For years, the iPhone battery has been a source of ridicule from Apple's Android competitors, as its capacity seemed modest on paper compared to rival phones. But those days may be over; the latest leaks suggest that Apple is planning an unprecedented move with its upcoming flagship, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, equipping it with one of the largest batteries in the history of its smartphones, surpassing even its closest competitors.
Leaked capacity details: Clear superiority over competitors
According to a new leak circulating on social media, the iPhone 18 Pro Max will come with a massive 5235 mAh battery for the traditional nano-SIM model and an impressive 5425 mAh for the eSIM-only model. These figures represent a significant increase of between 6.6% and 8.5% compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max series, promising a substantial leap in daily battery life.
Some may wonder why there are two different battery capacities in the same phone. The secret lies in the internal design of the body; removing the traditional SIM card slot (Nano SIM) provides valuable physical space inside the device, which Apple cleverly uses to increase the size of the battery cells in models that rely entirely on the electronic SIM card (eSIM), which are mostly targeted at the American market and some select markets.
This increase puts Apple in direct and strong competition with the most powerful Android phones. For example, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to come with a battery capacity of only 5000 mAh, meaning that Apple's flagship phone will clearly surpass it for the first time in years in terms of theoretical capacity—something unimaginable just a few generations ago.
Let's take a quick look at the evolution of battery capacity in the Pro Max family over recent years to understand the scale of this technological development:
- iPhone 13 Pro Max: 4352 mAh.
- iPhone 14 Pro Max: 4323 mAh.
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: 4441 mAh.
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4685 mAh.
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 4823 mAh (Traditional SIM) / 5088 mAh (eSIM only)
- iPhone 18 Pro Max (expected): 5235 mAh (traditional SIM) / 5425 mAh (eSIM only)
How credible are these leaks?
As with any early leak concerning future Apple phones, these figures should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. The initial leak came from an X-platform account named FireUniverse8, which later deleted the original tweet. However, the information was widely circulated and discussed in Chinese tech circles on Weibo, where the account Doge Internet Technology sarcastically commented on the lack of full battery capacity for users of traditional chips, questioning how they would be compensated.
However, what lends some credence to these figures is their alignment with previous leaks from the well-known and highly reliable source Digital Chat Station last February, which indicated that the iPhone 18 Pro Max battery would exceed 5000 mAh and range between 5100 and 5200 mAh. The new figures appear slightly more optimistic, but remain within the same logical and expected range.
Will the iPhone 18 Pro Max have the largest battery?
While these figures seem enormous for a standard iPhone Pro Max, it may not hold the title of having the largest battery in Apple's history. Predictions suggest that the upcoming foldable phone, possibly called the iPhone Ultra, will come with a massive battery ranging from 5500 to 5800 mAh to power its large foldable screen, but it will, of course, come with an astronomical price tag, potentially reaching $2500.
Ultimately, it seems that Apple is determined to win the battery life battle completely in the coming generations, relying on the efficiency of its processors manufactured with advanced technologies, along with the huge physical capacities of the new battery cells.
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