Battery Life

Everyone wants longer battery life. They want it for their computer. They want it for their phone. They want it for their Apple Watch.

I get it.

I want longer battery life too. I want to be able to use my gadgets without worrying about charging them. There are a few major problems, though.

Battery life isn't free

One of the most common arguments goes something like this:

If Apple just made the iPhone a little bit thicker, the battery would be so much better! It would be a better device! The sun would shine year round and it would rain kittens!

Well, it goes something like that.

Here's the thing: battery life is never free, and I'm not talking about money. Besides the thickness that you say you don't mind¹, it adds weight. Weight is the enemy of mobile devices.² I want, we all want, lighter devices. Adding battery capacity without a significant technological advance adds weight. No one wants a heavier phone. The iPhone 6 Plus is already very heavy.

The Kindle Effect

There are effectively two useful battery categories:

All day
Kindle

All day battery is subjective, and certainly isn't a universal definition. But it means that for general use, the battery lasts a day. Then you charge it at night.

At the other end, you have Kindle battery life. Kindles³ have legendary battery life. You have to charge them every few weeks, maybe every month. Essentially, you don't have to think about it.

In the middle lies the mystic 3 or 4 day battery life that so many people seem to want. Here's the problem with that:

• Day 1. Use your phone. Don't charge it at night.
• Day 2: Use your phone. Don't charge it at night.
• Day 3: Use your phone. Forget to charge it at night.
• Day 4: Phone dies at 10 AM unexpectedly.

The battery lasts long enough that charging nightly is no longer a primary concern, but also long enough that it's easy to forget. It doesn't last Kindle long, where charging barely matters.

So, do you still want an extremely thick, extremely heavy phone that you will probably forget to charge? None for me, thanks.