Apple’s wearable devices, including the Apple Watch and AirPods, could benefit from significantly increased battery life thanks to a new development in battery technology.
TDK, a major Japanese company that has supplied batteries and other components for the iPhone, announced Monday that it has developed material for a next-generation solid-state b attery with much higher energy density than previously used.
In a press release (via CNBC), the company boasts that it has “successfully developed a material for CeraCharge, a next-generation solid-state battery with an energy density of 1,000 Wh/L, approxim ately 100 times higher than the energy density of TDK’s conventional solid-state battery.
According to TDK, this technology is intended for use in “various wearable devices, such as wireless headphones, hearing aids and even smart watches, with the aim of replacing existing button batteries.”
Apple has made a big push into wearable devices in recent years as the company anticipates the eventual shift of most computing tasks from a smartphone in the hand to smaller, lighter devices on the body. The AirPods wireless headphones are among Apple’s most commercially successful devices, while the Apple Watch will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year and will take a prominent place on stage at company events. Both devices would obviously benefit from increased battery life, with the Apple Watch in particular often compared unfavorably to simpler competing devices such as Fitbits, which can be charged less often.
It’s of course important to remember how slowly these developments are progressing, and even if Apple shows interest in integrating TDK’s new technology into its products, they’re unlikely to appear for a few years. In the meantime, you can learn more about the new AirPods for 2024 and this fall’s Apple Watch Series 10 in separate articles.