iPhone 11 Pro Outlasts iPhone 12 and 12 Pro in Extensive Battery Life Test

[MacRumors]

Arun Maini today shared a new side-by-side iPhone battery life video test on his YouTube channel Mrwhosetheboss, timing how long the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models last on a single charge compared to older models, with equal brightness, settings, battery health, and usage. All of the devices are running iOS 14 without a SIM card inserted.

In the test, the iPhone 11 Pro outlasted both the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, despite being a smaller 5.8-inch device. When the iPhone 12 Pro ran out of battery, the iPhone 11 Pro still had 18% battery life remaining, and when the iPhone 12 powered off, the iPhone 11 Pro still had 14% battery life remaining.

The final rankings ended up as follows:

• iPhone 11 Pro Max: 8 hours and 29 minutes
• iPhone 11 Pro: 7 hours and 36 minutes
• iPhone 12: 6 hours and 41 minutes
• iPhone 12 Pro: 6 hours and 35 minutes
• iPhone 11: 5 hours and 8 minutes
• iPhone XR: 4 hours and 31 minutes
• iPhone SE (2020): 3 hours and 59 minutes

These rankings are of course missing the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro mini, which will be available to pre-order starting November 6.

Teardowns and regulatory filings have revealed that the entire iPhone 12 lineup features slightly lower battery capacities. iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models share a 2,815 mAh battery, for example, while the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are equipped with 3,110 mAh and 3,046 mAh batteries, respectively.

While the more power efficient A14 Bionic chip in Apple's latest iPhones helps to offset the lower battery capacities, this test shows that the iPhone 11 Pro still lasts longer than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro under heavy, continuous usage.

Apple's tech specs indicate that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro provide up to 17 hours of video playback, compared to up to 18 hours on the iPhone 11 Pro, so Apple does acknowledge that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro have slightly less battery life.

It will be interesting to see a real-world battery life test for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, as Apple's tech specs suggest that the device has equal battery life as the iPhone 11 Pro Max, at least based on its own metrics. Apple lists both devices as providing up to 20 hours of video playback and up to 80 hours of audio playback.

Article Link: iPhone 11 Pro Outlasts iPhone 12 and 12 Pro in Extensive Battery Life Test

 

[Chrjy]

My X is saying battery is at 90% capacity so I'm sure I'll see some improvements either way.

 

[jermwhl]

I think most days my phone has 75% plus remaining on battery. I don’t think this will affect me.

 

[dannyyankou]

• iPhone 11 Pro Max: 8 hours and 29 minutes
• iPhone 11 Pro: 7 hours and 36 minutes
• iPhone 12: 6 hours and 41 minutes
• iPhone 12 Pro: 6 hours and 35 minutes

Yikes, that’s a huge difference. And the phones are on WIFI so it’s not even 5G related. I’m curious to see how the 12 Pro Max does.

 

[Stromos]

Oof. Not sure what else to say.

 

[Naviest]

I hope the battery quality is better than the iPhone 11 Pro's, I had it less than a year and its battery health is @ 85% maximum capacity.

 

[mtneer]

Is this with 5G turned on/ turned off or auto? Just trying to read a little deeper into the numbers.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

if it wasn’t for Apple’s obsession to make it thinner and thinner, we would now have a more lasting battery

 

[PlainviewX]

Who would have thought that having a smaller battery in a phone that has more features/processes would result in less battery life?

 

[manu chao]

Yikes, that’s a huge difference. And the phones are on WIFI so it’s not even 5G related. I’m curious to see how the 12 Pro Max does.

The Pro looses one hour while the non-Pro gains 1.5 hours. Does going from LCD to OLED help the non-Pro?

 

[f0ku5]

It seems that 12 have better battery life than 11? I was quite happy with battery life on my 11 so I guess I'm okay with these results

 

[djcerla]

So, the regular 12 has much better battery life than the 11? That’s the real news then.

Edit: ninja’d!

 

[theyearof84]

I hope the battery quality is better than the iPhone 11 Pro's, I had it less than a year and its battery health is @ 85% maximum capacity.

Maybe you just have a **** charging schedule, because I have a day one 11 Pro and I'm still at 99% capacity.

 

[transpo1]

Yikes, that’s a huge difference. And the phones are on WIFI so it’s not even 5G related. I’m curious to see how the 12 Pro Max does.

Same. I hope this article is updated once the 12 Pro Max becomes available. I love the battery life of the 11 Pro Max and it was the best "feature" of last year's phones.

 

[MG999]

Is this with 5G turned on/ turned off or auto? Just trying to read a little deeper into the numbers.

Its with 5G and Auto 5G turned off. He says that he wanted to keep it comparable so kept that feature off.

 

[Cookie18]

The iPhone 12 compared to the 11 is killing it.

 

[Chambers McMac]

Oof. Not sure what else to say.

Hold on to your iPhone 11 Pro for another year?

 

[Chompineer]

Who would have thought that having a smaller battery in a phone that has more features/processes would result in less battery life?

Typically it tends to be a wash due to die process shrink leading to higher efficiency.

There’s a lot more variables to battery life than size.

 

[Cosmosent]

My 11 Pro Max is a Gem when it comes to Battery Life !

For Full-Res 12 Mpx Burst Photography, it's an Absolute Gem !

Also, just saw some STATs out of China on CNBC, about User Preference ... in order, 12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, & the 12 mini.

12 mini is NOT desirable in China ... I wonder if the Battery Life has anything to do with that ... I suspect NOT, but it might.

 

[kylelerner]

Not that anyone cares, but I was disappointedly, largely unimpressed with the new iPhones this year. The MagSafe cases are flimsy per MKBHD’s testing, I couldn’t care less about 5G or LiDAR, and the differences in the new form factor will be covered by a case.

I know “then don’t buy one,” or “why even comment,” well, fair point, but - seeing this battery test just makes it even more disappointing.

I wish we would’ve seen a smaller notch and a higher display refresh rate.

just my $0.02

 

[DotCom2]

This might influence buyers coming from 11's but for those like me who have XS Max or older, this will still be a welcome increase in battery life. My XS Max currently is at 91% battery health. Can't wait to get my 12 Pro Max!

 

[sajlonix]

why tf should I buy a "Pro" when there is not so much difference and also low-end 12 iphone is holding better in this test.. so disappointed

"A14 iS mOrE BattEry EfFiciEnT" LMFAO ???

 

[csalm87]

I hope the battery quality is better than the iPhone 11 Pro's, I had it less than a year and its battery health is @ 85% maximum capacity.

I hope so as well. My 11 Pro Max is at 95% battery health with little less than a year use. My XS Max stayed at 100 with the same use and age.

 

[neilw]

The battery life on my 11 Pro amazes me. I almost never need to charge during the day anymore, even with heavier usage during the pandemic. I could definitely live with less and still be totally fine.

I am most curious about the battery life on the 12 mini.

 

[Stangy123]

These tests are misleading because they don’t actually measure the amount of work actually done by the phone. When the benchmark is complete the phone should really shut off. For example each benchmark on the 12pro may have run 15 times in the allotted time, on the 11pro maybe only 13 times.