New hydrogen battery technology developed by British firm Intelligent Energy allows the iPhone 6 to run for a whole week in between charges. The company is rumored to be working closely with Apple to move the technology forward.
Intelligent Energy’s iPhone 6 prototype looks just like a normal iPhone 6, with the only cosmetic difference being small vents in its back that allow an imperceptible amount of water vapor to escape. But unlike a regular iPhone 6, this one can last a full week on just one charge.
That’s thanks to technology that creates electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen. The device is powered by hydrogen “fuel cell” cartridges that are inserted into its headphone jack, and according to Intelligent Energy, this is the world’s first iPhone with a built in fuel cell system.
It’s not yet clear how much the hydrogen cartridges will cost, but according to Intelligent Energy executives, they could be as cheap as a latte and still create a market worth as much as £300 billion ($472.6 billion) a year.
Henri Winand, chief executive of Intelligent Energy, refused to comment on the rumors that claim it is working with Apple, potentially to bring this technology to future devices — and as you might expect, Apple declined to comment, too, according to The Telegraph.
Nevertheless, this is incredibly exciting technology that could finally deliver the battery life breakthroughs that we’ve all been waiting for.
