Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max cuts conflicting figure in battery life tests thanks to Apple A17 Pro chipset

DxOMark has now analyzed the battery capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro Max (curr. $1,199.99 on Amazon), shortly after putting the Pixel 8 through its paces. While the latest Pro Max model does well in isolation, it only beats its predecessor by a single point. As a result, an overall score of 134 points puts the iPhone 15 Pro Max tied for 29th in DxOMark's overall leaderboard with the Galaxy S23 Plus, Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.

Seemingly, switching to a 3 nm chipset and a 2.7% larger battery has had little effect on overall battery life. By far the biggest point of criticism is the Apple A17 Pro's high power consumption when gaming. In this scenario, the iPhone 15 Pro Max needs recharging in under 7 hours, compared to 9:34 hours for its predecessor. In other words, the iPhone 14 Pro Max managed a 40% longer runtime in the same test compared to its successor. 

In fact, the iPhone 15 Pro Max managed to beat the iPhone 14 Pro Max in a single battery life test. Based on our testing, the newer Pro Max only lasted longer than its predecessor when subjected to low load. As is often the case with iPhones, the iPhone 15 Pro Max also takes a comparatively long time to recharge fully. Specifically, DxOMark observed that its unit took 2:01 hours to go from 0-100% when charging over USB Type-C but 2:36 hours on a wireless connection. Please see our iPhone 15 Pro Max review for more details.