You might want to sit down for this seismic, mind-blowing news: The next iPhone could have a better battery than the current one.
That's according to prolific Apple prognosticator Ming-Chi Kuo, at least. Kuo wrote on his Medium page that Apple is considering bumping up the energy density in future iPhone batteries. Apple could potentially increase the amount of juice in a battery of the same size as the existing ones, or preserve the current battery life in a smaller unit to make space for other stuff inside the phone.
iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 16 Pro may get left out
Per Kuo, this will be featured on the iPhone 16 Pro Max only. The other three new iPhones will likely not include this change.
Another detail Kuo dropped is that Apple will apparently switch from aluminum battery cases to stainless-steel ones. According to Kuo, doing so would trade a little bit of heat dissipation for stronger resistance to corrosion, thereby (at least theoretically) giving the battery a longer lifetime. It could also help make the batteries easier to replace, thus complying with various international regulations requiring devices to be repairable.
None of this is going to be as exciting or eye-catching as the various software features Apple is sure to add to the next batch of iPhones, but making batteries stronger is always a good thing.