Apple spent its September 9 keynote building up the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max as the longest-lasting iPhones it has ever built. The pitch centered on a new A20 Pro chip built on a 2-nanometer process and a C2 modem that Apple says uses 15 percent less power than the C1X modem inside the iPhone 17 Pro.
Independent lab testing backs up some of that story, though the real-world gains land well short of Apple’s marketing numbers. Both phones went through a standard battery drain test by Tom’s Guide that cycles through websites over a cellular connection at 150 nits of brightness until each phone shuts off.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max Lasted 18 Hours and 27 Minutes in Lab Testing
The iPhone 18 Pro Max ran for 18 hours and 27 minutes in that test, and the iPhone 18 Pro managed 16 hours and 17 minutes. Both numbers beat their predecessors, but not by much.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 33 minutes longer than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, a 3.1 percent gain. The iPhone 18 Pro fared slightly better against its predecessor, outlasting the iPhone 17 Pro by 56 minutes for a 6.1 percent jump.
| Phone | Lab Battery Life |
|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | 18h 27m |
| iPhone 17 Pro Max | 17h 54m |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | 17h 17m |
| iPhone 18 Pro | 16h 17m |
| iPhone 17 Pro | 15h 21m |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 14h 7m |
Apple’s own video playback ratings tell a rosier story. The company rates the iPhone 18 Pro Max at up to 45 hours of video playback. That is a 15 percent increase over the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 39-hour rating. The iPhone 18 Pro is rated at up to 36 hours, up 9 percent from the iPhone 17 Pro’s 33 hours.
Apple also introduced a new typical use metric this year. It factors in messaging, photos, games, and browsing rather than pure video playback. On that scale, the iPhone 18 Pro is rated at up to 24 hours and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at up to 30 hours.
Regulatory filings put the iPhone 18 Pro’s battery at 4,056 mAh and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at 5,391 mAh.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max Beats Samsung and Google, but Not OnePlus
The same lab test found the iPhone 18 Pro Max holding up well against Samsung and Google. It beat the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 16 hours and 40 minutes by 1 hour and 47 minutes, and it beat the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL’s 14 hours and 28 minutes by close to 4 hours.
The smaller iPhone 18 Pro also fared well. It trailed the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra by just 23 minutes despite being a noticeably smaller phone with less room for a large battery.
| Phone | Lab Battery Life |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 15 | 25h 13m |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max | 18h 27m |
| Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra | 16h 40m |
| iPhone 18 Pro | 16h 17m |
| Google Pixel 11 Pro XL | 14h 28m |
Neither iPhone came close to the OnePlus 15. It ran for 25 hours and 13 minutes, beating the iPhone 18 Pro Max by more than 6.5 hours. That result comes from a 7,300 mAh silicon-carbon battery, a chemistry that packs more energy into the same physical space than the lithium-ion cells Apple still uses.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max Charges to 50 Percent in 15 Minutes
Charging speed also improved this year. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reach 50 percent charge in about 15 minutes with a 60-watt or higher USB-C power adapter that supports Adjustable Voltage Supply. A 35-watt adapter gets the same 50 percent mark in about 30 minutes, and wireless charging tops out at 25 watts over MagSafe or Qi2.
The iPhone 18 Pro Max picked up one more trick this year. A 5-minute charge on that phone adds up to 7 hours of video playback, which Apple positions as a quick top-off before a long flight.
Our Take
An 18-hour real-world result for the iPhone 18 Pro Max is solid, and Apple’s 2-nanometer chip and larger battery promise seems to stick. Samsung and Google trail Apple on raw endurance, and that gap looks safe for at least another generation.
OnePlus wins with its A 7,300 mAh silicon-carbon battery beating Apple’s best phone by more than 6.5 hours which shows that lithium-ion is close to its ceiling. Silicon-carbon cells look like Apple’s best path to a battery life lead in future generations.
