We’re lower than three months away from a September occasion the place Apple will unveil this yr’s iPhone 17 lineup, so it’s no shock that new specs are beginning to leak out as Apple’s provide chain begins making ready to mass-produce the subsequent technology of iPhones.
Reviews have already prompt that this yr’s largest flagship, the iPhone 17 Professional Max, will get thicker and heavier — a change that some consider is being made to accommodate a bigger battery. Now, leaker Instantaneous Digital (aka Setsuna Digital) has shared a submit on Weibo confirming that this yr’s Max mannequin might be the primary to hit the 5,000 mAh mark.
The Weibo submit doesn’t present a precise quantity, saying solely that they count on it can attain 5,000 mAh. Battery capacities hardly ever fall on even values like this, but when something, the quantity ought to be increased somewhat than decrease.
If this info is correct, it might characterize nearly a 7% enhance over the iPhone 16 Professional Max battery, which is 4,676 mAh in keeping with an iFixit teardown (this conflicts barely with info sourced from Brazil’s Nationwide Telecommunications regulator that listed it at 4,685 mAh, however that’s too small of a distinction to get enthusiastic about). It will even be the most important leap for the reason that iPhone 13 Professional Max gained an 18% leap over its predecessor in 2021.
To place this in context, right here’s the breakdown of the battery capacities on Apple’s iPhone Max fashions over time:
| Mannequin | Battery Capability | Enhance/Lower |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone XS Max | 3,174 mAh | |
| iPhone 11 Professional Max | 3,969 mAh | +25.05% |
| iPhone 12 Professional Max | 3,687 mAh | —7.11% |
| iPhone 13 Professional Max | 4,352 mAh | +18.04% |
| iPhone 14 Professional Max | 4,323 mAh | –0.67% |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 4,422 mAh | +2.29% |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 4,676 mAh | +5.74% |
| iPhone 17 Professional Max (rumored) | 5,000 mAh | +6.93% |
As you may see from the above desk, Apple decreased the battery capability in its 2020 and 2022 fashions, though it’s truthful to say the battery in iPhone 14 Professional Max was principally unchanged from the iPhone 13 Professional Max, as a 29 mAh distinction is actually a rounding error.
Annually’s new iPhone fashions are normally extra power-efficient than people who got here earlier than, so uncooked battery capability isn’t the one measure of runtimes. For instance, regardless of having just about the identical battery capability, Apple rated the iPhone 14 Professional Max for an hour of further video playback over the iPhone 13 Professional Max.
However, the huge 18% bump from the iPhone 12 Professional Max to the iPhone 13 Professional Max allowed it to go from 20 hours of video playback to twenty-eight hours, however that was probably helped alongside by the extra environment friendly ProMotion show, which might run at a a lot much less power-hungry 24 Hz or 30 Hz refresh price when watching most video content material.
Apple additionally takes benefit of those effectivity and battery enhancements to do extra with annually’s mannequin. This ends in a transferring goal the place it’s exhausting to foretell the place the needle will land. The counter-example is the iPhone 15 Professional Max having the identical playback runtime scores because the iPhone 14 Professional Max, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max added 4 extra hours over its predecessor.
Actual-world assessments have proven that each one 4 iPhone 16 fashions handily beat out their predecessors by wholesome margins, however the iPhone 16 Professional Max confirmed unbelievable features, touchdown among the many prime 5 in smartphone endurance assessments, and hitting third place in Tom’s Information’s roundup, behind the OnePlus 12R and Asus ROG Telephone 8 Professional. These fashions ran for 36 and 42 minutes longer, respectively, however additionally they packed in bigger 5,500 mAh cells.
That speaks effectively for the ability effectivity of Apple’s A18 Professional chip and the ProMotion show expertise, which characterize the 2 power-hungriest elements in any smartphone. An additional 7% enhance in dimension might push the runtimes even increased, however it’s essential to keep in mind that there isn’t all the time a direct relationship between these on account of different components. Additional enhancements would possibly push the iPhone 17 Professional Max to even longer battery life, however it’s equally attainable that different inside adjustments and new options in iOS 26 would possibly eat extra energy.
So, even when this leak is true — and like all early rumors, it ought to nonetheless be taken with a wholesome dose of salt — we’ll have to attend for some real-world assessments to see what sort of sensible distinction it makes.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]