Slimmer components could make iPhone batteries bigger from 2023

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iPhone SE with taptic engine removed
iPhone SE with taptic engine removed (Image credit: iFixit)

What you need to know

  • Apple's suppliers are working on making key iPhone components slimmer.
  • The move could make space for larger batteries.

Apple's component suppliers are working to make some of the key iPhone parts slimmer from 2023, allowing for larger batteries to be included without also having to make the devices themselves any thicker.

As Patently Apple reports based on DigiTimes information, Apple's suppliers are already working to make components slimmer — and not just for use in iPhones, either. iPads and MacBooks could also benefit from the move, too.

It's being reported today by DigiTimes (paywall report) that Apple is expected to significantly increase the adoption of IPD (Integrated Passive Device) in new iPhones and other iOS products, providing manufacturing partners TSMC and Amkor with strong business opportunities.The report further added that peripheral chips for iPhones, iPad and MacBook series are going slimmer with higher performance to allow more space for larger-capacity battery solutions for the devices, with the demand for IPDs to grow sharply in line with the trend, the sources said.

The report goes on to say that it's thought that the move to slimmer components could happen alongside the switch to TSMC's 3nm manufacturing process — something that was recently rumored to be read for the 2023 iPhones. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 will miss out, but we could see big changes by the time iPhone 15 rolls around.

The prospect of putting more battery capacity into an iPhone has always meant making them thicker at the same time. By making the other components slimmer, Apple could avoid that problem in the future. Many people believe the iPhone 12 Pro Max to be the best iPhone thanks to its larger battery and people do buy devices based on that metric.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.