The famed KGI Securities analyst and Apple watcher Ming-Chi Kuo recently sent a note to investors (which we first saw via AppleInsider) in which he says he thinks next year's OLED iPhones will use newly optimized, L-shaped batteries.
Batteries are among the most difficult components to manufacture because of their chemical structure, which often means most firms stick to a traditional rectangular shape.
But as devices get thinner and pack increasingly complex internals, companies are looking at ways to optimize inside space by tweaking the shape of batteries.
Apple has already experimented with the L-shape (it features inside the iPhone X); with this manufacturing process, two separate lithium cells are juxtaposed to form a shape that resembles the letter "L."
Kuo also recently suggested that Apple planned to debut three new iPhones next year: a successor to the iPhone X, still at 5.8 inches, and a bigger, Plus-size version measuring 6.5 inches. Both will reportedly come with organic light-emitting diode displays and use an optimized version of the L-shaped batteries' technology.
There will also reportedly be a third, "budget" option: It will sport an all-screen design, like the iPhone X, and will even have a TrueDepth camera-wielding notch; however, to cut costs, Apple will stick to a liquid-crystal display and also a traditional rectangular battery.
In his note, Kuo gave an estimate of what he expects the new batteries to be like after Apple optimizes the manufacturing process with its partners Unitech, Compeq, and Unimicron.
The 5.8-inch version will reportedly move from this year's 2,716 mAh cell inside the iPhone X to a bigger unit between 2,900 and 3,000 mAh, while the wider sibling could sport a much larger cell, ranging between 3,300 and 3,400 mAh.
The LCD, 6.1-inch option will instead carry a battery that's believed to be 2,850 to 2,950 mAh; that would make it about the size of the second-gen 5.8-inch iPhone X, despite having a larger overall footprint.
On the other hand, the similar-size 6.5-inch iPhone X may have a battery that's 350 to 450 mAh larger than the LCD iPhone's, which could make overall battery life a significant point of advantage over the cheaper option.
