EU regulations have revealed how big this year's i Phone 18 Pro battery upgrade was — and US buyers get one spec tweak on the Pro Max model | Tech Radar
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EU regulations have revealed how big this year's i Phone 18 Pro battery upgrade was — and US buyers get one spec tweak on the Pro Max model
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The brand new Apple i Phone 18 Pro (Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)
Both the i Phone 18 Pro and Pro Max get battery bumps
In the US, the i Phone 18 Pro Max sticks with a Qualcomm modem
Apple doesn't always publish full spec sheets for its devices, but if you were wondering just what the battery capacity of the i Phone 18 Pro and Pro Max were, we now know — thanks to European Union regulations demanding that these details are made public.
Energy labels applied to the phones in the EU (via Android Headlines) show that the i Phone 18 Pro is fitted with a 4,056 m Ah battery, while the i Phone 18 Pro Max has a 5,391 m Ah battery inside. Those represent 1.45% and 11.8% increases, respectively, on the models from the previous year.
Apple describes the battery bump on the i Phone 18 Pro Max as "the largest increase in battery life ever" on an i Phone, and says you can get 45 hours of video playback between recharges. For the i Phone 18 Pro, it's 36 hours.
One small wrinkle: these capacities refer to i Phones sold in the EU, so these models will be ones with a physical SIM card slot. The handsets sold in the US and some other regions are e SIM-only, so may have even better batteries inside.
This is true, i OS 27 has two identifiers for the device: V64 for i Phone 18 Pro Max with a Qualcomm modem, V64s for i Phone 18 Pro Max with C2 modem. https://t.co/d 2 Wdppo I6c September 11, 2026
This is true, i OS 27 has two identifiers for the device: V64 for i Phone 18 Pro Max with a Qualcomm modem, V64s for i Phone 18 Pro Max with C2 modem. https://t.co/d 2 Wdppo I6c September 11, 2026
There's more specs digging over at Mac Rumors, where a tip shared on social media suggests that every i Phone 18 Pro and Pro Max handset has Apple's own C2 modem inside — except for the i Phone 18 Pro Max models sold in the US, which uses a Qualcomm chip.
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The difference has apparently been revealed in code for i OS 27 — though for the moment it's not confirmed (pre-orders aren't shipping until Friday, September 18) — and it's most likely the Qualcomm Snapdragon X85 modem.
There shouldn't be any noticeable variation in performance between the Apple C2 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X85, though Apple says the C2 offers faster speeds than its previous C1X. It's not clear why the Qualcomm chip is hanging around in this one model, but it may be to do with contractual obligations.
We'll be bringing you our thoughts on these phones in the coming days and weeks, including the foldable Apple i Phone Duo. And if you're wondering where the standard i Phone 18 is, it's expected in March with the i Phone 18e and i Phone Air 2.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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