Do bloggers take things too literally?  That’s one of the questions being asked today, as various news sources shuffle their feet nervously and say “um” a lot when faced with how they’ve reported the iPhone’s battery life.  The key is how the iPhone’s battery life was initially reported – as being good for 300 – 400 charge cycles after which it would need replacing – and how something that’s standard knowledge (that LiIon batteries gradually lose their ability to hold a charge after repeated use) morphed into a flogging post for Apple’s cellphone.

Let’s be super-clear about it: just like any battery powered device, as your iPhone gets older and is used the potential battery life will decrease.  Apple are telling us [via Gizmodo] that that:

“A properly maintained iPhone battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.  You may choose to replace your battery when it no longer holds sufficient charge to meet your needs”

That means that, assuming you take fair care of your handset, even after 400 charge cycles you’ll still get nearly 6.5hrs of talk-time (based on Apple’s 8hr prediction when new) or by 19hrs of audio playback.  Turning WiFi and Bluetooth off, as well as being cautious with screen brightness, will all have a positive affect on how much life you can eke out.

Here at MYiTablet we’d like to apologise for any hype-related confusion we might have caused in our reporting of the battery situation.  We believe that not only is it urgent to cover Apple news as it happens, but to go back and clarify, unmistaken and manufacture good any story we put out there, so that you can rely on us for the best of iPhone subject matter. 

Share This

Original post by Chris Davies