Editorials · Reviewer Insight
I used the iPhone 18 Pro every day: here are the real battery life numbers
Are we getting a real battery life boost this year or not?
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
iPhone 18 Pro in Burgundy | Image by PhoneArena
It's been a couple of weeks since I switched to the iPhone 18 Pro as my daily driver, moving over from an iPhone 17 Pro, and the one question I was most curious about was this: has the battery life really improved this year?
In previous years, Apple has been steadily increasing the battery size in its smaller Pro iPhones, but with this latest iPhone 18 Pro, the change is tiny.
*I used a global iPhone 18 Pro model.
At the time of recording the data, the phone was at 100% battery health.
Just take a look at the evolution:
| Model | Battery size | Change |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 13 Pro | 3,095 mAh | |
| iPhone 14 Pro | 3,200 mAh | +3.4% |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 3,274 mAh | +2.3% |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 3,582 mAh | +9.4% |
| iPhone 17 Pro | 4,252 mAh US model with eSIM 3,988 mAh Global model | +18.7% for US model +11.3% for Global model |
| iPhone 18 Pro | 4,288 mAh US model with eSIM 4,056 mAh Global model* | +1% for US model +2% for Global model |
Last year's iPhone 17 Pro was a massive leap in battery size, while the iPhone 18 Pro battery has barely changed.
That sounds disappointing, but specs don't always translate directly to real-world improvements. And Apple made some big claims this year, saying that the small iPhone 18 Pro can last as long as an iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Well, I started tracking my usage in daily life, and here is what I actually got:
Victor's iPhone 18 Pro Battery Diary:
| Day | Drain | Screen time |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday | 71% | 2h 56m |
| Friday | 97% | 6h 26m |
| Saturday | 92% | 5h |
| Sunday | 87% | 5h 10m |
Images by PhoneArena
And here is a breakdown of my usage day by day. These few days I was traveling, so I was using the phone a bit more than usual, relying on Google Maps for navigation, so you have some additional drain from using GPS. I was also taking lots of photos, which seems to drain the battery particularly quickly.
Average Screen Time: What the numbers say
When I average out my usage over the past week, here are the numbers that I get:
- iPhone 18 Pro Average screen time per 100%: 5 hours and 38 minutes (vs 5 hours and 20 minutes for iPhone 17 Pro)
In practice, that means the iPhone 18 Pro comfortably lasts a full day for my usage, but it is not a massive change from the iPhone 17 Pro.
Also, importantly, I'm not getting anywhere near iPhone 17 Pro Max battery life!
Last year, I did the same real-world battery life experiment with the 17 Pro Max and I got 9 hours and 23 minutes of real-world battery life, which is still much, much longer than the 18 Pro.
How does this compare with your iPhone usage? Are you seeing similar numbers, or is your screen time different?
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