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When Apple revealed the new iPhone 18 Pro at its September 2026 event, the company claimed that it had taken a huge leap in battery performance, thanks to the more efficient A20 Pro chip and a new battery design. Apple added that the iPhone 18 Pro can deliver the all-day battery life of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite being physically smaller. The iPhone 18 Pro Max, which has the advantage of size, would benefit from the biggest increase in battery life ever seen on an iPhone. But what does this increase mean in the real world, and is the iPhone 18 Pro’s battery life significantly better than its predecessor? On paper, the phone appears to offer a notable jump over the iPhone 17 Pro, and the same goes for the iPhone 18 Pro Max model.
According to Apple’s estimates, you can expect the iPhone 18 Pro to offer around 36 hours of local video playback on a single charge or 33 hours of video streaming, which is three hours more than the company claimed for the last generation model. The iPhone 18 Pro Max has a slightly bigger improvement and should last 45 hours of local video playback and 40 hours of video streaming. This is an increase of six hours for local playback and five hours for streaming on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. At least in terms of claimed figures, both Pro models appear capable of offering around 9-15% more battery backup than the last generation models. But does this increase hold up in real-world use?
How does the iPhone 18 Pro perform in real-world battery tests?
With early iPhone 18 Pro tests already available, we have real-world battery test results that reveal exactly what you can expect from both iPhone 18 Pro models. In TechRadar’s testing, which involved browsing on 5G with 150 nits screen brightness, the iPhone 18 Pro lasted 16.17 hours, an increase of about 6% over the iPhone 17 Pro’s 15.21 hours. The iPhone 18 Pro Max showed an even smaller increase of just 3%, lasting around 18.27 hours compared to its predecessor’s 17.54 hours.
Former WSJ reporter Joanna Stern also put the iPhone 18 Pro Max through its paces to test its battery life claims. In Stern’s testing, which involved an automated screen tap pressing a web page button on the iPhone’s screen at a constant interval, the iPhone 18 Pro Max lasted 18 hours and 57 minutes, compared to 18 hours and 23 minutes for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. That’s a 3% increase, which is roughly what TechRadar’s tests showed.
While everyone’s actual usage differs and many factors impact an iPhone’s battery life, from the iPhone’s signal strength to screen brightness, both iPhone 18 Pro models are more likely to offer modest improvements over their predecessors in battery life than any major game-changing improvements Apple’s marketing would have you believe. Still, both offer a day’s battery life with mixed use, which is enough for most people. Of course, if you’re a light user, you might be able to squeeze more out of it.
iPhone 18 Pro may charge faster than its predecessor
You might not get a huge battery boost over the iPhone 17 Pro in the latest model; However, the 18 Pro models can definitely charge faster. According to Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max can go from zero to 50% in just 15 minutes with a 60-watt compatible USB charger. In comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max take around 20 minutes to go from 0% to 50% with a 40-watt charger.
Although Apple hasn’t shared the exact charging speed of the newest iPhones, it’s likely faster than previous generation models which showed a charging speed of around 38W in third-party testing. You’ll either need Apple’s official 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with a maximum output of 60W to experience faster charging on iPhone 18 Pro models, or you can get a third-party 60W or higher-quality USB Power Delivery (USB PD) adapter. Like the iPhone 17 series, the iPhone 18 Pro models also support 25W MagSafe and Qi2 charging, which can take your iPhone from zero to 50% in about 30 minutes.
