Batteries: a big headache for the technology

Batteries: a big headache for the technology

Samsung, Apple and Nvidia are some of the last companies that have had to apologize for the bad performance of their batteries

   Two years ago the protagonist was Samsung. Last year, the spotlights targeted Apple. As a background, batteries and their poor evolution compared to the other components that form a smartphone. Next-generation screens, processors with artificial intelligence, but mobile batteries are still anchored in lithium. In fact, the only change experienced in this important component is the jump of nickel or cadmium to that chemical element, object of desire in half the planet due to the rise of electric vehicles.

Last December, after many rumors and complaints, Apple folded before its users. "Our customers have shared their thoughts on how we manage the performance of iPhones with old batteries and the way we have communicated this process, we know that some of you feel that Apple has disappointed you." We apologize. respect, so we would like to clarify this matter and announce some changes that we are carrying out, "explained the giant of Cupertino in a statement on December 28.

    Those responsible for Geekbench launched the alert. In their tests they showed that there was a software factor, but this only appears when the degradation of the battery cells begins to become evident. "The first and most important thing is to say that we have never done - or would - anything that intentionally shortens the life of an Apple product or that worsens the user experience to get it to renew its device," they added.

The batteries of iPhones and the vast majority of mobile phones today are of two types: lithium ions (Li-ion) or lithium polymers (Li-Po). The main advantage of its composition is that they have lost the known memory effect: it is no longer necessary to wait until they are completely discharged in order to recharge them.

Less than a thousand charges

Although this type of batteries has a small problem: it supports a limited number of charges, between 300 and 1,000. "All rechargeable batteries are consumables that lose effectiveness as their chemical components age and their capacity to retain a charge decreases," explains Apple.

The batteries, whenever they are connected to the electrical network, initiate a chemical reaction and transfer the electrons from their interior to the two poles called anode (positive) and cathode (negative). For the electrolytes to move between the two poles, the batteries incorporate an organic solvent in the case of the Li-ion batteries, while the Li-Po batteries are equipped with a kind of gel, less spillable.

"A battery with chemical deterioration also loses capacity to supply peaks of energy , especially if it is lightly charged, which can cause the device to suddenly turn off in certain circumstances," says Apple. A problem that Samsung has also found with his Note 8. The South Korean has received several complaints warning that their devices ran out of battery and not recharged. The company opened an investigation.

The last quarter of 2016 was a real ordeal for Samsung, which had to remove the Galaxy Note 7 from the market due to explosions of its battery. Built by a subsidiary, several Li-ion devices had internal short circuits and some also lacked insulation membranes due to errors in the manufacturing process. A fault in the design caused overheating of the negative pole until it was short-circuited.

The 'batterygate'


The future of batteries is to replace the current ones with the new "solid state batteries". Companies like Samsung and LG are working on it. The novelty is the replacement of the famous liquid electrolyte by a solid element. This would eliminate the famous flammable effect and the spillage of the battery fluid, which causes a significant risk to the user.

The first steps of Samsung in its 'batterygate' was to ask for the removal of the defective phones and then launched an update that limited the device's load to 60%. In this way the energy stored in the battery would be maintained at a safe level that would prevent the short circuit.

    A measure that Apple now recognizes and why it faces dozens of demands to slow down its devices. Its CEO, Tim Cook, recently pointed out in an interview to 'ABC News' that the owners of the iPhone will receive an update of the operating system where they can select how performance is managed. The new setting will be available to developers in February and to the public soon after.

But can manufacturers control or disable devices? The answer is yes. Samsung came to raise the famous 'kill switch' in its Note 7 , but did not activate it. It is a shutdown switch that is entered into the code to render a device unusable. The company Nvidia also activated it in August 2015 on its Shield Tablet due to problems with its batteries.