We all want more battery life. I’d like an iPhone that would last a full day without needing a fillip. I wish my Nissan Leaf did more than 85 miles on a charge. I even get irritated when the batteries run out in my mouse or keyboard. What can my batteries not last for ever?
In another of those rather fatuous studies, price-comparision website uswitch.com proves that phone owners want nothing more than longer battery life. It’s a big thumbs down for Touch ID, big screens, fancy apps, sheer productivity. No, battery life is all that matters.
Of course we all want longer battery life and companies like Apple do their best to balance performance, size and speed with an acceptable battery life. Those who complain that their 2006 Nokia used to run for a week on one charge are not comparing like with like. Modern devices such as the iPhone have almost nothing in common with the old Nokia. They make calls and send texts of sure But just remember what else they do and how many times a day we check for updates, social media messages, emails and a thousand other useful facilities. We live on our phones these days.
Then there is the question of size. We could have an iPhone the size of a house brick and, sure enough, it would last a week on one charge. But the public wants it all ways. It wants the slimmest of phones, the biggest of screens, the speediest of processors as well as never-ending battery life. It just isn’t possible.
Battery life is a compromise and, until we get that big breakthrough in storage technology, we will not see dramatic improvements in the time between charges. We’d better get used to it.