I’m the kind of longtime iPhone user who doesn’t upgrade their handset every year anymore. I moved to the iPhone 14 Pro from the iPhone X, and I skipped the iPhone 15 series. But I will probably buy one of the iPhone 16 models this September. And, unlike previous purchases, I might avoid the Pro completely and buy a cheaper model. Not only that, but I’m also considering getting a larger iPhone model, which would be a first for me.
I’ve always avoided the Pro Max size, but now I feel like I need a bigger screen. I could get that from the base iPhone 16 Pro, which will be slightly larger than the regular model. But I’ve come to realize that I don’t necessarily need a Pro smartphone. I could do fine with a non-Pro version and save money.
The real reason the iPhone 16 Plus is so appealing concerns battery life. The iPhone 14 Plus and 15 Plus have seen great praise for battery life, and I think the iPhone 16 Plus should be just as good, if not better, than its predecessors.
That’s why I find a leaker’s recent battery size claims for the iPhone 16 Plus annoying, and I hope their info is inaccurate. Why would the iPhone 16 Plus pack a smaller battery than its predecessor?
Why the iPhone 16 Pros are getting bigger batteries
We’ve already covered MajinBu’s claims that indicate the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will feature larger batteries than their predecessors. If you’ve been following iPhone 16 rumors, you already know why that makes sense.
Apple wants to add a periscope lens to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro. To do so, it needs to increase its size. Therefore, the handset should feature a 6.3-inch screen instead of a 6.1-inch display like all of the iPhone Pro models so far. The extra space inside would accommodate the periscope lens and a larger battery.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max will reportedly get a 6.9-inch panel instead of the usual 6.7-inch screen. There’s already enough room inside the Max for a periscope lens. But Apple can’t just increase the size of the iPhone 16 Pro. It has to maintain a visible difference between the Pro and Pro Max. The extra benefit for the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a larger battery size.
Then, all iPhone 16 models will rock a brand new Capture button. This capacitive button will come with extra hardware that would occupy some space inside the handset. This button will sit on the same side as the battery, however. Any components related to it would be placed elsewhere inside the phone.
All these changes might explain why Apple could drop the L-shape batteries in favor of the more traditional battery design.
I’ll also mention the A18 Pro chips powering the new iPhone 16 Pro, which should bring energy efficiency gains. It happens with every next-gen A-series chip.
iPhone 16 Plus battery size
Where does the iPhone 16 Plus fit in all of this? Well, the leaker claims the phone will have a 4,006 mAh battery, which is significantly smaller than the iPhone 15 Plus’s 4,383 mAh battery.
Assuming the information is accurate, the iPhone 16 Plus might not outperform the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery life. Maybe it wouldn’t last as long as the iPhone 15 Plus either, though I’m just speculating. I also could see why Apple would want the iPhone 16 Pro Max to offer the best possible battery life of the entire iPhone 16 series, rather than the cheaper 16 Plus.
What puzzles me are the schematics that Majin Bu put up suggest the iPhone 16 Plus battery (image above). The iPhone 16 Plus will have the same size as the iPhone 15 Plus, which means the internal components will get a similar placement. However, the battery pack appears to be narrower. It might be slightly shorter. Or it could be placed somewhat closer to the bottom side.
The height change of the battery makes sense if we take into account the new vertical design of the camera module. I’ll remind you that Apple went for a diagonal setup with the iPhone 13 series as it brought sensor shift optical image stabilization to the wide cameras of all iPhone 13 models. That’s a larger camera, so Apple went with the diagonal design to save some space internally.
Here’s a reminder of how large the wide lens is compared to the ultrawide and telephoto lenses:
But why would the iPhone 16 Plus battery be narrower? The logic board sits on the right side. Will it increase in size? And if so, why?
The same schematic above indicates that the iPhone 16 Plus camera would be slightly larger than the iPhone 15 Plus. It would “push” the battery downwards.
Then, there’s the Capture button that will need internal components. But, again, the button is placed on the same side as the battery, as seen in the schematic.
Finally, I’ll point out another thing that applies to all the batteries in this schematics. We’re only seeing two dimensions, the height, and width. It’s unclear how wide the battery is. Rumors say Apple might employ better cooling on the phones, which could take additional space.
Thankfully, it’s only February. There’s plenty of time to see more battery leaks for the iPhone 16 models.
