So far, the consensus is that while we will see a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in September, we will have to wait until the holidays, or even later, to see the rumored 5.5-inch model. The culprit, claim reports, are those ever pesky “yields,” but what does that mean? Why is a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 so much harder to make than a 4.7-inch one?
A new report out of Taiwan sheds some light on the matter. The issue apparently is that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 is meant to be super thin… even thinner than the 4.7-inch. And that requires perfecting a very special kind of battery.
According to Taiwan’s Commercial Times, Apple has asked for its partners to create a 2mm thin battery for the iPhone 6, to make the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, despite its size.
The problem, though, is that a 2mm battery is hard to make. Normal batteries are 3mm, so Apple is effectively asking battery makers to shrink their technology by 33%. This demand might mean that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 won’t go on sale until 2015.
Another interesting aspect of this report is that Apple’s suppliers are saying the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 will be called the iPhone Air. Nothing’s set in stone, but it makes sense that a bigger, thinner iPhone would go down the same branding path as the iPad.
Source: Gforgames
Thanks: Vlad A.