- A new leak suggests Chinese Android OEMs (likely Xiaomi) are looking to adopt Apple’s rigid, steel-cased battery design to replace traditional soft-pouch batteries.
- Android brands are looking to combine steel-cased battery design with stacked-cell battery technology, aiming for 9,000mAh to 10,000mAh capacities on future flagships.
- While rigid steel casings eliminate the extra clearance needed to accommodate potential cell swelling, they add physical weight and impose tight internal assembly constraints.
Upcoming Android flagships might soon deliver better battery endurance, both physically and in terms of battery life. According to a new leak, Android manufacturers are actively experimenting with steel-cased batteries paired with stacked-cell technology to push energy density to as high as 9,000mAh or 10,000mAh.
The revelation comes courtesy of reputable leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo. Highlighting Apple’s continued use of steel-encased battery cells on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which reportedly pushes the rated capacity to 5,391mAh (with typical capacity hovering around 5,500mAh), the leaker notes that a major Chinese smartphone maker (most likely to be Xiaomi, based on Digital Chat Station’s post format) is testing a similar steel-shell architecture. Combined with stacked-cell manufacturing, the brand could aim to deliver 9,000mAh to 10,000mAh batteries in future top-tier flagship devices.
