iPhone Battery Tests Were Performed Under Laboratory Conditions. Actual Results May Vary. Wildy.

Performance data always look best when viewed through the lens of a savvy marketing department–especially Apple’s marketing department, whose talents for branding new products are exceeded only by CEO Steve Jobs’s knack for stewarding their creation. Which is the case today with Apple’s announcement of significant upgrades to both the iPhone’s battery life and touch screen. The company said this morning that the iPhone will now feature a more durable optical-quality glass screen and a battery that supports up to eight hours of talk, seven hours of video playback and 24 hours of audio playback. That’s significantly better battery life than Apple claimed back in January when it first announced the device.

“With eight hours of talk time and 24 hours of audio playback, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other ‘smart phone’ and even longer than most MP3 players,” Jobs (above, demonstrating the battery life of rival handsets in relation to the iPhone’s) said. “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity. There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can’t wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today.”

Ah yes, better drop what you’re doing and get in line right now; the lines are going to be murder, right? Anyway … it’s worth noting that Apple’s latest iPhone battery claims are “dependent upon network configuration and many other factors” and that “actual results may vary.” And that’s something worth thinking about if you’re a heavy cell user planning to buy an iPhone. Said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, “sources have indicated [the] iPhone’s active-use battery life may be closer to about four to five hours,” for heavy use, which is similar to that of other smart phones.