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iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 16 Pro Max battery life [MERGED]
- Thread starter kukata81
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That’s a bummer but somehow makes me feel better knowing it’s not just me lol!
Well, just strange and chocking at the same time I guess. Don’t have real issues with battery time though. (In respect to the titel of the thread I have to note I have the 16P)
Last 10 days - 4% on 16 plus
24h - 6%
Maybe make sure widgets aren’t polling location? For example and background app refresh off
24h - 6%
Maybe make sure widgets aren’t polling location? For example and background app refresh off
Thanks for the thread.
After:
When iOS 18.1 beta 6 was released, I updated my 16 Pro overnight and noticed it held a steady charge on standby. However, when my friend updated their 16 Pro to the same beta, it continued to drain about 10% overnight (over 5-6 hours), so I dismissed the idea that beta 6 fully resolves the issue.
Theory:
Potential Culprit:
For now, if you’re a Pro or Pro Max user dealing with battery drain and want to improve battery life, consider turning off ProMotion. It’s not ideal, but it’s a workaround until Apple (hopefully) addresses the issue in iOS 18.1 beta 7 or the final release. If the problem persists, we might be looking at a hardware issue — let’s hope that’s not the case.
After:
- Getting the iPhone 16 Pro on the second day of release, using it for 14 days on iOS 18.1 beta 5, testing both with a full migration from my old 15 Pro Max and a fresh setup for a week.
- Returning the 16 Pro and switching to the 16 Plus.
- Asking friends to run tests on their Pro and Pro Max models.
- Reading through forum discussions on battery usage.
- Reviewing similar "lottery" posts on Chinese iPhone communities.
- Several users of the 16 Pro and Pro Max have reported unexpected battery drain across various versions: 18.1 beta 5, beta 6, stock iOS 18.0, and 18.0.1.
- The battery drain typically falls into two categories:
- Heavy drain overnight during standby.
- Rapid battery loss during fragmented, non-continuous use — like checking the phone briefly, then putting it back in your pocket while listening to music or podcasts, and later noticing a significant drop.
- Many Pro users, including myself, initially suspected that the smaller battery size combined with the more demanding hardware of the Pro models could explain the poor battery life. However, this issue is also seen in Pro Max users, despite it having the largest battery and being touted by reviewers as superior.
- The 16 Plus, in contrast, has excellent battery life and should theoretically be outperformed by the Pro Max, but that hasn’t always been the case for some users.
- Some suggest the drain might stem from Find My activities, especially with AirPods or AirTags.
- Others point to iPhone mirroring (cross-platform sync, like with MacBooks) as a possible cause.
- Background app refresh is another popular theory.
- I’ve also wondered if the drain might be related to display features like Always-On Display (AOD) and ProMotion.
When iOS 18.1 beta 6 was released, I updated my 16 Pro overnight and noticed it held a steady charge on standby. However, when my friend updated their 16 Pro to the same beta, it continued to drain about 10% overnight (over 5-6 hours), so I dismissed the idea that beta 6 fully resolves the issue.
- Turning off ProMotion (Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Limit Frame Rate) seemed to improve battery performance during fragmented use throughout the day.
- Turning off just AOD while leaving ProMotion on didn’t help — the drain was as bad as when both were on.
Theory:
- If Find My were the cause, I should have seen the same issue on my 16 Plus, but I didn’t. I use it with an Apple Watch, AirTag, and AirPods Pro 2nd gen.
- If iPhone mirroring were to blame, I can’t confirm as none of my friends or I currently use MacBooks.
- If background app refresh were the issue, I would expect to see the same drain on the 16 Plus, but I don’t. I leave background refresh on for all apps, which I consider standard for a modern smartphone. (Remember when the iPhone 4 was mocked for its "tombstoning" of background apps?)
Potential Culprit:
- Software: There could be a bug in iOS related to ProMotion and how the system adapts to the new display panels, including the 1-nit brightness feature or variations between suppliers (some Pro models use LG panels).
- Hardware: It’s also possible there’s a hardware issue with the A18 Pro SoC (display engine) when interacting with the new display panels.
For now, if you’re a Pro or Pro Max user dealing with battery drain and want to improve battery life, consider turning off ProMotion. It’s not ideal, but it’s a workaround until Apple (hopefully) addresses the issue in iOS 18.1 beta 7 or the final release. If the problem persists, we might be looking at a hardware issue — let’s hope that’s not the case.
By the way, this is my buddy's iPhone 16 Pro Max (1T) running the stock 18.0.1.
After taking my advice of turning off ProMotion, he gets a better drain curve with active use (right portion of the graph), and on the left you can see that the drain curve with active use is steeper.
He's an account manager and is very busy with phone calls, messages and a lot of updates in the background, he never turns off any sync, Find My or background refresh, nor does he set a charge limit for the phone.
Just FYI.
After taking my advice of turning off ProMotion, he gets a better drain curve with active use (right portion of the graph), and on the left you can see that the drain curve with active use is steeper.
He's an account manager and is very busy with phone calls, messages and a lot of updates in the background, he never turns off any sync, Find My or background refresh, nor does he set a charge limit for the phone.
Just FYI.
Attachments
For temporary fix, please try to turn off ProMotion (I know this sucks but it is for battery life's sake) in Setting-Accessibility-Motion-Limit FR and see if battery life improves (if any).
To all:
Unfortunately, this issue hasn't been widely discussed yet on any Apple blog, which means no one has likely started working on a solution.
I encourage everyone to write to all the editorial offices and bring this up:
https://www.macrumors.com/about/ (or the bottom homepage of the main website for 'Our Staff' contact info)
9to5mac.com
The more we are and the more you will start writing to them all, the better it is and faster this issue will be highlighted and solved.
Unfortunately, this issue hasn't been widely discussed yet on any Apple blog, which means no one has likely started working on a solution.
I encourage everyone to write to all the editorial offices and bring this up:
https://www.macrumors.com/about/ (or the bottom homepage of the main website for 'Our Staff' contact info)
Contact the 9to5Mac Team - 9to5Mac
Contact 9to5Mac's writers, editors, and publisher to discuss articles, review opportunities, and more.
9to5mac.com
The more we are and the more you will start writing to them all, the better it is and faster this issue will be highlighted and solved.
Very good idea! I wrote in both places. Let more people write. But isn't there a way to report a problem directly to Apple?To all:
Unfortunately, this issue hasn't been widely discussed yet on any Apple blog, which means no one has likely started working on a solution.
I encourage everyone to write to all the editorial offices and bring this up:
https://www.macrumors.com/about/ (or the bottom homepage of the main website for 'Our Staff' contact info)
Contact the 9to5Mac Team - 9to5Mac
Contact 9to5Mac's writers, editors, and publisher to discuss articles, review opportunities, and more.
The more we are and the more you will start writing to them all, the better it is and faster this issue will be highlighted and solved.
My entire 16 pro max becomes so hot especially the area right under the camera. This happened during playing team fight tactics.
It’s just a simple game that doesn’t even cause my m2 air to warm up while playing the desktop version. I wonder why did my 16 pro max heats until it’s kinda hot to touch.
Even my previous 15 plus ran cold while playing team fight tactics
It’s just a simple game that doesn’t even cause my m2 air to warm up while playing the desktop version. I wonder why did my 16 pro max heats until it’s kinda hot to touch.
Even my previous 15 plus ran cold while playing team fight tactics
I don't think it's of much use. It shows that it lasts a long time in video, but in normal use it leaves something to be desired.
I hope you will share how it is after today's beta 7.
Have to wait until my friend upgrades her 16 Pro to beta 7 and test out. So I would say at least 48 hours to get some preliminary results
will update.My phone was last charged 44m ago from 100% and without any apps open. It is now 98%. This is frustrating.
Well my plus now drains about 1% battery every 7 minutes off plug, a bad sign. Maybe, instead of fixing problems on the pro models, Apple decided to make plus users “feel the same” after all.
(Two observations, no active session, cellular usage, 7-8 minutes down from 90 to 89, then from 88 to 87, charged to 100%.)
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Maybe they don't have a battery problem alert and it's not being worked on. That's why it's good to write on the sites that Tastino0 mentioned maybe.
Today, for example, my screen dropped from 95% to 60% in 4 hours. I don't know if this is good.
R
Did u game at0600h? That sharp drop is similar to when I had a match of teamfighr tactics
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Probably not helpful, but my 16 pro max has better battery life than my 13 pro max did and that was the best battery compared to my 14 and 15 pro max.
I can take my phone off charger at 7 am. CarPlay into work 30 minutes and still be at 99-100%. Light to moderate use at work and some days at 2 or 3 pm it’s just getting below 90%. In the evening’s several hours or podcasts, YouTube and browsing. I usually go to bed after midnight and my battery is between 40-50%.
I can take my phone off charger at 7 am. CarPlay into work 30 minutes and still be at 99-100%. Light to moderate use at work and some days at 2 or 3 pm it’s just getting below 90%. In the evening’s several hours or podcasts, YouTube and browsing. I usually go to bed after midnight and my battery is between 40-50%.