iPhone 14 Pro Max could be a downgrade in one major way

When a new model of a phone comes out we expect it to be an upgrade, and that’s certainly the case with iPhones, as each new model usually has some combination of improved and identical specs. But with the iPhone 14 Pro Max at least one spec might be slightly worse.

According to leaker ShrimpApplePro (opens in new tab), the phone has a 4,323mAh battery, which would be a slight downgrade on the 4,352mAh one in the iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s a small enough difference that it’s unlikely to have much impact on life, but it’s definitely a change in the wrong direction.

The source has also revealed the possible capacities of the other iPhone 14 models, with the standard iPhone 14 apparently having a 3,279mAh battery (up from 3,240mAh in the iPhone 13), the iPhone 14 Pro being listed at 3,200mAh (up from 3,095mAh in the iPhone 13 Pro), and the new iPhone 14 Max supposedly having a 4,325mAh one.

So it’s not all bad news on the battery front, with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro both apparently getting slightly bigger ones, of which the Pro’s boost is the largest.

The iPhone 14 Max could be the battery champ though, as according to this leak it has the biggest battery of all. Its capacity is supposedly only 2mAh higher than the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s, but with the iPhone 14 Max likely sporting a lower 60Hz refresh rate it probably won’t be as battery hungry as Apple’s top flagship.

All that said, we’d take this with a pinch of salt. The source could be wrong, especially as they say that these specs aren’t confirmed. Plus, a much earlier leak suggested every model would be getting a bigger battery than their predecessors.

Analysis: you probably won’t have to worry about the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s battery life

Even if this leak is accurate, the iPhone 14 Pro Max will probably have very good battery life, as the downgrade is only slight, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max is the longest-lasting iPhone yet.

In fact, for our review we found that its battery life was among the best we’ve seen from a modern flagship phone.

So if the iPhone 14 Pro Max has slightly worse battery life it will still probably have more endurance than the average flagship. Plus, its life might not be worse anyway, since its chipset may well be more efficient, and Apple might have made other optimizations.

So while we were – and still are – hoping Apple would deliver a phone with truly excellent battery life, even if it doesn’t, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is unlikely to particularly disappoint – in fact, it will probably be one of the very best smartphones.

Via BGR (opens in new tab)