iPhone batteries compared: Capacity and watt hours for every model

Macworld

Here we list and explain the battery capacities of every iPhone from 2007’s original iPhone to the very latest iPhone 16 series.

Measuring iPhone battery life in straight hours of real-world usage (as Apple likes to do) is not an accurate metric for comparison purposes as so many use and environmental factors play a part.

We can, however, rely on straight technical specifications to tell us the battery capacities of each iPhone.

Apple is notoriously secretive about these battery specifications, mainly because smartphones from rivals such as Samsung boast much larger battery capacities. We can only discover the battery capacities by ripping the battery out of the phone and checking the specifications printed there.

These are measured in either Milliamp Hours (mAh) or Watt Hours (Wh).

Milliamp hours are a measure of electrical charge, while a watt-hour is equal to one watt of energy consumed for one hour of time. And it is the energy consumed that matters when we’re measuring actual battery life.

Learn how to properly charge a phone battery.

Wh is a more accurate and consistent way to compare the total amount of energy that similar types of batteries can store.

And it’s all about the battery voltage, which mAh ignores, which determines the wattage (power) of a battery.

If the mAh is the same, the higher the voltage, the greater the actual stored power.

Volts (V) are a measure of electric pressure. Amps (A) are a measure of current. Multiply V x A and you get Watts (W) that are a measure of power. So V × A = W.

You can convert watt hours (Wh) to milliamp hours (mAh) using this formula: (Wh x 1,000) divided by V = mAh.

The lithium batteries that power most portable electronics have a voltage of about 3.6V, but some external battery packs (such as Apple’s 7.62V MagSafe Battery Pack) boast a higher voltage, which means they actually carry more power than their mAh implies.

Here we list the battery capacity of every iPhone ever released in both mAh and Wh.

iPhone battery capacities

iPhone:                                   1400mAh                    5.18Wh

iPhone 3G:                             1150mAh                    4.25Wh

iPhone 3GS:                           1200mAh                    4.44Wh

iPhone 4:                                1420mAh                    5.3Wh

iPhone 4s                                1432mAh                    5.3Wh

iPhone 5:                                1440mAh                    5.45Wh

iPhone 5c                               1510mAh                    5.73Wh

iPhone 5s:                               1560mAh                    5.92Wh

iPhone 6:                                1810mAh                   6.9Wh

iPhone 6s:                               1715mAh                   6.91Wh

iPhone 6s Plus:                      2750mAh                    10.45Wh

iPhone SE:                              1624mAh                   6.21Wh

iPhone 7:                                1960mAh                   7.45Wh

iPhone 7 Plus:                        2900mAh                    11.1Wh

iPhone 8:                                1821mAh                    6.96Wh

iPhone 8 Plus:                        2961mAh                    10.28Wh

iPhone X:                               2716mAh                    10.35Wh

iPhone XR:                            2942mAh                    11.16Wh

iPhone XS:                             2658mAh                    10.13Wh

iPhone XS Max:                    3174mAh                    12.08Wh 

iPhone 11:                               3110mAh                    11.91Wh

iPhone 11 Pro:                       3046mAh                    11.67Wh

iPhone 11 Pro Max:              3969mAh                    15.04Wh

iPhone 12 mini:                     2227mAh                    8.57Wh

iPhone 12:                              2815mAh                    10.78Wh

iPhone 12 Pro:                       2815mAh                    10.78Wh

iPhone 12 Pro Max:              3687mAh                    14.13Wh

iPhone 13 mini:                     2438mAh                    9.34Wh

iPhone 13:                              3240mAh                    12.41Wh

iPhone 13 Pro:                       3095mAh                    11.97Wh

iPhone 13 Pro Max:              4352mAh                    16.75Wh

iPhone 14:                              3279mAh                    12.68Wh

iPhone 14 Plus:                     4325mAh                    16.68Wh

iPhone 14 Pro:                       3200mAh                    12.38Wh

iPhone 14 Pro Max:              4323mAh                    16.68Wh

iPhone 15:                              3,349mAh                    12.98Wh

iPhone 15 Plus:                     4,383mAh                    16.95Wh

iPhone 15 Pro:                       3,274mAh                    12.70Wh

iPhone 15 Pro Max:              4,422mAh                    17.11Wh

iPhone 16:                              3,561mAh                    13.7Wh

iPhone 16 Plus:                     4,674mAh                    18Wh

iPhone 16 Pro:                       3,582mAh                   13.8Wh

iPhone 16 Pro Max:              4,685mAh                    18Wh

MagSafe Battery Pack:        1460mAh                    11.13W

Check out the best iPhone chargers and USB-C iPhone charge cables in our test results.

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