Apple is emphasizing iPhone 13 battery life improvements to keep sales momentum high

September 16, 2021: -On Tuesday, Apple announced new iPhone models in an annual tradition for the company ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The new models, known as iPhone 13, are not significant advances over last year’s models.

In the previous year’s models gained 5G connections and a new, flatter design. This year’s four new models show similarities, come in the exact screen sizes, have faster processors, and have included new photography features targeted at skilled users.

But Apple did present one improvement that anyone who picks up the new models will appreciate: longer battery life.

The emphasis on increased battery life through Apple’s launch event highlights the challenges faced by the company; it’s is expected to release a materially better device each year to drive growing sales in a maturing market, where significant breakthroughs are becoming less frequent.

Improvements to the screen image, processor speed, or camera quality may appeal to some, especially photography professionals, but every year’s changes require a discerning eye to notice them.

Apple said that all four new models would get at least 90 more minutes of battery life under regular use. Apple said that the most extensive and most expensive model, the $1,099 iPhone 13 Pro Max, and the best-selling mainline iPhone would get 150 more minutes of battery life than last year’s models.

For example, the iPhone 12 is getting 17 hours of video playback, according to Apple’s website. The iPhone 13 managing 19 hours, which works out to nearly 12% more battery life.

Battery life also remains one of the most important features to consumers, according to many polls. In a 2019 poll by SurveyMonkey, 76% of iPhone owners said that longer battery life would be a feature that would get them excited about a phone upgrade.

On Tuesday, another feature that rates highly on polls is storage space. Apple doubled the default storage area on the iPhone 13 to 128GB without introducing its price.

Apple is emphasizing these improvements as Wall Street wonders if the company can keep its iPhone momentum up. iPhones accounted for about half of Apple’s sales in 2020 despite efforts to diversify into headphones, accessories, and online services.

Apple is also facing challenging comparisons to last year’s high sales. In the quarter that ended in June, Apple sold almost $40 billion in iPhones. That’s up over 49% from the same period in 2020.

When Apple releases iPhones that look, they often see a bump in sales, which analysts call the company’s “supercycle.” Analysts are already wondering if the iPhone 13 will sell compared to the previous year’s model. However, the iPhone 12 went on sale in October and November, later than this year’s September release date.