iPhone 16 battery details leak and it's not all good news

(Image credit: Apple Event)

published 10 April 2024

Quick summary

Leaks suggest that the iPhone 16 Plus might have a smaller battery than its predecessor, while other iPhone 16 models are rumoured to get bigger batteries.

The reason and real-world impact are unclear.

The iPhone 16 is not expected to launch until September 2024, but we're already seeing leaks and details about it. One of these points to the battery capacity of the phones – and it's not all good news.

Apple doesn't disclose the battery capacity of its devices in its spec pages, instead quoting the number of hours that you might expect for various tasks. That's in stark contrast to Android phones, where the battery capacity is widely lauded and big is definitely better. But it seems that the iPhone 16 Plus might not get the battery that some expect of it.

According to details from 91mobiles, the Apple iPhone 16 Plus might have a smaller battery capacity than the iPhone 15 Plus. It seems that the new iPhone model might get a 4,006mAh battery, while the iPhone 15 Plus had a 4,383mAh.

The other models – the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are all in line to get higher capacity batteries, according to the leak.

Why might the iPhone 16 Plus have a smaller battery?

The iPhone 15 Plus is a great option: it offers that big display for an immersive iPhone experience without having to pay full whack for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That is backed up with decent battery life – but will this phone be less attractive if it doesn't last as long?

Apple could be looking to differentiate between its iPhone models more: currently the iPhone 15 Pro Max claims 29 hours of video playback compared to 26 hours of video playback on the iPhone 15 Plus. Perhaps Apple wants there to be a bigger difference in these 6.7-inch devices?

Or it might be that Apple has increased efficiency, so the battery life is just as long but out of a smaller physical battery. That might mean the other models offer comparatively better performance.

There's the chance, too, that the details aren't quite accurate. Apple doesn't specify the battery capacity and ultimately, the performance of a device isn't governed by the numbers on the spec sheet, it all comes down to the efficiency of the hardware. There are also a number of changes coming to battery chemistry too, which might mean you get more power from a lower-capacity cell.

As is always the case with Apple, we won't actually know until launch day. That's likely to be in the first couple of weeks of September, when Apple tends to announce the new iPhone models.

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Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he's covered just about every product launched, witnessed the birth of Android, the evolution of 5G, and the drive towards electric cars. You name it and Chris has written about it, driven it or reviewed it. Now working as a freelance technology expert, Chris' experience sees him covering all aspects of smartphones, smart homes and anything else connected. Chris has been published in titles as diverse as Computer Active and Autocar, and regularly appears on BBC News, BBC Radio, Sky, Monocle and Times Radio. He was once even on The Apprentice... but we don't talk about that.