The Engadget video reviewer owns a 15PM; she warned that moving to the 16 Pro was sorely noticeable in reduced battery life, lamenting that it lasted her nowhere near the 1.5 days her 15PM does
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iPhone 13 Pro Max Will you buy another Pro Max model?
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Shoot, thanks for the heads up. I wonder if that's an initial usage 'indexing' type of deficiency, or if that's really what should be expected from these phones. Estimates on Apple's website only indicate a ~10% drop in battery life from 15PM -> 16 Pro.
Yeah, I think we'll need more real-world usage to determine. Apple only provides estimates in things like playing a video file for X hours straight; the phones relative performance to each other probably doesn't vary proportionally while doing different tasks...
15 Pro Max: 4422mAh
16 Pro: 3355mAh (-24.2%)
16 Pro Max: 4676mAh (+5.7%)
Mashable and Tom’s Guide reviews stated, in their battery tests, that the 16 Pro slightly outdid the 15 Pro Max. Maybe they both had 15PM’s with a degraded battery though?
Apple only provides mumbo jumbo internal player video playback with certain screen brightness. It is relatively helpful but not comprehensive.
Pro is at most 10hr SOT phone. Usually it is 5hrs sot (very light users spend battery idling) or average of 7.5hrs. Low brightness and wifi while using safari can up it to 10hrs.
Pro Max is at most a 15-16hr SOT. On average light users will see 7-8.5hrs of sot, while heavy users will squeeze 12-14 hrs of sot easily.
15 hr vs 10 hr - I wouldn’t call it an even comparison. There is a huge difference between them. But as a light user, pro gets me 5.5hrs sot while pro max gets 7.5-8 hr sot for me - hour difference is not so drastic but the percentage wise it is still +50%.
I have a 15 PM and preordered a 16 PM. After reading and watching some reviews I should’ve gone with the 16 Pro instead so I’ll be attempting an exchange this weekend. I have an iPhone SE as a back up device and I’ve been using that more than my 15 PM just because it’s more comfortable for me to use so I’m hoping the 16 Pro will be as comfortable.
I don’t think I’ll be going with a Pro Max again unless they really can cut down the weight. I don’t think it’s the size of the Pro Max, but the weight that bothers me the most.
I don’t think I’ll be going with a Pro Max again unless they really can cut down the weight. I don’t think it’s the size of the Pro Max, but the weight that bothers me the most.
I felt the same and sticked to 15 Pro the last round. Funny thing is that by trying to avoid the weight of pro max, i got the the regular pro.
But after adding glass screen protector (+14g) and apple silicon case (+28g), my packed 15 pro (187g) now weighs the same as naked pro max lol.
| Phone | Battery life (hh:mm) | Rated Capacity (WHr) | Efficiency (Mins per WHr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | 18:06 | 17.955 | 60.5 |
| Galaxy S24 Ultra | 16:45 | 18.84 | 53.3 |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 14:07 | 13.942 | 60.8 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro XL | 14:06 | 19.22 | 44.0 |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 14:02 | 17.109 | 49.2 |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | 13:39 | 16.68 | 49.1 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro | 13:37 | 17.77 | 46.0 |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | 12:16 | 16.75 | 43.9 |
| iPhone 13 Pro | 11:42 | 11.97 | 58.6 |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 10:53 | 12.700 | 51.4 |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 10:53 | 14.13 | 46.2 |
| iPhone 13 | 10:33 | 12.41 | 55.8 |
| iPhone 14 Pro | 10:13 | 12.38 | 49.5 |
| iPhone 12 Pro | 9:06 | 10.78 | 50.6 |
| iPhone 13 Mini | 8:41 | 9.34 | 55.8 |
Posted in the /r/apple subreddit, using Tom's Guides review numbers and Apple's capacity data.
That’s one reason why I went with the Pro Max. With the bigger form factor it balances the weight better so it feels lighter to me. The Pro devices have more density so they can feel heavier even though they’re smaller and lighter overall. But the last Pro I tried was the 13 Pro so I’m hoping with the titanium it isn’t as noticeable.
iOS 18, it seems, has notably increased battery life vs iOS 17, by slowing down how quickly the CPU boosts to its maximum frequency.
Apples to Apples, all on iOS 18
16PM: 10:23
15PM: 9:02
14PM: 8:42
13PM: 7:56
Geekerwan's methodology may be different, too. I wonder what iOS versions Tom's Hardware used.
I would bet on a new screen with 1 frame per second and slightly larger battery. Everytime one reads static content, the 16 pro/max will have a leading edge in preserving the battery.
Not sure what she did, but that can’t be right. In Tom’s Guide’s extensive battery review, which is also posted here, they said the 16 Pro battery lasts 4 hours longer than the 15 Pro and matches the 15 Pro Max, which is really impressive.
Extensive? Their test involves doing nothing but browsing the web at 150 nits over 5G. I (And they give no more info about their methodology than that, AFAICT; who knows if the 15s were tested on iOS 18 or if these are results from launch last year, for example).
This does nothing to simulate real-world usage. What it does do is test the generational efficiency gains of the Qualcomm X75, which is useful but will vary by carrier and not translate proportionally to WiFi use.
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The 16 pro max has nearly the same dimensions as the XS & 11 pro max, it's just 5mm taller.
And it's just 3mm taller as the 15 pro max.
Don't get me wrong, these gigantic phones are not for me. But when pocketability and one handed usage is already out of the window, I find it hard to understand how 3mm taller (not even 2%) can be a dealbreaker?
Still a more thorough test than almost every other reviewer -so far-.
And how do you know the casual test the Engadget reviewer did and their claim is more valid?
I’ve read/watched every single review out so far, and no one mentioned anything negative about the battery.
That lines up with Apple’s claims and the product spec, which shows a larger battery.
I owned several big Android phones in the past before switching to iphones. I had the 11 and then 13 and then felt that I wanted to go back to a big phone again. So last year I got the 15 Plus. I was debating between the Plus and PM and the Plus won for me due to its much lower weight. After a year with the 15 Plus I realize I don't enjoy carrying around a phone this big and even this heavy (even more glad I didn't get the 15PM).
My next iphone whenever I get one will be smaller and lighter than my 15 Plus. While I want something bigger than 6.1", I definitely don't want 6.7" or bigger either. I want something 6.3" to 6.5" and light.
My next iphone whenever I get one will be smaller and lighter than my 15 Plus. While I want something bigger than 6.1", I definitely don't want 6.7" or bigger either. I want something 6.3" to 6.5" and light.
Sure, but it does _not_ show a larger battery than the 15 Pro Max (25% smaller). The comparison being discussed is 15PM to 16P.
I did not say Engadget's test was "valid" either; only that the reviewer had anecdotally compared their real-world usage which may be more accurate than the cited test. As I already stated earlier, we will only know how these compare in real-world use once there are consumers using them in the real world. But the expectation that the 16P, with its 25% smaller battery, will exceed the 15PM reliably in real-world usage scenarios is... questionable.
This Wi-Fi real-world test, though with unclear iOS versions ("the latest")
iPhone 16 Pro: 9h 6m
iPhone 15 Pro Max: 9h 26m
The 16P is behind the 15PM by 3%.
Geekerwan, with confirmed iOS 18 on all devices:
iPhone 16 Pro: 8h 28m
iPhone 15 Pro Max: 9h 2m
The 16P is behind the 15PM by 6%.
I'd not be very surprised if margin of error might sometimes show the 16 Pro ahead of the 15 Pro Max. They seem close enough, with a slight edge to the 15 Pro Max.
Straw that broke the camel's back, I guess. I don't want it to be any larger, not even a mm wider and not even three mm taller. I've also felt obligated for the last few generations to get the Pro Max, despite its size, because it got the most capable camera system and the best battery life. Now I get the same cameras on the smaller Pro, a larger screen that's closer in size to my former Pro Maxes, and seemingly decent battery life.
