The iPhone 17 Air Could Use a Silicon-Carbon Battery. What Is It?

Apple has taken nan 2nd attack pinch caveats. Rumors propose nan iPhone 17 Air's artillery capacity will beryllium astir 2,900 mAh, a steep driblet from anterior iPhone models, particularly astatine nan 6.6-inch surface size. But nan institution is supposedly making up for it pinch power-saving tricks to make judge artillery life remains akin to different iPhones, including Apple's much businesslike C1 modem that debuted connected nan iPhone 16e earlier this year.

Luebbe declined to remark connected whether Group14’s silicon-carbon composite is being utilized successful nan iPhone 17 Air's batteries; Sila Nanotechnologies and Enovix did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

What’s nan Catch?

The problem pinch silicon batteries is that they expand. When you lithiate earthy silicon, Luebbe says, it tin grow up to 3 times its first volume. Lithium-ion batteries besides swell; you've astir apt heard of aliases possibly moreover knowledgeable this, arsenic it tin hap for a myriad of reasons. It intends thing has gone wrong, and nan artillery is now a information risk.

It's this problem that researchers and companies person spent decades trying to solve, and nan solution lies successful nan c portion of nan name. It starts to get a spot method here—and each silicon anode institution has its ain proprietary process—but Luebbe says Group14's attack is to commencement pinch a porous c material.

“Imagine a c sponge, but nan pores of that sponge are connected nan single-digit molecule wide. We're talking little than 10 nanometers wide,” he says. These pores are filled pinch silane state (the silicon), but only astir halfway. The particle you're near pinch is made up of silicon, carbon, and void space. When nan lithium ions caput complete from nan cathode to nan anode and nan silicon lithiates, it expands to capable nan void spaces of nan particle.

“It mitigates nan description astatine nan particle level, truthful nan artillery doesn't spot nan description , truthful it stabilizes nan battery, and you get fantabulous rhythm life,” Luebbe says. “That's nan captious penetration successful nan invention: really learning really to internalize that description , truthful that it's insulated from nan artillery chemistry and mechanical operations.”

Vincent Chevrier has been a interrogator successful nan silicon section for 15 years and is simply a partner astatine battery consulting patient Cyclikal. He says while silicon is present to enactment arsenic a worldly to beryllium utilized successful lithium-ion batteries, location are still a fewer challenges for broader adoption, including cost.

Companies for illustration Group14 usage silane state alternatively of coagulated silicon, which yields amended artillery performance, but could beryllium 10 times nan cost. That could make it harder to waste their composite to artillery makers, and it could thrust up nan prices of user electronics. The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to costs astir $1,099, a imaginable $200 bump from nan iPhone 16 Plus it's expected to replace, though location could beryllium different factors affecting its price, for illustration tariffs.

Chevrier besides says he often sees silicon-carbon makers inflate nan power density claims. Group14, for example, says connected its website that its silicon batteries tin present up to 50 percent much power density than accepted lithium-ion batteries. But if nan worldly is conscionable dropped successful to switch graphite and not overmuch other is changed pinch nan battery, you're much apt going to spot a 10 percent boost successful power density pinch a move to a silicon-carbon anode. Redesign nan artillery cell, and past it'd beryllium imaginable to spot an summation of up to 30 percent.