Apple Watch Series 6 has larger batteries than the Apple Watch Series 5, according to iFixit’s teardown on Apple’s new devices. The company also found that the Taptic Engine is slightly larger than its predecessor, and that the case is ever-so-slightly thinner.
Apple Watch Series 6 Battery
The battery in the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6 is 3.5% bigger than last years’s model, while the battery in the 40mm Apple Watch Series 6 is 8.5% bigger. How or whether that translates into more battery life remains to be seen, as the new model has new sensors and a new system-on-a-chip, the Apple S6 System in Package, or SiP.
iFixit also noted, “The smaller 40 mm Series 6 retains the radical metal-pouch design introduced on the Series 5, now with a 1.024 Wh capacity.” The 44mm model still doesn’t use that design for the battery.
More Taptic Engine in Apple Watch Series 6
Interestingly, iFixit also said that the Taptic Engine in the Apple Watch Series 6 is larger. We don’t know why, yet, and I’m testing the one that arrived on my doorstep earlier today. But a larger Taptic Engine hopefully means more noticeable tactile notification vibrations.
As iFixit put it, “More battery and more Taptic Engine—Apple mentioned neither of these in their announcement, but it seems they’ve quietly pulled out all the stops this year.”
Less Is More, as Apple Makes the Apple Watch Series 6 Thinner
I’m all for thick watches, at least on mechanical time pieces, but Apple has been surprisingly resistant to its usual penchant for thinness-at-all-costs in the Apple Watch. Series 6, however, is thinner, if “imperceptibly” so: AWS6 is 10.4 mm, which is from the 10.74 Apple Watch Series 5.
Apple did this despite adding new sensors, the larger battery, and that larger Taptic Engine. At the same time, however, Apple eliminated the Force Touch gasket prior models utilized for pressure-sensitive-touches in past model. That absence, plus whatever space savings Apple might have gotten out of the S6 SiP are likely what made that quarter of a millimeter thinness possible.
Other Tidbits for iFixit’s Apple Watch Series 6 Teardown
- iFixit found a “thicker rubber-like adhesive on the display and back plate” that may add more protection for “unwanted ingress,” as in intrusions into your Watch. The company noted that made it harder to get into even when you’re trying, too.
- Screen replacements are possible, according to iFixit.
- Apple Watch Series 6 opens from the side like a book, as shown in the hero image above.
Hero image courtesy of iFixit