysis is based off rumors that Apple is using in-cell technology for the display used in the next-generation iPhone.

“In the run-up to the iPhone 5 unveiling next month, there is a great deal of discussion about potential new features, including an A6 SoC with quad-core structure, higher clock speed CPU and GPU, larger display with in-cell touch, higher resolution camera, and advanced OS,” writes Lee.

According to several sources in the touch-panel industry, in-cell removes a separate touch-sensitive layer, allowing the touch sensors to be embedded into the actual LCD display.

By eliminating this unnecessary piece of glass, Apple is reportedly able to reduce the thickness of the display by about half a millimeter, or roughly 40% of the entire display assembly.

This will make more room for a bigger battery, says Lee. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean more autonomy. Apple needs this bigger battery to support other power-hungry components.

“The bottom line is that the battery will need to be bigger,” writes the analyst. “With phone thickness and volume at a premium, Apple and other smartphone makers need all other components to be thinner to make space for a larger battery.”

“This is where in-cell touch can bring additional benefits (first to the iPhone 5): enabling greater battery capacity,” says Lee. “We assume that in-cell touch could result in the display module being 0.5 mm thinner, which, combined with battery density of at least 600 Wh/l, would result in an increase in battery capacity of at least 40% in the iPhone 5.”

It has been reported that LG Display and Sharp are manufacturing the new in-cell screens for Apple. Samsung is also said to be a manufacturer of in-cell panels for the iPhone 5.