Apple rumours: Larger battery capacity, reversible USB, ‘iPhone 6L’

Those Apple rumours just keep coming, especially coming up to the iPhone 6′s rumoured launch window, and keeping up with them all is proving to be a difficult task. To keep you up to speed, here is today’s round-up of the biggest Apple rumours and news.

1. The new lightning cables could be reversible at both ends

For iOS users having a charger cable that is reversible means a lot less fiddling about trying to plug your phone in, but what if I told you that both ends might end up being reversible? That’s what the latest leaked images seem to indicate — a reversible USB plug. The idea of a reversible USB plug are not new, but they have yet to be put into mass production.

Having to fiddle around to plug in a USB cable is one of those first-world problems we all face, and if Apple becomes one of the first companies to bring them into the mainstream it would give them a slight advantage over the competition. Whether the pictures are legit or not has yet to be seen, and it could well be that these cables don’t end up shipping with the iPhone 6s later this year. [Sonny Dickinson via TechCrunch]

2. Leaks give us more information on both models’ apparent battery capacity

We’ve heard a number of leaks about the iPhone 6’s battery capacity, none of which have been all that impressive, but now we have out first batch of rumours distinguishing the capacity between the two expected models. According to leaks, the 4.7-inch model of the phone will have an 1,810 mAh battery. It’s a step up from the 5S’s 1,440 mAh battery, but it’s still not great considering most flagship models have capacities exceeding 2,500 mAh with some, like the Sony Xperia Z2 getting as high as 3,000 mAh. The good news is that those of you who gwt your hands on the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 may be treated to a battery capacity of 2,915 mAh. Now that’s more like it.

It’s worth mentioning that even the highest battery capacity in the world is useless if the phone itself doesn’t utilise that power efficiently, but that doesn’t mean you should have to make do with a low capacity battery either. Battery life is one of the most important features a smartphone can have after all. At leat these rumours seem to indicate that Apple realises the iPhone’s battery life is something to be desired, and something needs to be done to improve it. But imagine how much power they could hold if Apple stopped worrying about making its phones as thin as possible? [Ubergizmo]

3. 5.5-inch model to be known as the “iPhone 6L?”

There have been many rumours on how Apple will differentiate each model of iPhone 6 in the name, and while the consensus has been that the larger, 5.5-inch, model will be known as the “iPhone Air”, the latest rumours seem to indicate otherwise. They say that Apple will be naming the larger model the “iPhone 6L”, presumably L stands for large because, you know, it’s the larger phone. The 4.7-inch version is reported to be known as the plain old iPhone 6. Booring.

Obviously Apple will be using something simple to differentiate between the two models, and what it does choose has yet to be seen. We’ll just have to ride it out and wait until the official announcement. [Ubergizmo]