Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
This is how much bigger your iPhone 16 batteries are
- The battery capacity of the iPhone 16 series has been revealed through regulatory filings.
- The iPhone 16 series comes with the following battery sizes: 3,561mAh (base), 4,674mAh (Plus), 3,582mAh (Pro), and 4,685mAh (Pro Max).
The iPhone 16 series goes on sale today in major markets around the world, competing against top Android flagships like the Pixel 9 series and the Galaxy S24 series. If you’ve got your hands on your new iPhone 16 or are deciding whether to take the plunge, you’d be glad to know that we finally have exact battery capacity information across the iPhone 16 lineup.
Apple doesn’t release the exact battery capacity of its phones. Instead, the company focuses on battery life as a comparison metric against preceding products in the lineup to show how much battery life has improved. While we appreciate the real-world focus of the released data, it makes comparing the latest iPhone 16 against iPhones older than the iPhone 15 difficult.
Thanks to Brazilian regulator Anatel (h/t BlogdoiPhone), we now know just how big the batteries are on the iPhone 16 series. Here’s how much battery you get:
- iPhone 16: 3,561mAh
- iPhone 16 Plus: 4,674mAh
- iPhone 16 Pro: 3,582mAh
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,685mAh
Here’s how the iPhone 16 series batteries compare to that of the iPhone 15 series:
| iPhone 15 series | iPhone 16 series | YoY Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Base model | iPhone 15 series 3,349mAh | iPhone 16 series 3,561mAh | YoY Change Up 6.34% |
Plus | iPhone 15 series 4,383mAh | iPhone 16 series 4,674mAh | YoY Change Up 6.64% |
Pro | iPhone 15 series 3,274mAh | iPhone 16 series 3,582mAh | YoY Change Up 9.40% |
Pro Max | iPhone 15 series 4,422mAh | iPhone 16 series 4,685mAh | YoY Change Up 5.95% |
The biggest physical increase is seen on the Pro, with a very good 9.4% YoY increase.
Apple officially only releases battery life figures, which are a sum total of increased battery capacity, better efficiency of the new processor, and better thermal dissipation on the phones. Here’s what Apple says about the iPhone 16 series vs the iPhone 15 series:
| iPhone 15 series | iPhone 16 series | |
|---|---|---|
Base model | iPhone 15 series Up to 20 hours | iPhone 16 series Up to 22 hours |
Plus | iPhone 15 series Up to 26 hours | iPhone 16 series Up to 27 hours |
Pro | iPhone 15 series Up to 23 hours | iPhone 16 series Up to 27 hours |
Pro Max | iPhone 15 series Up to 29 hours | iPhone 16 series Up to 33 hours |
Some of the biggest increases are seen on the Pro and the Pro Max, lining up with the increased battery sizes. The nominal voltage across the iPhone 16 lineup is 3.892V (base), 3.878V (Plus), 3.886V (Pro), and 3.875V (Pro Max).
Apple also does not disclose wired charging numbers for the iPhone. However, certification data suggests that all four phones in the iPhone 16 series support up to 45W fast charging. Apple does provide details on wireless charging. The iPhone 16 series supports Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W, Qi2 wireless charging up to 15W, and MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W.
Note that comparing the battery capacity on an iPhone against an Android flagship is like comparing apples to oranges, so to speak (pun intended). iPhones have an entirely different OS, which handles standby performance very differently. Apps on iPhones are also better optimized for performance since the target phones are limited in numbers, whereas optimizing apps on Android devices is a more herculean task, given the diversity of phone options.
So, we advise caution when comparing the purely technical battery capacity numbers between the two camps, as you’d be missing out on crucial context and deviating from real-world experience.
Did you get an iPhone 16? How has your battery life experience been? Let us know in the comments below!