The iPhone 6S could have a MAJOR battery life problem – is YOURS affected?
APPLE iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S owners are reporting dramatically different battery life with some models having TWO HOURS less battery life than others.
So the battery life on your new £539 iPhone might be the result of a lucky – or unlucky – dip.
Apple is using two different suppliers to build the speedy new A9 chip it designed for the new iPhone.
The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, which both launched last month, sport a tougher frame and glass, 3D Touch pressure sensitive technology and a 4K camera.
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Apple has sourced the A9 chips from two manufacturers in an attempt to reduce the iPhone shortages which usually hamper its September launches.
But the two chips – one built by Samsung and the other by TSMC – are not performing in the same way. And one of the chips has much WORSE battery life.
According to a slew of posts on Chinese forums and social news site Reddit, Apple smartphones running the TSMC chip can get up to two hours more battery life.
Meanwhile, the Samsung chip burns through battery almost 20 per cent faster.
The TSMC chip was also shown to run much cooler than its Samsung alternative in a number of online tests.
Apple claims the iPhone 6S has some 14 hours of talk time on 3G. Meanwhile, the iPhone 6S Plus has around 24 hours.
Some iPhone 6S owners have reported that the Samsung chips, while less battery efficient, boast faster performance.
If you want to find out which manufacturer's chip is powering your shiny new iPhone 6S, there is a free app which reveals all.
Lirum Device Info Lite is available from the App Store. Run the software then make a note of the model number on the main page.
If you have an iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus, model numbers N66AP and N71AP mean you are running a Samsung chip with supposed lower battery life.
Meanwhile, N66MAP or N71MAP denotes the TSMC – and a few more hours of juice.
It's worth pointing out that these app-based battery life tests do not always reflect real life day-to-day usage.
Although the below YouTube video does seem to confirm iPhone 6S owners worst fears ...
However Express.co.uk was impressed with the battery life in the new iPhone 6S during our review.
This is not the only time Apple has run into trouble while dual-sourcing components to meet the extraordinary demand for its products.
The first MacBook Pro with Retina Display used high resolutions screens from two manufacturers, LG and Samsung, when it launched back in 2012.
A number of users with LG displays reported issues with burn-in.
Faulty units were replaced without question in Apple Stores but despite calls for a recall of all the LG models, Apple did not publicly acknowledge a problem with the supplier's parts.
- Express.co.uk has contacted Apple for comment on this story.
