After months of leaks and rumors, Apple finally unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at its recently held Surprise and Shine event. The company shared detailed information about almost all the specifications of both devices, like their dimensions, screen material, CPU architecture, and more. However, it continued its tradition of not revealing the exact battery numbers of its smartphones.
The good news is that you don't have to wonder what the battery capacity of the latest iPhones is, as the EU energy database has revealed the exact numbers. Interestingly, the data also reveals that the iPhone 18 Pro phones lag behind some of their main Android rivals in an important department.
Battery capacity of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
While talking about the battery capacity of the latest iPhone Pro models, Apple only shared that both devices would offer a full day of battery life. The company goes on to further mention that the Pro variant would offer 36 hours of video playback, whereas the Pro Max model delivers 45 hours of run time when watching videos. Other than this, no details were shared about exactly how big the batteries in the new iPhones are.
The European Union's EPREL, however, has recently shared the exact battery figures of both iPhones. According to the shared data, the iPhone 18 Pro features a 4,056 mAh battery, whereas the iPhone 18 Pro Max comes with a 5,391 mAh cell. The numbers have been upgraded in both models, but the Pro Max variant is the one that has seen a major jump.
Recommended For You
For reference, the iPhone 17 Pro features a 3,988 mAh battery, meaning there's an incremental increase of just 68 mAh in its successor. The iPhone 17 Pro Max packs a 4,823 mAh cell, meaning you get a 568 mAh bigger battery in its successor. All that said, all these battery figures are for the global iPhone variant.
Which latest iPhone are you thinking of getting?
15 Votes
The US model usually has a slightly bigger battery capacity than the global iPhone variant, as the former doesn't come with a physical SIM slot. For instance, the iPhone 17 Pro Max US variant has a 5,088 mAh cell, which is 265 mAh more than the global model. The scene would most likely be similar this year as well, and the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max US model battery capacities might be slightly bigger than what the EU energy database has revealed.
The latest iPhones fall behind in long-term battery health
The new iPhone Pro models win the battle against the Samsung Galaxy S26 models in raw battery numbers. For reference, the Galaxy S26 Ultra packs a 5000 mAh cell, which is 391 mAh less than what you get in the iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, Samsung takes the lead when it comes to battery longevity.
The European Union EPREL database reveals that the iPhone 18 Pro models' battery health will reach 80% after 1000 charging cycles. That's like a 20% loss after 3 years, given you maintain an average of one full cycle per day. You get a similar number in the recently released Pixel 11 lineup as well.
The Galaxy S26 series, however, offers 1,200 charging cycles. That means you get 200 additional cycles before the battery reaches the 80% threshold in the latest Galaxy phones. Certainly, plenty of extra factors like charging habits, temperature, and usage also play an important role in actual battery degradation.
The data simply reveal that if the iPhone 18 Pro models and the Galaxy S26 variants are measured under comparable conditions, the Samsung smartphones would end up defeating the Apple devices in battery longevity. Even the OnePlus 15, which was released last year, offers around 1400 charging cycles.
The iPhone 18 Pro could deliver seriously good battery life
While the latest iPhone Pro models don't receive any groundbreaking upgrades, the company has made some small but very important improvements that could ultimately help improve the device's overall runtime. For instance, the latest 2 nm A20 Pro chip delivers substantial efficiency gains. Thermals have been improved, and vapor cooling has also been added.
User appreciating the iPhone 18 Pro. | Image by Reddit
All of these enhancements should help the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max deliver better battery life than previous models. Many users on public online forums such as Reddit share this view.
Adopt the silicon-carbon technology, please
I am really impressed with Apple for offering a cell of more than 5,000 mAh in its new Pro models. The only thing that I now want from the tech giant is for it to start using silicon-carbon batteries, which could ultimately help in offering even bigger batteries. Samsung has already embraced them in its latest foldables, and there are also reports of their being used in the upcoming S27 lineup.
Google is also considering using the latest battery technology in its upcoming Pixel 12 series. So I believe it has now become more of a compulsion than a necessity for Apple if it really does not want to get mocked for remaining the only brand that does not adopt silicon-carbon technology.
Here are more iPhone 18 Pro series-related stories:
Aman Kumar is a news writer at PhoneArena covering Google Pixel phones, Android features, AI-powered smartphone tools, and mobile tech news. Before joining PhoneArena, he spent over five years writing about consumer technology for publications like MakeUseOf, How-To Geek, and Guiding Tech. His current daily drivers are the Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, while his red iPhone SE (2nd gen) remains a personal favorite. Aman also appreciates bold smartphone experiments and still considers the Nokia N-Gage one of the industry’s most iconic designs.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: