News

How Long Will The Battery Last?

by Chris Tognotti

Are you excited for the iPhone 6? I mean, I am, but I'm a slave to the Apple brand, so maybe not the best example. Anyway, millions of people are making plans to get their hands on the new units, and so there's a familiar question worth answering: How long does the iPhone 6 battery last? After all, nothing is more frustrating than an albatross-sized phone that sucks up your battery like soda through a straw, right? Right.

Luckily, thanks to what's been reported following the iPhone 6's big unveiling, as well as early reviews of the product (it hits shelves Friday, Sept. 19), we can get a decent answer.

It's important to bear in mind that how often you use your phone, and for what purpose, can play a dramatic role in its battery life. Basically, somebody who checks their phone constantly, has auto-refreshing updates, likes to keep their brightness turned up to 11, and is always scouring for cool new YouTube videos isn't going to get the same charge length as a less-strenuous user.

That said, when using the base model iPhone 6 for WiFi browsing or video playback, Apple says you'll have about 11 hours of battery life — a minimal upgrade over the ten-hour projection for the iPhone 5S, as it happens.

If battery life is really the foremost concern for you (and I sympathize if so — I work mine so hard I'm plugging in every six hours or so), it might be worth considering saving up for the top-dog of the new iPhone generation, the iPhone 6 Plus.

The Plus model boasts a stronger battery, in spite of the screen's much large size — it's estimated by Apple to get an extra three hours of video playback, an extra two hours of cellular data browsing, and a whopping 30 extra hours if you're just using it to play music — though obviously, each time your screen flashes on to change an album or what have you, you're now draining it faster.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Poor battery life has long been a point of criticism for Apple and the iPhone, and that doesn't look to cool down anytime soon — there's no telling how long the new iPhone batteries will last after you've all ben using it a few months, obviously, cluttering it up with all the crazy new apps you absolutely had to have. But at the bare minimum, the iPhone 6 Plus figures to be a better buy for the battery than the base model does, so you should think about giving it a try. That is, of course, unless you're a woman who likes your jeans close-cut.

Image: Getty Images