Apple Boosts iPhone 5s Battery Capacity by 10%, iPhone 5c by 5% Over iPhone 5 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Boosts iPhone 5s Battery Capacity by 10%, iPhone 5c by 5% Over iPhone 5

At its media event earlier this week, Apple noted that it had increased the battery capacity of the iPhone 5c relative to the iPhone 5, and the company's tech specs show that users can expect longer for battery life on both the iPhone 5s and 5c for certain tasks.

In particular, both new iPhones offer up to 10 hours of talk time on 3G and the same 10 hours of LTE Internet use, up from 8 hours for both tasks on the iPhone 5. Standby time on the two new models has also increased to up to 250 hours compared to 225 hours on the iPhone 5.

iphone_5_5s_5c_batteries
Apple has not, however, revealed the exact battery capacity for the new iPhones, but AnandTech dug into the FCC documents and discovered that the iPhone 5c carries 5% higher battery capacity than the iPhone 5, while the iPhone 5s carries a 10% larger battery.

While I'm somewhat skeptical sometimes of the accuracy of battery capacities as reported in FCC disclosures (which I noted about the battery size for the Nexus 5), these numbers seem credible given what I've heard, the statement Apple made during the keynote about the 5C battery size going up, and what I'd expect with some board re-layout for the 5S.

The iPhone 5s number reported in the FCC documents is close but not identical to what was seen on a leaked December 2012 prototype. The battery in that device was listed as 5.92 Whr, while the FCC documents report a capacity of 5.96 Whr.

iphone_5c_battery

iPhone 5c battery

The documents report a capacity of 5.73 Whr for the iPhone 5c battery, which matches that seen in photos of the part posted by C Technology today.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 5c begin at 12:01 AM Pacific Time tomorrow morning, with availability of both the iPhone 5s and 5c set for Friday, September 20. Apple is not offering pre-orders for the iPhone 5s.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Mac Pro Feature Teal

Apple Confirms Mac Pro Is Dead, No Future Models Planned

Thursday March 26, 2026 2:04 pm PDT by
Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and has removed the machine from its website, reports 9to5Mac. Apple said it does not plan to design a new version of the Mac Pro, and no new model will be coming in the future. The Mac Pro was last updated in 2023, which was when Apple added an M2 Ultra Apple silicon chip, but the chassis has not been refreshed since 2019. Apple redesigned the Mac Pro to...

Top Rated Comments

164 months ago
From 8 hours of LTE web browsing to 10 hours without increasing the size of the phone is pretty darn impressive.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacSince1990 Avatar
164 months ago
As Apple's stock drops 5%. What a coincidence.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
164 months ago
No. Actually Apple is accurate/slightly conservative with its battery estimates. My iPhone 5 lasts for about 9 1/2 hours under heavy usage on LTE, while my 2013 MacBook Air usually lasts 13 hours.

I do not believe that.... If Apple says: It lasts 9 hours, the truth is it lasts 5 to 6 hours

Same with Laptops
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
164 months ago
No. Actually Apple is accurate/slightly conservative with its battery estimates. My iPhone 5 lasts for about 9 1/2 hours under heavy usage on LTE, while my 2013 MacBook Air usually lasts 13 hours.

I don't buy that, everyone I know with an iPhone 5, myself included, has lousy battery life. Before iOS 7 I got 5 hours of usage, after iOS 7 I get about 3-4 hours. Not only that, the battery bleeds out even when its asleep. This is true of everyone I know who has an iPhone 5.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boshii Avatar
164 months ago
I was really hoping they would say "all day" battery life.

Guess that's coming in iPhone 6. :rolleyes:
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
164 months ago
I have to charge my iPhone 5 twice a day. 10% improve is not much, but anything helps.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)