14 DAY TRIAL // Analyst for KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo has recently issued a note to its clients predicting that the iPhone 8 might come with the same battery capacity as the 5.5-inch LCD-based iPhone Plus model, but in a smaller body, according to a new report by MacRumors.
According to this note, it seems that the iPhone 8 might come with roughly the same battery capacity as the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, but in a smaller form factor of just 4.7 inches. The iPhone 6s Plus has a 5.5-inch display and a 2,750mAh battery, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus draws power from a 2,900mAh battery.
Kuo’s report says “As battery material tech isn’t likely to see major breakthroughs in the next 3-5 years, mainboard area can only be reduced via stacked SLP, which makes space for larger battery and extended usage time.
“Thanks to stacked SLP, we expect the OLED iPhone to have similar dimensions to a 4.7-inch LCD iPhone, and have comparable battery capacity (equipped with around 2,700 mAh L-shaped 2-cell battery pack) to a 5.5-inch LCD iPhone.”
iPhone 8 to come with edge-to-edge OLED display
The report also mentions that Apple will use a pricier stacked logic board design, known as a substrate-like PCB (SLP) mainboard. This would create additional space inside the device, so a larger battery could be incorporated.
The extra space would allow Apple to add a Plus-sized battery inside the iPhone 8 with an edge-to-edge OLED display and dimensions similar to a 4.7-inch iPhone. The advantage of OLED displays is that they consume less power compared to LCD screens.
The stacked mainboard design could actually result in up to 80% higher manufacturing costs, which supports the recent rumor that revealed a price tag higher than $1,000 for the iPhone 8. Another interesting piece of information is that the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus with LCD displays won’t benefit from the same stacked mainboard design, which means that their battery life could be comparable to that of current iPhone 7 phones.