iPhone 18 Pro Battery Capacity Leaks Show Only Marginal Increase

Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro will see only a marginal bump in battery capacity compared to last year's model, according to new supply chain leaks detailing the hardware.



Leaker Digital Chat Station shared the specific figures on Weibo, revealing the capacities for both regional variants of the device. The Chinese model, which retains a physical SIM card slot, features a battery capacity of roughly 4,056 mAh. The U.S. version, which relies entirely on eSIM and uses that freed-up internal space for a larger cell, comes in at 4,288 mAh.


Those numbers represent only marginal year-over-year gains. The physical SIM variant gets an increase of just 68 mAh over the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro, while the U.S. model gains 36 mAh. The modest increase contrasts with the larger iPhone 18 Pro Max, which the same source previously indicated is testing with a battery capacity between approximately 5,100 mAh and 5,200 mAh. Instead of relying on a bigger cell, the standard Pro model will likely lean heavily on the efficiency of its upcoming 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip to drive any actual battery life improvements.

The leaker also highlighted the rising manufacturing costs for this cycle. Alongside the expensive 2nm silicon, Apple is equipping the device with a 48-megapixel variable aperture camera. Despite the pricier components, Apple may absorb some of the additional costs rather than passing them on to consumers, a possibility that aligns with previous industry checks suggesting the company plans to keep iPhone 18 pricing steady.