In recent years Apple has delivered great battery life on its biggest phones, but while the iPhone 16 Pro Max might continue that trend, the iPhone 16 Plus possibly won’t.
That’s based on leaked battery capacities from OvO Baby Sauce OvO on Weibo (via Phone Arena), who claimed that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will apparently have a 4,676mAh battery, which would make it 5.7% larger than the 4,422mAh cell inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Now, that’s not a massive increase, but given that the iPhone 15 Pro Max already offers very solid longevity, and that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely have a more efficient A18 Pro chipset, this is a promising sign.
The upcoming handset is rumored to have a slightly larger 6.9-inch screen, so which could drain the battery faster, but we still think its longevity would be equal to or better than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, if this leak proves accurate.
From bigger to smaller
However, the iPhone 16 Plus is listed as having just a 4,006mAh battery, which would be 8.6% smaller than the 4,383mAh power pack within the iPhone 15 Plus. That would be a real shame, as in our iPhone 15 Plus review we described it as delivering “the best battery life on the market.” So an 8.6% reduction could dilute one of its predecessor’s biggest highlights.
We also have leaked capacities for the other two iPhone 16 models, with the iPhone 16 itself said to have a 3,561mAh battery – up 5.8% from the iPhone 15’s 3,367mAh cell. That would make this model the biggest winner, in terms of growth.
Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro apparently has a 3,355mAh battery, which is up just 2% from the 3,290mAh iPhone 15 Pro. Still an increase then, but with this phone rumored to have a larger screen than its predecessor – or than the standard iPhone 16, which is said to have a bigger battery than this – it’s not as much of an increase as we’d like to see.
We would, as ever, take these claims with a pinch of salt, even though they largely echo an earlier iPhone 16 battery leak; the only difference being that the iPhone 16 Pro wasn’t mentioned in that previous leak.
So, with two sources now pointing to most of these battery capacities and no conflicting claims, there’s a fair chance these figures are accurate. In which case, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Max could be in for some tangible battery life improvements, while the iPhone 16 Pro might offer similar life to the current model, albeit with a slightly bigger battery. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Plus could disappoint.
We should find out for sure in September, as that’s when these four highly anticipated phones will likely launch.
