Open thread: Would you trade iPhone thinness for crazy battery life?

Apple is fairly obsessed with thinness.

iPhone models’ depth (thickness) and weight:
• Original iPhone:s 11.6 mm (0.46 in), 135 g (4.8 oz)
• iPhone 3G: 12.3 mm (0.48 in), 133 g (4.7 oz)
• iPhone 4: 9.3 mm (0.37 in), 137 g (4.8 oz)
• iPhone 5: 7.6 mm (0.30 in), 112 g (3.95 oz)
• iPhone 6 Plus: 7.67 mm (0.302 in), 172 g (6.1 oz)
• iPhone 6: 6.9 mm (0.27 in), 129 g (4.6 oz)

We just pulled an original iPhone out of a drawer. It’s not insanely thick feeling. It feels as nice in the hand as it always did – and the weight’s just fine, too.

We have a simple question: Would you opt for a thicker (and heavier, of course) iPhone if it gave you significantly (double or more) battery life?

72 Comments

  1. The iPhone 6 battery life is much better, I typically have 50-60% left by the time I get home after work, but if I’m going out of an evening I’d be wary of running out without having topped up. I don’t know about doubling the thickness, but I’d certainly forego say 1mm for 30% extra life or something.

  2. I still love my Bauhaus iPhone 4 (4S) the most! The size and the shape were the best of all iPhones. I have not upgraded and still use my black 4S with stainless steel frame! and plan to keep using it until it falls apart.

  3. I do enjoy the additional battery life on the 6. With that said, I would happily take more battery life if the 6 had the same thickness of the 6 Plus. With that said, I do find the 6 to be just on the cusp of manageability for one-handed use. If the extra thickness would ruin that, I’ll pass. I skipped the 6 Plus because it’s just too stupid to handle with one hand.

  4. I was fine with the form factor of the original iPhone. With today’s batteries and lower-power processors, that would probably give us four or five days of battery life.

    -jcr

  5. Absolutely! Just got the 6, so not sure how “great” its battery life really is yet, but that extra weight and thickness would not sway me from selecting iPhone. I travel a lot, and spend way too much time looking for power outlets. The “thinness” eww ahhh, is a nice marketing gimmick, but it’s at the expense of longevity. Adding a third party battery (did it on my 3GS) adds even more thickness and weight than would be necessary if Apple just added battery capacity from the start.

  6. Thicker phones will provide the additional power that maintaining the link to the watch will require. If the watch is going to hand off the computational work and the transmission in the background of health data then a move to a thicker battery for 6S seems logical.

  7. I definitely would give up thinness for better battery life. Having a somewhat thicker iPhone with better battery life definitely would be preferred over the battery case options which increase the length noticeably.

  8. My 5 doesn’t fell that thick. I’d prefer another 5 hours of use. I’ve held off on my trade in to the 6 because even the small 6 is larger. I don’t mind slightly thicker, I don’t like the height and width being bigger. The 5 fits nice in small pockets.

  9. Apple is fairly obsessed with thinness.

    Apple was fairly obsessed with a physical circular home button.

    Trust their vision – the thinness still mets the 10 hrs battery life and the device is half the weight — then just all is fine with me.

    And thinness has a limit, I wouldn’t wish to carry around a paper thin or credit card plastic thickness iPhone. Would you?

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