On Christmas Eve, Apple aired an iPhone 15 Plus commercial all about battery life. The iPhone 15 Plus has the best battery of any iPhone, as it can last up to 13 hours and 19 minutes compared to 11 hours and 41 minutes for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
While Pro Max users can’t complain, as an iPhone 15 Pro owner, I’m disappointed with how often I have to charge my phone. Apple’s ad features an electrical outlet that comes to life to sing Doe Boy’s Way Too Long as an iPhone 15 Plus owner uses the phone around the house. The song choice is hilarious, perfectly matching the iPhone 15 Plus battery experience.
Unfortunately, after using the iPhone 15 Pro for the past three months, I’ve been charging it twice daily. At first, I convinced myself that it was a result of Apple indexing my new phone, but days became weeks, then months, and the battery was still subpar.
After blaming third-party apps, the company even rolled out software updates to address the issue, but I’m not seeing improvements. Most days, I need to charge my iPhone in the afternoon to ensure it lasts until I go to bed. And if I plan to go out after work, I have to charge the iPhone 15 Pro if I want it to last me until I get home.
In addition, I feel like the iPhone 15 Pro is always a bit warm. If I start using social media apps, listening to songs, or talking to my friends over iMessage, the phone gets warm – and I’m not even using the A17 Pro processor to the fullest extent.
If I opt to play a game, the battery drains faster, and the iPhone gets really warm. While Brazil’s summer might be a culprit, even on cold days, I’ll often see “the iPhone needs to cool down before it continues charging,” the display dimming, and so on.
I don’t know — it might just be me or it might be my specific iPhone 15 Pro. Either way, I’m disappointed that Apple can’t give the Pro model the same impressive battery life as the Plus, even with new charging features exclusive to the iPhone 15 lineup.
My colleague Chris Smith shared several tips and tricks to improve the iPhone’s battery life, but if I have to start turning off ProMotion and the Always-On Display, I might as well buy an iPhone 15 Plus with a 60Hz panel and no third camera.
