It's that time of the year again when Apple is the most-talked-about brand as it will follow through on the annual upgrade of its iPhone lineup. This year's iPhone is going to be an important one for the Cupertino tech titan.
The year 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of the first iPhone and Apple is expected to launch a special iPhone model (iPhone 8) alongside the standard iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus. But there's a lot of conflict in the reports, which can only be settled by Apple in September.
While everyone's focused on how great the iPhone 8 will be, Apple might have something better in store for 2018 – the year when iPhone 9 is rumoured to be announced. This isn't the first time we've heard about the iPhone 9 even though the launch of iPhone 8 is months away. But the latest report is pretty important since it can have a significant impact on the decision making of whether or not to buy the new iPhone this year.
According to a report by Korea Economic Daily, which cited anonymous sources, Apple has chosen LG Chem as an exclusive partner for supplying batteries for the iPhone 9 in 2018. This reveals two important things about Apple's plans for next year.
Firstly, LG will be the first exclusive partner for Apple marking a departure from the company's multi-vendor strategy. To accommodate such a demand, LG has reportedly invested "hundreds of billions" of won in battery manufacturing facilities that will begin mass production early next year, Korea Economic Daily report added. Currently, Apple relies on Samsung SDI, China ATL, Murata Manufacturing Co., to source batteries.
Secondly, the technology used by LG for the iPhone 9 battery will improve the phone's battery life, which has been a worrisome factor for its users for years. According to the report, LG will develop an L-shaped battery, which will be bent on one end to accommodate extra mAh as opposed to the standard rectangular Li-ion batteries.
Along with a new battery design, Apple iPhones will finally get fast charging support to match the competition.
The upcoming iPhone 8 is expected to feature OLED displays, which will drain battery more than before, but it remains unclear if Apple will incorporate the L-shaped battery this year. Recent rumours suggested the iPhone 9 could come in 5.28-inch and 6.46-inch screen sizes, bigger than the current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones.
It is natural that the iPhone 9 will be a lot better than iPhone 8, but if the upgrades are significant in the latter it makes more sense to wait than rush into buying the iPhone 8 this year. It also depends on how great the iPhone 8 will be.
Stay tuned for more.
