Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro Max delivers the largest battery life increase ever on an iPhone, with up to 45 hours of video playback, while the smaller iPhone 18 Pro reaches up to 36 hours. Both figures apply to eSIM-only models.
The gains come from A20 Pro chip efficiencies, system improvements and new battery designs. According to Apple, the smaller iPhone 18 Pro now matches the battery life of last year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Apple also introduced a battery measurement based on real-world usage data, covering activities such as taking photos and using AI. Under that model, it rates iPhone 18 Pro for up to 24 hours of use per charge and iPhone 18 Pro Max for up to 30 hours.
Wired charging is faster, too. Apple says iPhone 18 Pro can reach a 50% charge in around 15 minutes, while a five-minute top-up provides around six hours of video playback.
To keep performance steady during demanding tasks, the phones feature a new vapour chamber with three times the surface area of the one in iPhone 17 Pro. It circulates ionized water to move heat through the system and uses 80% recycled stainless steel.
The cooling system also includes more thermally conductive graphite and what Apple describes as an industry-first nano-twin copper material, which moves heat away from the display while providing structural strength.
Apple says the changes deliver up to 40% higher sustained performance than iPhone 17 Pro and up to twice the sustained performance of iPhone 16 Pro and older models. That can help with demanding games, cellular data throughput and running AI models on the device.
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