iPhone Air battery pack teardown shows a surprisingly familiar component

During the teardown of the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, iFixIt observed that Apple might have resorted to a clever solution to streamline production. Here are the details.

As is tradition, iFixit has kicked off its teardown season for the devices and accessories unveiled during Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event earlier this month.

The first of the bunch was the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, designed to provide up to 65% additional charge for heavy users who may find the iPhone Air’s battery insufficient for all-day use.

Upon measuring the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, iFixIt observed that the battery pack is 7.64mm thin, which is actually thicker than the iPhone Air’s 5.6mm chassis (minus the camera plateau).

This led them to an obvious question:

As it turns out, inside the plastic shell of the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, there seems to be the exact same battery as the iPhone Air itself. Or at the very least, a battery shaped exactly like the one Apple showcased during the Awe-Dropping event, as it detailed the iPhone Air’s hardware specs.

Moreover, the actual battery is 2.72mm thin, which, as iFixIt observes, is “thin enough to fit inside the 5.6mm iPhone Air.”

As for why, then, the battery pack will offer just up to 65% of additional charge, iFixIt notes that inefficiencies in wireless charging may be to blame. And while 35% of wasted energy during the wireless charging process could be deemed high by many, they still note that the numbers seem to make sense.

Be that as it may, with the iPhone Air now starting to arrive in the hands of early customers worldwide, we’re likely just days away from finding out whether Apple really used the exact same battery in both the iPhone Air and the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, or if it simply opted for a similarly shaped, lower-capacity cell to streamline at least one part of the manufacturing process.

Be sure to read 9to5Mac’s review of the iPhone Air