Battery life can make or break a phone, and the iPhone 16 is absolutely no exception to that. But thankfully you don’t need to worry about it, because the entire iPhone 16 series has managed to exceed the battery life of their predecessors in our battery test — No doubt thanks to the larger batteries and the boosted power efficiency of the A18 and A18 Pro chips.
We put the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max through the Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves surfing the web over 5G at 150 nits of screen brightness. The iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Plus have risen to the top with some incredibly impressive results — making our best phone battery life list in the process. Here’s how the new iPhone 16 models’ battery life stacks up against their iPhone 15 counterparts, and rival flagships.
iPhone 16 battery life results: All four models compared
iPhone 16 battery life
The iPhone 16 clocked in at 12 hours and 43 minutes during our testing, meaning it has the weakest battery performance of the iPhone 16 series. That’s no surprise, really, considering this is also the cheapest iPhone 16 on sale. That said, we found that the iPhone 15 lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes during its own battery life testing, meaning that there’s been a noticeable improvement this year.
Unfortunately the iPhone 16 doesn’t quite match up to the lifespan of phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 (13 hours 28 minutes) or the Pixel 9 (13 hours 18 minutes). Considering Google has historically offered pretty atrocious battery life, it’s a little embarrassing that the iPhone 16 sits below it in the battery life league tables. Still, that’s mostly down to the work Google put into ensuring Pixel 9 battery life isn’t abysmal.
iPhone 16 Plus battery life
The iPhone 15 Plus isn’t the most popular member of its family, but there was no denying that its battery life was astounding — offering 14 hours and 14 minutes, and beating out the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 16 Plus isn’t the longest-lasting iPhone 16, but it still lasts over 2 hours longer, with a battery life of 16 hours and 29 minutes. Mighty impressive, and no doubt aided by the phone’s size accommodating a larger battery pack.
That just beat the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, which clocked in at 16 hours and 16 minutes, but not the OnePlus 12’s 17 hours 41 minutes. However, Apple has beaten out the entire Pixel 9 series, including its similarly-sized rival, the Pixel 9 Pro XL (14 hours 37 minutes).
iPhone 16 Pro battery life
The middle child of this year’s iPhones, the iPhone 16 Pro lasted 14 hours and 7 minutes on a single charge. That’s not quite enough to land it a spot on the best phone battery life list, but it’s still an impressive amount of battery — especially when you account for the iPhone 15 Pro’s meager 10 hours and 53 minutes.
The iPhone 16 Pro also outlived the Samsung Galaxy S24 (13:28), the Pixel 9 (13:18) and Pixel 9 Pro (13:37).
iPhone 16 Pro Max battery life
The iPhone 16 Pro Max managed to hit 18 hours and 6 minutes during our testing. Not only does that mean it has the best battery life of any iPhone Apple’s ever released, it also beats out almost every other phone we’ve tested. In fact, it was so good that we’re actually running the test again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.
If you’re after better battery life then your only options are the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro (18h 48m), the mid-range OnePlus 12R (18h 42m) and the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate (18h 32m). Everything else, whether you’re talking Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or even OnePlus 12, are essentially trailing in a cloud of Apple’s dust.
Bottom line
If you’re looking to maximize your battery life, while retaining all those features that make the iPhone so popular, then it looks like the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the phone to buy. Being able to last 18 hours of constant use means the odds of you running out of battery over the course of a single day are slim.
Of course the iPhone 16 Plus could offer a similar kind of experience without the cost. 16 and a half hours isn’t quite as impressive as 18-plus, but it should get you through a typical day more than comfortably. So if you have one of the best portable chargers, you may not need to use it very often.
