OnePlus’ gigantic rumored battery reveals what Apple and Samsung needs to be doing

I’ve at all times supported the thought of user-replaceable batteries in smartphones, however I do perceive why it makes some sense to make use of non-replaceable ones past simply the income concerned. A completely built-in one generally permits a telephone to be extra compact, or tackle new and weird kind elements. By extension, this will additionally improve energy effectivity, since different parts may be positioned and sized extra optimally.

A primary instance of this can be a mysterious, upcoming OnePlus gadget, rumored to have an enormous 7,800mAh battery (per Wccftech). That is even bigger than the 6,260mAh one within the

OnePlus 13T
, and it could completely smoke the 5,000 and 4,685mAH batteries within the

Galaxy S25 Ultra
and

iPhone 16 Pro Max
, respectively. The truth is, given stories about Apple and Samsung’s upcoming ultra-slim telephones, it feels like it’ll be as much as corporations like OnePlus to indicate the majors do batteries accurately.

What are Apple and Samsung doing mistaken, precisely?

Kind over operate

I’ve touched on this just lately, so I will not go into the total particulars, however the quick model is that Apple’s rumored

iPhone 17 Air
and Samsung’s teased

Galaxy S25 Edge
are every anticipated to sacrifice battery life to attain most thinness. Certainly, the declare from The Information is that inner Apple testing estimates solely 60 to 70% of individuals will be capable of get via a full day with out recharging — which is why the corporate can be rumored to be creating a brand new battery pack, regardless of having discontinued the MagSafe Battery Pack in 2023.

The kicker is that each Apple and Samsung are probably utilizing silicon-carbon battery expertise, a current improve of the lithium-ion batteries we see in all the pieces from smartphones to

electric cars
and PEVs (private electrical automobiles). The main profit is improved vitality density — so that you’d assume that at a minimal, telephone makers would maintain the road on battery life, merely shrinking their telephones a bit of.

As a substitute, Apple and Samsung appear to be prioritizing thinness in any respect prices, for causes that are not solely clear past aesthetics and bragging rights. It has been years since I’ve heard anybody complain about how thick a telephone is, if not a decade or extra. Complaints have trended in the other way, I would say — with out a case, some telephones may be so skinny and slippery that they are laborious to grip securely. Even my spouse’s OnePlus 9 5G has that concern. Just a few foldables, like Google’s

Pixel 9 Pro Fold
, are so skinny when open that they really feel like they could bend or snap.

My finest guess is that the businesses try to offset the elevated manufacturing prices of silicon-carbon, however I do not know that this excuse flies in mild of the OnePlus rumors. That 7,800mAh battery is explicitly claimed to be a silicon-carbon mannequin, making it laborious to grasp why the iPhone 17 Air could not match the 4,685mAh capability of the iPhone 16 Professional Max, by no means thoughts providing worse efficiency than the bottom iPhone 16. Even when the 7,800mAh rumor is fake, the OnePlus 13T’s 6,260mAh battery is a concrete actuality. That telephone launched in April 2025 — one thing coming in Could or later should be in the identical ballpark.

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Getting priorities straight

Or, listening to what prospects truly need

Isaac Mehegan / Unsplash

My largest concern is that Apple and Samsung appear to be actively ignoring the longest-running public gripe about smartphones: longevity. Whereas some pre-iPhone units may final a number of days on a cost, it is taken as a right now that you have to cost a telephone day by day. Typically, twice per day is the sensible actuality.

As an experiment, I just lately averted topping up my iPhone 16 Professional in any respect till bedtime. The consequence was that after roughly 16 hours, my telephone was all the way down to 17% — regardless of my most intense actions being podcasts, some app updates, a Reuters video briefing, and some rounds of Wordle and Phrases With Pals. Apple claims that the telephone needs to be able to 22 hours of continuous streaming video. That is pure fantasy, but supposedly two hours higher than the iPhone 15 Professional. I won’t be capable of deal with the iPhone 17 Air underneath every day circumstances, not to mention cross-country journeys.

Each smartphone maker ought to prioritize battery life. It has been a very long time since smartphones had been a luxurious for wealthy professionals — many people rely upon them for our jobs, social lives, and navigating round city. There are rural African farmers utilizing smartphones to enhance their crop yields. In excessive eventualities, folks rely on smartphones for survival, to the purpose that catastrophe reduction companies generally embrace telephone charging of their listing of priorities. Nobody needs to be panicking about their telephone operating low concurrently they’re attempting to flee a hurricane or earthquake.

I am glad, then, that not less than one firm is benefiting from silicon-carbon to do what needs to be an apparent factor. Generally revenue margins must take a backseat, if not for charitable causes, then simply to fulfill genuine buyer demand and hold folks loyal. Somebody whose telephone is at all times operating on fumes goes to be tempted by different manufacturers.

In that respect, I am interested by how Apple and Samsung’s ultra-slim telephones are going to promote. I doubt they will be outright failures, for the reason that corporations have a variety of promoting may, and so they’ve presumably accomplished some primary market analysis. However I additionally doubt that the merchandise will likely be runaway hits — charging a premium for sub-par battery life is a recipe for weak gross sales except you supply a dramatic profit in change. And as I’ve hopefully established, thinness can truly be a detriment today.

I believe the best-case situation is that Apple and Samsung are conscious of this, however hope that sufficient folks will purchase in to make silicon-carbon batteries cheaper to supply, and thereby de facto for improved capability within the

iPhone 18
and

Galaxy S26
. I’d get my want in spite of everything, if I am fortunate — simply not as well timed as I would like.

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