During its iPhone 11 keynote presentation, Apple mentioned that the new handsets have greatly improved battery life across the board. This time around Apple wasn't satisfied with just optimizing the hardware and software, but actually put bigger battery packs inside.
Made by Amperex, they sport different, high-voltage chemistry, with the biggest capacity percentage increase going to the most expensive iPhone 11 Pro Max. This one carries the highest capacity 3500 mAh pack on an iPhone ever, all the while it sports a more efficient A13 processor, and a more frugal OLED screen generation.
This may still seem a puny upgrade compared to Android phones that now routinely chase the 4000 mAh mark but let's not forget that Apple designs all three components - the battery, the operating system, and the hardware package, so it can juice out a lot more out of such integration.
The result? 20 hours of video playback on a charge, according to Apple, which is a record for the iPhone franchise, and Apple is quick to point out how many more hours you can get out of the new Pro models compared to their predecessors.
Say what you will about Apple's marketing claims, but when it comes to battery life, its stats are pretty spot-on. Moreover, the first iPhone 11 family reviews are trickling down the pipe, and all who spent a few days with the phones now report a significant increase in battery life in day-to-day iPhone-ing. We'll be reporting on our own battery life tests soon but we found this anecdotal evidence out of TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino the most telling:
Apple claims that the iPhone 11 Pro lasts 4 hours longer then the iPhone XS. The iPhone XS came in at roughly 9.5 hours in tests last year and the iPhone 11 Pro came in nearly bang on at 12 hours — in extremely challenging conditions.
It was hot, the networks were congested and I was testing every feature of the camera and phone I could get my hands on. Disneyland has some WiFi in areas of the park, but the coverage is not total, so I relied on LTE for the majority of my usage. This included on-device processing of photos and video (of which I shot around 40 minutes or so each day). It also included using Disney’s frustrating park app, about which I could write a lot of complaints.
I ordered food, browsed twitter while in lines, let the kids watch videos while the wife and I had a necessary glass of wine or six and messaged continuously with family and team members. The battery lasted significantly longer on the iPhone 11 Pro with intense usage than the iPhone XS, which juuuust edged out my iPhone X in last year’s tests.
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Although elaborate, this is still an observational reporting, mind you, and the phone in question is the 11 Pro, not the record-holding Max version. For this one, however, there is now a tangible evidence to back up Apple's credulity-straining battery life claims for the new iPhones.
As if re-christening his Twitter account to Pro Max wasn't funny enough, a Russian tech blogger posted his battery drain chart stats towards the end of a day spent reviewing the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and they are nothing short of breathtaking. For an iPhone, that is, as Android users with phones like the P30 Pro can routinely get even higher mileage from their flagships.
Long story short, the Russian translation here states that the iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted a full review day on a charge with higher than moderate usage, and still had 35% left shortly before midnight. As you can see, that's with the whopping 9 hours of screen-on time, too, and some capacity left to tide you over a full night of sleep, and get you to work the next day, too.
To top it all off, that's been with "gaming, an hour of YouTube, and recording loads of video." If you have been looking for finally an iPhone that has great battery life, the Pro Max is your thing, apparently.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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