iPhone 18 battery: All you need to know
Here's what we know of the iPhone 18 battery capacities so far.
Apple is typically upgrading battery sizes with every generation. | Image by PhoneArena
This year, Apple will be doing a lot of "firsts".
The company will be scoring a new CEO for the first time in more than a decade. Apple will also be releasing its first foldable iPhone. Finally, we aren't going to receive a regular iPhone this year as Apple will push its release back to early 2027.
That's quite a lot of firsts, but regardless, we are still getting a number of new iPhones this fall.
Aside from the foldable iPhone 18 Ultra, we are also going to see the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max flagship models. Currently, a number of upgrades is rumored for the two devices, including an Apple A20 Pro chipset, a camera with variable aperture, a bold new red color, and finally, potentially larger batteries on both models.
Here's everything we know about the larger batteries likely making it to the upcoming iPhone models.
iPhone Ultra
Apple's first foldable phone will most certainly make use of a dual-cell battery, with each one positioned in either half of the device. This split design would allow a larger total capacity to be used, which is something you can't really do with a standard rigid battery.
And the rumor mill agrees that the iPhone Ultra will easily pack the largest battery on an iPhone so far, with estimates varying between 5,400 and 5,800 mAh, which would easily place the foldable in the upper echelons of battery prowess. Sure, it's not in silicon-carbon territory just yet, but iPhones are getting close to there, surely.
Current rival devices boast smaller batteries: 4,400 mAh on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and 5,015 mAh inside the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Their successor probably wouldn't be equipped with much larger batteries either, so the iPhone has the potential to be among the foldable phones with the largest battery in the US. Only the Motorola Razr Fold could stand higher with its 6,000 mAh battery.
However, Apple might have a leg up in terms of battery life thanks to its upcoming Apple A20 Pro chip, and that would make it inside the iPhone Ultra. Built on a 2nm node, it will introduce new levels of efficiency and performance, which always play a big role in battery endurance. The Apple C2 modem will also boost the efficiency.
iPhone 18 Pro Max
Rumors put a battery in the 5,100-5,200 mAh range inside the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is pretty safe to expect given that the iPhone 17 Pro Max arrived with a 5,088 mAh in the eSIM-only model.
But the rumors also claim that even the physical SIM model will have a battery larger than 5,000 mAh, which is excellent news and spells one thing only: potentially excellent battery life for the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
| Model | Battery size |
|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro Max w/ physical SIM card / China model | >5,000 mAh |
| iPhone 18 Pro Max w/ eSIM / US model | 5,100-5,200 mAh |
The difference will be in favor of the eSIM model, which will simply have more internal space for a slightly larger battery. The battery life benefit of the slightly larger battery probably wouldn't be that major, but it's always worth considering the model with the larger battery if one's available in your region. As they say, there's no replacement for displacement.
iPhone 18 Pro
According to the rumors, the iPhone 18 Pro will be scoring a battery that's just modestly larger than the one inside the iPhone 17 Pro.
We will be getting a 4,056 mAh battery inside the iPhone 18 Pro model with a physical SIM card, whereas the US and eSIM-only variant in other regions will be equipped with a larger 4,288 mAh battery. The difference stems from the extra physical space required for the SIM slot.
| Model | Battery size |
|---|---|
| iPhone 18 Pro w/ physical SIM card / China model | 4,056 mAh (+68 mAh vs iPhone 17 Pro w/ physical SIM) |
| iPhone 18 Pro w/ eSIM / US model | 4,288 mAh (+36 mAh vs iPhone 17 w/ Pro eSIM) |
That's a fairly tiny intergenerational battery upgrade. That's especially true if you compare the massive jump from the iPhone 16 Pro's 3582 mAh battery to the 3,998 mAh one on the iPhone 17 Pro.
Of course, the numbers are unconfirmed as of now because they're based on leaks and rumors.
iPhone 18
As the iPhone 18 is coming in early 2027, we don't have any credible rumors or leaks regarding its battery size.
As we don't expect a major redesign or any other massive hardware change, it's safe to assume that the device would pack a battery similar or just slightly larger than the 3,692 mAh one inside the iPhone 17.
Probably something in the 3,750-3,800 mAh range, which wouldn't result in a massively better battery life, but it's still a step in the right direction.
More information about the device will likely surface by late 2026, when the iPhone 18 will be the talk of the town.
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