In a world where every other smartphone vendor mentions the full set of specs for new devices, Apple is still afraid to discuss RAM and battery size during iPhone launch events. The iPhone 16 keynote came and went, and Apple still hasn’t addressed these key specs.
Apple did talk at great length about the A18 chips, making sure to say the A18 Pro is the best chip in the industry. The company also detailed memory bandwidth for the chips and said the iPhone 16 phones feature bigger batteries, and battery life got a “big boost.” But Apple stopped short of mentioning the amount of RAM on the new phones, and it didn’t provide any actual details surrounding that battery life claim.
Apple wants buyers to trust that the new iPhone will be dependable in terms of performance and battery. In real life, it doesn’t exactly work like that. Just ask all the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus buyers who discovered this year that their phones can’t run Apple Intelligence. Or the many iPhone 14 Pro owners who weren’t thrilled with how the battery aged rapidly after less than a year of use.
While you can’t do anything about the RAM in an iPhone, you might want to buy the handset that offers the best battery life if that’s a priority. Apple didn’t provide specific details about the iPhone 16 batteries during the event, but it does mention battery life estimates on its website. In what follows, I’ll show you how big of a boost you will get for each new iPhone 16 model.
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Apple could have displayed graphs on stage to explain the battery improvements, just like it did with the A18 performance. Those would have been more useful than saying things like “bigger battery,” “big boost in battery life,” or “iPhone 16 Pro Max has the best iPhone battery life ever.”
All these things are certainly true, or Apple wouldn’t have said them. However, since battery life is crucial to many iPhone buyers, it would have been better to get battery life estimates during the event. The alternative is hunting them down on Apple’s website.
The main specs and features for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. Image source: Apple Inc.
As for actual battery sizes, don’t expect to see that on Apple’s website. They have leaked already, yes. And the inevitable iPhone 16 teardowns on September 20th will probably confirm them.
Meanwhile, Apple offers estimates for video playback, video playback (streamed), and audio playback. Since Apple compared the A18’s performance with previous iPhones, going back to the iPhone 12, I looked at Apple’s battery estimates for the same iPhones.
Here’s how the new iPhone 16 battery life compares to older iPhones:
Video playback
iPhone battery life: Video playback estimates for iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 series. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
- iPhone 16 Pro Max – 33 hours
- iPhone 16 Pro – 27 hours
- iPhone 16 Plus – 27 hours
- iPhone 16 – 22 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro Max – 29 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro – 23 hours
- iPhone 15 Plus – 26 hours
- iPhone 15 – 20 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – 29 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro – 23 hours
- iPhone 14 Plus – 26 hours
- iPhone 14 – 20 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 28 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro – 22 hours
- iPhone 13 – 19 hours
- iPhone 13 mini – 17 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro Max – 20 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro – 17 hours
- iPhone 12 – 17 hours
- iPhone 12 mini – 15 hours
Video playback (streamed)
iPhone battery life: Video playback (streamed) estimates for iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 series. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
- iPhone 16 Pro Max – 29 hours
- iPhone 16 Pro – 22 hours
- iPhone 16 Plus – 24 hours
- iPhone 16 – 18 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro Max – 25 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro – 20 hours
- iPhone 15 Plus – 20 hours
- iPhone 15 – 16 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – 25 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro – 20 hours
- iPhone 14 Plus – 20 hours
- iPhone 14 – 16 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 25 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro – 20 hours
- iPhone 13 – 15 hours
- iPhone 13 mini – 13 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro Max – 12 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro – 11 hours
- iPhone 12 – 11 hours
- iPhone 12 mini – 10 hours
Audio playback
iPhone battery life: Audio playback estimates for iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 series. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
- iPhone 16 Pro Max – 105 hours
- iPhone 16 Pro – 85 hours
- iPhone 16 Plus – 100 hours
- iPhone 16 – 80 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro Max – 95 hours
- iPhone 15 Pro – 75 hours
- iPhone 15 Plus – 100 hours
- iPhone 15 – 80 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – 95 hours
- iPhone 14 Pro – 75 hours
- iPhone 14 Plus – 100 hours
- iPhone 14 – 80 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 95 hours
- iPhone 13 Pro – 75 hours
- iPhone 13 – 75 hours
- iPhone 13 mini – 55 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro Max – 80 hours
- iPhone 12 Pro – 65 hours
- iPhone 12 – 65 hours
- iPhone 12 mini – 50 hours
That should give you an idea of how big the iPhone 16’s battery boost is compared to your current model and other previous-generation iPhones. If battery life is your main concern, it should help you decide which new iPhone 16 to get.