How did they cram all that graham, er, battery life?

The iPhone-waiting populace sent up a ragged cheer when Apple last week revealed that the anticipated handset would feature longer battery life than had originally been announced. Eight hours of talk time is a figure that nearly doubles the nearest competition, and it seems like an astounding amount of juice in that small a device.

And so the questions began to rage: just how did Apple manage to eke all that time out of the battery? Battery-testing is somewhat of black art to begin with: results are idealized figures rather than real-world usage times. Until the iPhone is in the hands of the populace at large, we won’t know how the battery really performs. But until then, Slate’s Explainer column offers some good theories on how Jobs and co. stretched out the juice, laying it mainly at the door of better power management.

One other interesting tidbit plays into the mix, however: the new glass screen, announced at the same time as the extended battery life. According to Slate, glass transmits light more efficiently than plastic, meaning that it requires less power to keep the screen at the same brightness.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll most assuredly say it again: the success of the iPhone will come largely from its attention to detail.

Category: Hardware

Posted by Dan Moren on Jun 25 2007, 10:49 AM ET

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