The first teardowns of the iPhone XR reveal a surprising fact: it has a larger battery than virtually all previous iOS smartphones, even the iPhone XS.
Reviews of the iPhone XR indicate it lasts a long time between charges, though no one agrees on exactly how long. Apple promises that this device will go 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone 8 Plus.
IFIXIT disassembled an iPhone XR and found a 11.12Wh battery. Compare that to the 6.96Wh one in the iPhone 8, the 10.28Wh battery in the iPhone 8 Plus, and the 10.13Wh one in the iPhone XS.
Apple’s latest doesn’t beat the MS Max, though. That device boasts a 12.08Wh battery.
iPhone XR battery life and the Apple 12 Bionic chip
Time between recharges depends on more than just the size of the battery. How much drain there is on the stored power also plays a big part.
The A12 Bionic processor in all Apple’s 2018 models is is produced with a 7nm process, while older A-series chips used a 10nm process. Decreasing the distance between components results in less waste heat, saving power. It’s also brings better performance, which is why the iPhone XR smokes every Android phone.
Other iPhone XR teardown discoveries
Apple’s newest handset has an LCD instead of the OLED included in the iPhone XS series. As IFIXIT points out “The need for a backlight means an LCD display assembly will always necessitate a slightly larger form factor than an equivalent AMOLED assembly.”
The thicker display seems to be what pushes the iPhone XR’s Lightning port slightly to one side.
This handset has a modular SIM card reader, a new feature. This makes swapping out this component easier.
There don’t seem to be any parts made by Apple’s arch-rival Samsung, nor lawsuit-happy Qualcomm.
