Leaked Apple iPhone 14 battery capacities raise some eyebrows but iPhone 14 Pro Max battery life should still be stellar

A known leaker has got hold of what are supposedly the battery capacities for each of the Apple iPhone 14 models. According to a tweet by ShrimpApplePro (with information sourced from the Chinese search engine giant Baidu), the iPhone 14 will receive a 3,279-mAh battery while the iPhone 14 Max gets a 4,325-mAh cell. A 3,200-mAh unit is apparently headed to the iPhone 14 Pro while the iPhone 14 Pro Max has to settle for a battery with a 4,323-mAh capacity. Not only is that latter figure slightly lower than the iPhone 14 Max’s battery, it is also lower than the 4,352-mAh battery found in the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Obviously, apart from the fact that the data might be fake, the details have raised some eyebrows among followers and commenters, wondering why Apple would even consider fitting the iPhone 14 Pro Max with a lower-capacity battery. However, with some deeper digging not only is there precedent for such a move, but it also makes sense when considering iPhone 13 vs. iPhone 13 Pro battery life performance and the rumored upgrades coming to the iPhone 14 series. Starting with precedence, the iPhone 12 actually had a lower-capacity battery inside it than the previous-generation iPhone 11 (2,815 mAh vs. 3,110 mAh) and yet Apple claims both offer up to 17 hours of video playback despite the capacity differences. The iPhone 12 Pro Max also had a smaller battery capacity than the iPhone 11 Pro Max (see table below).

Apple can make this battery life claim because of the improvements made over each generation, and it is likely the same can be said for the iPhone 14 series. For example, the iPhone 14 Pro models are expected to sport a new A16 chip that should offer some efficiency improvements over its predecessor. On top of that, the potentially battery-life-draining displays of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max should be rescued by ProMotion technology that will help the devices last longer thanks to adaptive refresh rates. In addition, there is also a rumor that the iPhone 14 Pro smartphones will utilize a vapor chamber cooling system, which would certainly help extend their battery life.

If that’s not enough to soothe worried Apple fan brows then there’s also evidence that the Pro devices can still keep up with their non-Pro siblings despite the seemingly incongruous battery capacity differences. In a battery test video published by PhoneBuff, the iPhone 13 Pro offered slightly greater battery life in numerous tests (including gaming, browsing, and video playing) than the iPhone 13 despite the latter having a larger-capacity battery than the former (3,227-mAh vs. 3,100-mAh). Although a pinch of salt is required for this particular leak, it can be seen by adding all these details together why another leaker claimed the iPhone 14 Pro devices would produce “+2 h 10 minutes” of extra battery life.

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