Apple has come up with a way to increase the battery capacity of its devices without needing to adopt brand new battery technology. Instead, it just needs to encase its existing batteries in a metal housing.
Laptop batteries used to be confined to a solid block found at the back of the device below the display. More recently, the switch was made to lithium-polymer batteries housed in aluminized laminated pouches. They are preferable as they can be manufactured in custom sizes to fit in all available spaces. They present their own problems, though.
Photo: USPTO/Apple
As 9To5Mac reports, Apple has applied for a patent entitled “Metal Can Battery” which solves one of the biggest problems with laminated pouch batteries. As the patent application explains:
“The sealed edges of the pouch battery can result in excess pouch material and the pouch can have a positive voltage that requires the exterior surface of the pouch to be isolated from conductive surfaces in the electronic device. To accommodate the excess pouch material and isolate the conductive surface of the pouch battery, the pouch battery needs to be smaller than the area provided in the electronic device, resulting in wasted space.”
So while the pouch design allows Apple to fit a lot more battery capacity inside the confines of a MacBook, there’s still wasted space. The solution, as the patent details, is to replace the soft pouch material with a rigid metal case. That way the internal battery can be larger to fill the space previously used by the excess material. As a bonus, the metal housing can also double as a structural element in the device, giving it more strength.
The one downside of switching to a metal casing which may concern Apple is additional weight. However, if we had to choose between extended battery life or a slightly lighter device, I’m sure most people would choose a bigger battery. Will Apple?
