Apple's Pro Max Clocks 18 Hours Of Battery Life, OnePlus Runs Longer

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max ran 18 hours and 27 minutes in a browsing battery test, beating Samsung and Google flagships but trailing the OnePlus 15.

Key Points:

The iPhone 18 Pro Max gained only 33 minutes on last year's model in a web browsing endurance test.

The OnePlus 15 lasted more than six hours longer on a silicon carbon battery.

Apple's own video playback ratings promise gains far larger than browsing tests show.

iPhone 18 Pro Battery Test

The results were published Sept. 16 and came from an automated script that browses the web over a cellular connection at 150 nits of screen brightness until the handset shuts off.

That left the Pro Max 33 minutes ahead of last year's iPhone 17 Pro Max, a rise of roughly 3%. The smaller iPhone 18 Pro reached 16 hours and 17 minutes, or 56 minutes more than its predecessor.

A second outlet reported the same two figures from a near-identical procedure that switches off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, location services and the battery management built into iOS. Both cite European capacities of 4,056 mAh for the Pro and 5,391 mAh for the Pro Max, the sizes Apple disclosed under EU energy labelling rules.

Against Android rivals the Pro Max led the Galaxy S26 Ultra by an hour and 47 minutes and finished nearly four hours ahead of the Pixel 11 Pro XL. The compact iPhone 18 Pro trailed Samsung's much larger handset by only 23 minutes. Neither iPhone touched the OnePlus 15, which lasted 25 hours and 13 minutes on a 7,300 mAh silicon carbon cell.

Also Read: Tesla Stakes Its Oct. 1 Roadster Reveal Against Wall Street's Margin Math

Nield Questions Apple Claims

Apple rates the Pro Max for up to 45 hours of video playback against 39 hours a year ago, and it bills that as the largest battery life increase in iPhone history. The smaller Pro moves from 33 rated hours to 36.

David Nield, who ran the second test, said buyers should not expect gains on that scale unless they watch video in long stretches between charges. Apple's own small print concedes that every battery claim depends on network configuration and a range of other factors. Testers who leaned on video did record far bigger jumps.

A 4K playback run reportedly pushed the Pro Max beyond 30 hours, more than eight hours clear of the model it replaces. Raymond Wong wrote that the larger phone proved almost impossible to drain across two full days of moderate use, despite running the same chip as its smaller sibling.

iPhone Endurance Track Record

Apple's largest phone has crept forward on the browsing test for three straight years.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max lasted 17 hours and 17 minutes, then the 17 Pro Max added 37 minutes on top of that. Charging has moved faster than endurance, and one test showed a full charge in 55 minutes against 81 minutes for the previous generation.

Alexey Bondarev

Alexey Bondarev is the Head of Content at Yellow.com, having reported on crypto for the last 10 years. He specializes in in-depth Research and Learn pieces, with a focus on analytical reporting, industry context, and the bigger forces shaping crypto, from the AI era and security technologies to fintech innovation. He believes that everything digital will imminently overcome everything analogue and is working hard to make that come true.