Your iPhone 16 or 16 Pro battery should last longer, here's why

(Image credit: Apple / Future)

published 20 September 2024

Quick Summary

Apple announced during its 9 September event that the iPhone 16 models had larger batteries.

Now a regulatory listing has appeared showing just how much more capacity those batteries have in comparison with iPhone 15 equivalents.

Apple announced its iPhone 16 series during an event on 9 September with the focus of the the four devices being support for Apple Intelligence, which is coming later this year. The company also heralded camera improvements and the new Camera Control button, but there was an additional enhancement that largely flew under the radar – battery life.

The specification details on Apple's own website have never listed battery capacities, and instead detail battery improvements through a quote on how many hours each device will last in terms of playing video. Apple did mention that there were improvements in battery life during the event, but a recent regulatory listing has now confirmed how much of an improvement that is in terms of milliamps.

Spotted by 91Mobiles, the listing appeared on Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency and shows the iPhone 16's capacity to be 3,561mAh, the iPhone 16 Plus to be 4,674mAh, the iPhone 16 Pro to be 3,582mAh, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max to be 4,685mAh. All models are up 6% or slightly over compared to the iPhone 15 equivalents, with the iPhone 16 Pro gets the largest gain – up by 9.4%.

Having used the iPhone 16 Pro Max this week in the run up to its launch, I can say the battery life is in fact very impressive. After taking it off charge at 6am, I regularly reach midnight and still have between 40 and 60% remaining. And that's after heavy use.

It's not just the batteries that have improved though, as we mentioned.

The new Camera Control button makes accessing the camera and its tools much easier, while the displays on the Pro models have increased in size from 6.1-inches to 6.3-inches in the standard model, and 6.7-inches to 6.9-inches in the Max.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus get the Action button that was introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models last year too, so they are a very compelling option this year.

All four iPhone 16 models go on sale today, 20 September, starting at £799 in the UK, $799 in the US, and AU$1,399 in Australia.

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Britta is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. She's covered all consumer tech from phones, tablets and wearables to smart home and beauty tech, with everything in between. She has a fashion journalism degree from London College of Fashion and previously did a long stint as deputy editor of Pocket-lint, but you’ll now find her byline on several titles including GQ, the Express, the Mirror, TechRadar, Stuff and iMore. You'll never find her without her Apple Watch on, aiming to complete her rings so she can justify the extra bar of chocolate and she loves a good iPhone trick.