Iphone 18 pro's battery capacity: a disappointing upgrade

Apple's latest flagship, the iPhone 18 Pro, was expected to bring a substantial upgrade in battery life, but a recent leak suggests otherwise.

Two different capacities, but not enough

A post from the prolific Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station claims that the company is testing two different battery capacities for the Chinese and US markets.

The US version features a larger 4,288mAh battery, while the Chinese edition carries a 4,056mAh cell. However, the difference is relatively negligible, as the eSIM version of last year's iPhone 17 Pro had a 4,252mAh battery, which is only 36mAh less than the expected capacity of the iPhone 18 Pro.

Meanwhile, the non-US iPhone 18 Pro, which will have a physical SIM, boasts a 68mAh upgrade over last year's 3,988mAh battery.

While the battery capacity may not be the game-changer many were hoping for, the A20 Pro chip inside the iPhone 18 Pro models is expected to bring notable efficiency gains with its 2nm process. This could still result in improved battery life compared to the iPhone 17 Pro.

Still, it's disappointing that Apple hasn't followed the lead of Chinese manufacturers like OnePlus and Xiaomi, which offer significantly larger batteries in their flagship devices.