Apple's 2018 OLED iPhone Models Expected To Have More Powerful L-Shaped Batteries

Apple is rumored to release three iPhones next year and all three will have the same design as the iPhone X. Now an analyst is claiming that the upcoming 2018 iPhones could feature better battery life because of the refinements that Apple will introduce to the current battery technology.

The current iPhone X features an L-shaped battery structure (two-cell design). KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that Apple will improve this battery technology next year to increase the size of the batteries inside the 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch OLED iPhones in 2018, according to 9To5Mac.

Kuo says that the 5.8-inch iPhone could have a battery capacity of somewhere between 2,900mAh and 3,000mAh. In contrast, the current iPhone X comes with a 2,716mAh battery. If Kuo’s prediction turns out to be true, the 5.8-inch 2018 iPhone could see a 10 percent increase in battery capacity.

The L-shaped battery structure allowed Apple to bring a battery capacity to the iPhone X that’s slightly larger than what’s found inside the iPhone 8 Plus. This is an impressive feat considering that the iPhone X is smaller than the 8 Plus. With Apple refining it’s design for next year, it looks like customers could get better battery life.

Kuo is the same analyst that said that Apple will release three models of the iPhone in 2018. He previously said that two models will have OLED displays, the 5.8- and 6.5-inch variants, while the third model will have a 6.1-inch TFT-LCD display. The 6.1-inch model can be considered as the “iPhone X Plus,” while the 5.8-inch model can be considered as the direct successor to the current iPhone X. All three models will have the same “bezel-less” design of the iPhone X and all will include the display notch.

Kuo also said in his note to investors that the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will still use the same same rectangular battery design that’s found inside the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. The analyst claims that this might be Apple’s way of reducing the cost of the handset. Although the 6.1-inch 2018 iPhone will use the rectangular battery structure, Kuo says that it could still have a larger battery life than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, accoridng to MacRumors.

It seems as though Apple is trying to make the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone model the more affordable option in 2018. It was also previously reported that this model would have a metal back instead of glass. This type of design will be similar to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Since the 6.1-inch model will have a metal back, it’s very likely that it won’t support Qi wireless charging.

Apple’s iPhone X has only been out for over a month and rumors about the 2018 iPhones have been popping up left and right. One of the most popular rumors right now is that all of Apple’s 2018 iPhone models will have Face ID facial recognition technology, which was first introduced with the iPhone X.