iPhone 17 Pro Max The iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery: You Can't Win

[_Refurbished_]

I have seen many reviews over the years pertaining to battery life, specifically battery life compared to an iPhone from a previous year and how it stacks up. Tom's Guide offers great insight into how Apple treats a year old phone, with 100% health: they treat if awfully.

Apple has taken flack for "planned obsolescence" over the years and have made it seem as though they are actively making sure older hardware runs new software correctly. In terms of speed, they do a great job. The hidden bullet is battery life. Apple purposely makes iOS less efficient for a device the year after release. Then, when the new phones come out, make it seem as if the battery life is dramatically better....and it is ...until a new version of iOS comes out.

I've noticed this first hand with my 15 Pro Max. When I first received my Pro Max, it was a tank. An absolute beast that couldn't be destroyed. After a recent battery replacement, it's no where near what it was at launch. Not even close. Tom's Guide review helps prove this theory:

https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/ip...ry-life-test-results-are-in-this-blew-us-away

If you look at the battery test results, an iPhone 16 Pro Max, with 100% battery health, drops from about 18 hours to a little over 14 hours. That's an almost a 23% drop in one year! That's unacceptable and certainly on purpose. Naysayers will be naysayers, but I don't need to be convinced any further. Apple does this on purpose. Their battery numbers are a sham.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Apple writes the battery algorithm, they can make it look like anything they want. Just updating my 16PM to iOS 26 resulted in my battery showing fully charged way longer that it did before updating. It is all relative.

 

[WilliamG]

How on earth does Tom’s gloss over this disparity with a nonsense comment:

“Since we've held onto the iPhone 16 Pro Max since launch, we can see how the battery life has reduced after a year of use. It still reads as 100% healthy in the Settings app, but daily usage has still taken a toll.”

What does that even mean?!

 

[_Refurbished_]

How on earth does Tom’s gloss over this disparity with a nonsense comment:

“Since we've held onto the iPhone 16 Pro Max since launch, we can see how the battery life has reduced after a year of use. It still reads as 100% healthy in the Settings app, but daily usage has still taken a toll.”

What does that even mean?!

Right? They just skirt by a TWENTY THREE percent drop in battery life. And don’t give me “well the iPhone 17 series is designed for iOS 26”. And the 16 series magically isn’t? It’s not like we’re talking about an iPhone 11 or something. This is Apple’s $1200 behemoth from last year.

Apple has gotten away with this, pretty unscathed, for years. Momma didn’t raise no fool though. Every time I buy a new iPhone I feel like it solves my battery issues, because I’m basing it off of my initial experience. My initial experience is always great, and then 6 months in I’m back to charging my phone way more often. Don’t matter the phone, rinse and repeat. I’ve learned to live with this though, but it’s shady as all hell.

 

[jonku]

I still get great battery life from my launch 13PM, 92% health, always on latest os 🤷

I don’t believe the 92% health stat though, granted. More likely 82%. Not checked with Coconut Battery for a long time, I must do that before I retire it tomorrow.