William Gallagher
A dubious new claim about the battery life of the iPhone 16 family says that the iPhone 16 Plus will see a lower capacity battery compared to the current version.
Apple never quotes precise battery figures, it prefers to say more descriptively useful phrases such as "23 hours streaming music." Once a series of iPhones has been released, though, specific battery capacities are discovered and a new rumor claims Apple is improving most of them.
So it's possible to see what the battery rating is for any current iPhone, although sometimes there is some slight variance in test results. What leaker Majin Bu claims is that he or she has the figures for three out of the four iPhone 16 models Apple is working on.
Based on the information I managed to obtain, the new iPhone 16 will have a 3561 mAh battery, while the 16 plus should have a 4006 mAh battery and the 16 Pro Max, should be equipped with a 4676 mAh battery that is no longer L-shaped due to the redesign of the internal structure pic.twitter.com/T7VuhQ6Brs
— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) February 7, 2024
There is no one definitive listing of the iPhone's battery mAh capacity, but broadly there is enough that comparisons can be made with the new figures.
So leaker Majin Bu is really saying that:
- iPhone 16 Pro Max increases from 4441 mAh in iPhone 15 Pro Max to 4676 mAh
- iPhone 16 increases from 3367 mAh in iPhone 16 to 3561 mAH
- iPhone 16 Plus decreases from 4407 mAh in iPhone 15 Plus to 4006 mAh
Majin Bu backs up previous claims that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a new battery design, which means it will no longer have to be L-shaped to fit into the chassis. But there's no explanation for why the iPhone 16 Plus should decrease.
Separately, it has been reported that the iPhone 16 camera bump is to be redesigned too.
Majin Bu has has a mixed track record for leaks, but correct reports tend to be repeats from other sources. The leaker has also been notably wrong, too, such as when claiming that Apple would release an iPhone 15 Ultra.
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
5 Comments
It sounds like the leaker isn’t making any claims about a decrease in battery life, only claiming that the larger non-Pro model will have a decrease in battery capacity, of just under 10%, compared to its counterpart in the current line. “Life” is a factor of capacity and efficiency. If the new phones are more efficient with hardware and/or software, that may compensate for a decreased capacity, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple wanted to do more in this regard to distinguish between the Pro and non-Pro models, especially since the larger phones have larger batteries.
Since when is a "dubious leak" newsworthy on a legitimate website?
Lol.
Instead of constant emphasis on camera “upgrades” and rumors, it would be refreshing to hear about battery improvements.