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No improvement: Apple iPhone 18 Pro battery life disappoints vs iPhone 17 Pro in gaming

The Apple iPhone 18 Pro (left) and iPhone 18 Pro Max (right) weigh 211 g and 249 g, respectively.
ⓘ Dave2D
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro (left) and iPhone 18 Pro Max (right) weigh 211 g and 249 g, respectively.
Thanks to bigger batteries and the more power-efficient Apple A20 Pro SoC, Apple promises some excellent battery life gains for the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, Dave2D shows that the battery life improvements aren't as impressive as some might've imagined.
iPhone Apple Smartphone

Apple makes some bold claims regarding the battery life of the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple officially claims 45 hours of video playback for the eSIM-only iPhone 18 Pro Max and 36 hours for the iPhone 18 Pro. While Apple doesn’t officially advertise the battery capacities, reports suggest that the eSIM-only iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max carry a 4,288 mAh and 5,567 mAh battery, respectively.

However, despite packing larger batteries and a more efficient A20 Pro SoC, Dave2D shows that the battery life gain in demanding use cases remains small for the iPhone 18 Pro Max and non-existent for the iPhone 18 Pro.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max vs iPhone 17 Pro Max battery life

The YouTuber reports that, in Genshin Impact at 600 nits of screen brightness, the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max only lasted 23 minutes longer than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. So, the 9.4% bigger battery is undoubtedly helping here.

The battery life improvement was much more noticeable in lighter routine usage, as the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted for 17 hours and 19 minutes while browsing Reddit at 600 nits. The iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted for 15 hours and 36 minutes in the same scenario.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro battery life

The iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro have roughly identical battery capacities, as there is only a 36 mAh difference between the two. So, any battery life improvements we see on the iPhone 18 Pro will primarily come down to the efficiency gains provided by the Apple A20 Pro.

Coming in at 14 hours and 27 minutes, the iPhone 18 Pro lasted almost an hour longer than the iPhone 17 Pro in Dave2D’s Reddit loop test. However, the iPhone 18 Pro actually fell behind the iPhone 17 Pro while playing Genshin Impact, as the iPhone 18 Pro's battery life was 11 minutes shorter.

In short, the battery life upgrades enjoyed by the new iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max don’t seem to be that big. So, you might be disappointed if you were hoping for much better battery life.

Apple iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max battery life.
ⓘ Dave2D
Apple iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max battery life.
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> Expert reviews and news on laptops, smartphones and tech innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2026 09 > No improvement: Apple iPhone 18 Pro battery life disappoints vs iPhone 17 Pro in gaming
Fawad Murtaza, 2026-09-17 (Update: 2026-09-17)