IPhone 6S Vs. iPhone 6: Apple Inc.'s New Smartphone Has A Smaller Battery

Apple Inc.'s tagline for the iPhone 6S is: “The only thing that’s changed is everything.” And with a new processor, screen technology, cameras and color option, this is certainly true, but for at least one new feature, it doesn't mean a change for the better.

During its epic two-hour-and-20-minute presentation at the Bill Graham Auditorium Wednesday, Apple had time to introduce its new iPad Pro and all its accessories, mention the new iPad mini 4, introduce the much-refreshed Apple TV, introduce a range of new Apple Watch models and straps as well as unveil the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. What it didn't have time to mention, however, was the battery life of its new smartphones, and the reason may have been the fact that the battery on the new iPhone 6S is actually smaller than last year's model.

The detail was eventually revealed in a video (below) showcasing the smartphones's new 3D Touch features, showing a battery which has a 1715mAh capacity compared to the 1810mAh battery on the iPhone 6. Apple's official iPhone 6S website makes no mention of battery -- even on the tech specs page for the iPhone 6S you don't get the information. Apple is clearly wary about people hearing that its new smartphone has a smaller battery, because the automatic reaction will be that battery life will also be smaller.

Why It May Not Matter

Whether that is the case or not remains to be seen, but there are a couple of reasons why it won't be. If you look at the claimed battery life of the iPhone 6S, Apple gives identical talk time and standby time as the iPhone 6 and while many companies inflate these claims, Apple typically doesn't.

The iPhone 6S will also benefit from the new A9 chip, which now has the M9 motion co-processor (used for things like activity tracking) integrated directly onto it for more efficiency. The iPhone 6S will also come with iOS 9 which has been significantly tweaked to improve battery life and has a low power mode which kicks in at 20 percent battery life letting you kill power-hungry background processes automatically.

There will be many who will have a knee-jerk to hearing that the iPhone 6S has a smaller battery, but until we get the first reviews and people find out for themselves what the battery life is like, we won't know if it really makes a difference compared to the iPhone 6.