iPhone 18 And Galaxy S26 Should See Serious Battery Gains In 2026

8 minutes ago

Forbes Contributor Janhoi McGregor breaks down the silicon carbon battery landscape and how Samsung and Apple could incorporate the new technology into their 2026 smartphones.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment about its future battery plans by the time of publishing.

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Transcript

00:00So, despite all the hype, it looks like Apple and Samsung flagships won't be powered by silicon

00:05carbon battery technology in 2025. Apple decided to stick with the good old graphite-based lithium

00:11ion for the iPhone Air. And honestly, it makes sense. As exciting as silicon carbon sounds,

00:17it does come with a few safety trade-offs. But if this new technology does arrive in time for the

00:222026 iPhone, the battery life gains could be massive for the iPhone 18 and Galaxy S26.

00:29Let's break it down. Now, Apple did pull off something impressive with the iPhone Air's

00:33internal design. The huge breakthrough came from how they shaped the chassis and battery.

00:39Engineers shifted the logic board, turned most of the phone's center into pure battery,

00:45and used something called metal can technology. Basically, that is a rigid metal casing that lets

00:50the battery take new shapes and sit closer to the frame edge. Something that just wasn't possible

00:56before with flexible foil pouches that are often used in older smartphones. That alone

01:01frees up a ton of space. And when you combine it with the more efficient A19 processor and optimized

01:08software, you're looking at a phone that does way more with the exact same battery chemistry.

01:14But that triple threat came too soon for the iPhone Air because it still uses a graphite-based

01:20lithium-ion battery. For anyone wondering, lithium-ion batteries use graphite as the anode material.

01:26This method is largely safe, reliable, and predictable, and has been used for years in consumer

01:32tech gadgets. The main limitation is capacity. The amount of charge the battery holds depends directly

01:39on the physical size of the battery, which is why there's always that compromise between a slim phone

01:45and long battery life. Silicon carbon anodes change that equation. Mixing silicon into the carbon lets

01:51batteries store more lithium, which makes them denser. So that means slimmer phones or longer run times,

01:58or probably both. But there's a catch. Silicon expands more while charging, which can shorten the

02:05battery's lifespan. So manufacturers use small amounts of silicon and clever engineering to control the

02:11swelling and keep the durability reasonable. The idea is that phones with carbon-silicon batteries can

02:18be thinner and or last longer on a single charge. We've already seen this in a few places on some

02:25Chinese phones. Brands like Xiaomi, Realme, Huawei, and OnePlus are flirting with carbon-silicon

02:32technology and huge batteries in those phones. But those brand names should give you a clue as to Apple's

02:38plans. This is not yet mainstream technology, and Apple is rarely first out of the gate to test

02:44potentially volatile new hardware. The company doesn't want a new battery gate etched into its

02:50iPhone 17 Wikipedia page. For better or worse, anything Apple does makes the news in a way Xiaomi's tech

02:57simply doesn't. So Apple will always be cautious. Even Samsung made a similar call with the Galaxy S25

03:04Edge. Instead of going for silicon carbon, Samsung tweaked its internal layout, introduced a redesigned

03:10camera sensor module, and moved components closer to the device's edges to free up more room for a

03:17battery. In an interview with Tom's Guide, Samsung's Blake Geiser said they wanted to focus on reliability

03:24and efficiency, especially with the company's new AI tools helping manage power usage.

03:30It's something that we're definitely not keeping our eye off of, but with that new chipset, with

03:35agentic AI helping with performance and efficiencies of these batteries, we really felt that going with

03:41our traditional lithium-ion battery was the right move for this device. Still, there is strong evidence

03:47that Apple is already laying the groundwork for its next step. Gene Berdichevsky, the co-founder of

03:54battery materials company Sela, told TechCrunch that Apple's new metal can design could easily

04:01pave the way for silicon integration. He called it pretty revolutionary since it helps push performance

04:07limits while keeping the swelling issue in check. So when you put it all together, more space efficient

04:13design today plus the potential for carbon-silicon batteries tomorrow is quite exciting. We are due a jump

04:21in battery life, which basically never happens because of how little innovation there is in the

04:26battery space. If Samsung moves first with a silicon carbon battery in the Galaxy S26, that'll be a clear

04:34signal that Apple is not far behind. 2026 could actually live up to the hype and deliver the giant

04:41battery gains we've been waiting a decade for. Thank you for watching. Let me know if you think 2026 will be

04:47the year of the giant battery in the comment section. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe for more tech news.

iPhone 18 And Galaxy S26 Should See Serious Battery Gains In 2026

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