Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

Naviest said:
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.
Click to expand...
I have always been weird about keeping my phone charged to 90%+ all the time. I don’t leave it on the charger overnight though, but my phone rarely dips under 90%, and I have never had battery degradation issues so far as I can tell since Apple has allowed battery health status. My 11 Pro is 12 months old now and battery health is still 100%. My wife on the other hand never has kept her phone charged up and frequently is in the 40%-70% charged up range, and has always had significantly more battery wear. Make of that what you will. Her 11 Pro is now at 93% battery health and she got hers February of this year. 54670A44-6369-4D74-87CF-B9CD5435B2E3.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: vistokid
Thats kind of disappointing. I truly loved the 11 pro battery life and an hour less is pretty significant honestly. A step backward for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: clunkmess and menist
Amazing Iceman said:
if it wasn’t for Apple’s obsession to make it thinner and thinner, we would now have a more lasting battery
Click to expand...
In case of iPhone 12 Apple's hand might have been pushed towards trying to make the phone slimmer. Whatever everyone thinks about the boxy design, it can only work for slim device. If the phone is boxy and thick, it's really uncomfortable to hold.
 
Stangy123 said:
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.
Click to expand...
This is an interesting point and might bear fruit in further battery testing. If the phone can do the same amount of work with less power used that is a counterbalance.
 
My XR is a battery champ. Two years old, 94% battery health. Back in the days when we traveled, I could get through an entire day of airports, calls, meetings, and have like 40% battery left.
 
matamoris said:
My XR is a battery champ. Two years old, 94% battery health. Back in the days when we traveled, I could get through an entire day of airports, calls, meetings, and have like 40% battery left.
Click to expand...

How did you do that? Mine is like a year old and has 86% left.
 
GuruZac said:
I have always been weird about keeping my phone charged to 90%+ all the time. I don’t leave it on the charger overnight though, but my phone rarely dips under 90%, and I have never had battery degradation issues so far as I can tell since Apple has allowed battery health status. My 11 Pro is 12 months old now and battery health is still 100%. My wife on the other hand never has kept her phone charged up and frequently is in the 40%-70% charged up range, and has always had significantly more battery wear. Make of that what you will. Her 11 Pro is now at 93% battery health and she got hers February of this year.View attachment 972227
Click to expand...
I got my 11 in November 2019 and I've generally only charged it overnight, but on a 5W wireless charger (didn't care to upgrade to a 7.5W version since the 5W charger gets the job done). It varies by day but my charge level has rarely dropped below 50% and I've never run it below 20%. I'm still at 99% battery health almost a year later.

From what I understand fully discharging your battery is the worst thing you can do to it that will degrade it, followed by heat (fast charging, especially from a low charge level generates more heat). I personally won't be jumping on the fast charge craze as I like to keep my batteries healthy too :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rashy and GuruZac
Launch day iPhone 11 Pro here and still on 100% capacity. To be honest there’s so many variables on actual battery quality itself this test isn’t really that accurate because obviously my battery had a greater capacity to start with and some peoples have less from new so we can’t really say that those numbers are absolutely spot-on. It does mean though if the 12 pro had the same size battery it will probably last longer than the 11 pro.
 
shadyman said:
How did you do that? Really interested since I want to keep my battery health as high as possible.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure. Maybe that I use 95% of the time (ie, for overnight charging) a 5-W wired charger (charging slower should be better for the battery)? Maybe because my phone is quite often not in a pocket, incl. when I am outside (that might keep it a bit cooler which should also be better for the battery)?

BTW, coconutBattery shows a cycle count of close to 200. It also shows that my full charge capacity is a couple of percent higher than the design capacity. How that is possible, I don't know. Maybe there is something like variability from battery pack to battery pack during manufacturing and I got lucky with a battery where all internal components just work perfectly together.

P.S.: And I also rarely draw down the battery very low, frequently recharging it during the day if I fall below 50%.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: shadyman
Chompineer said:
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.
Click to expand...

No, typically the shrink results in the same or higher power consumption.

For example, A14 is clocked 15% faster at 3.0 GHz compared to 2.65 GHz for A13.
 
I can understand both sides of the argument here; normal use = doesn’t matter v power user = more charging, but on balance, can you imagine if an electric vehicle manufacturer brought out its new models with circa 15% less range?
 
My launch day iphone X has 96% capacity... Rarely used Wireless charging, seems to heat up phone too much for my liking.

Just picked up my iphone 12 pro today at Apple Store... strange there were only 2 people in line.
I had a 10:15 in-store pickup, so I was in and out.
 
My XS is at 87% health. I routinely use 150% plus battery a day and constantly have to keep it charged. I was hoping for 11 pro battery life. Hoping my 12 pro isn't too bad.
 
The 11 Pro is a great buy now for a lot of people. Phenomenal battery life, an 18w charger in the box, and subjectively as good as the 12 Pro in areas that matter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GuruZac and vistokid
Pretty much confirm my feeling when rumors of the 12 having a smaller battery. Mines is still enroute, we’ll see if I keep it.
 
Strelok said:
Every night on wireless charger, sometimes I charge in the car to/from work or lunch, rarely have I used the fast charger. I’m at 89% after 1 year. I’ve been using my phone a lot more the past year though, so that could have something to do with it.
Click to expand...

I charge mine every night on a wired Apple’s 5W charger with optimised charging (or whatever it is called) enabled. Then I also randomly top-it up in a car, also with a cable. The obvious difference between our charging patterns is wired/wireless charging, so I would look into the wireless charger you use? Apparently, any wireless chargers generate more heat than the wired ones, so batteries can deteriorate faster when overheating.
 
Last edited:
At the end of the day I don't think it matters as long as it lasts all day. I can use my 11 Pro Max all day every day and the battery will last. IF that's not the case with the 12, with 5G off, then its certainly very disappointing but not surprising. You put in a smaller battery and a larger screen you are going to get less battery life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back