iPhone 15 battery life tested — here's how long all four models last
I have some good news. Every single model in the iPhone 15 lineup offers better battery life than their predecessors based on our battery test. This is likely due to a combination of slightly larger batteries and more efficient chips in each handsets. But if you really care about endurance, there are clear winners.
We put the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max through the Tom's Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over 150 nits of screen brightness. And the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max rose to the top. In fact, they both make our best phone battery life list.
Here's how the new iPhone 15 models stack up against their iPhone 14 counterparts, as well as other competing flagship phones.
iPhone 15 battery life results: All four models compared
iPhone 15 battery life
The 6.1-inch iPhone 15 reportedly packs a 3,349 mAh battery based on regulatory listings. (Apple does not list the battery sizes.), That would be slightly bigger than the 3,279 mAh batttery in the iPhone 14. And yet we saw a very big jump in runtime.
On the Tom's Guide battery test, the iPhone 15 lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, which is about an hour and a half longer than the iPhone 14. This time also beats the regular Samsung Galaxy S23 with its screen in adaptive mode, but the S23 lasted an even longer 11:20 with its screen in 60Hz mode. The iPhone 15 also has a 60Hz refresh rate.
The Google Pixel 7 endured for only 7 hours and 14 minutes, so it's not even in the same ballpark.
iPhone 15 Plus battery life
This is what happens when you spend the extra $100 for the iPhone 15 Plus over the regular iPhone 15. Based on our testing, the iPhone 15 Plus lasted a very impressive 14 hours and 14 minutes, compared to just under 12 hours for the iPhone 14 Plus. So we're talking about 2 hours longer.
The Galaxy S23 Plus lasted 11:24 in adaptive mode and 12:08 in 60Hz mode, so that's about 2 hours behind the iPhone 15 Plus. The OnePlus 11 lasted a max of 13:10 so an hour less than Apple's device.
iPhone 15 Pro battery life
The iPhone 15 Pro turned in the lowest battery life in our testing. The handset lasted 10 hours and 53 minutes, which is 40 minutes longer than the iPhone 14 Pro.
That's not bad, as it's an hour or so ahead of the average smartphone's time on our test. But we consider great battery life to be 11.5 hours or longer. Still, the iPhone 15 Pro lasted about 3 hours longer than the Google Pixel 7 Pro.
iPhone 15 Pro Max battery life
Now we're talkin'. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the Pro model to get from Apple if you want serious staying power. We saw 14 hours and 2 minutes of battery life in our testing, which is a bit shorter than the iPhone 15 Plus but more than 20 minutes longer than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
This easily puts the new Pro Max on our best phone battery life list. No other major flagship phone we've tested offers this much endurance. So clearly the slightly larger battery helped.
Bottom line
If you prioritize battery life I would buy the iPhone 15 Plus or iPhone 15 Pro Max. You'll pay more for these phones than the smaller versions, but you won't be reaching for the outlet as soon during your day. And that's worth a lot to many.
For those who{"data-model-name":"INIU 10000mAh Portable Charger","data-widget-type":"review"} prefer compact designs, the iPhone 15 lasts a little bit longer than the iPhone 15 Pro. But you might want to pick up one of the best portable batteries if you're worried about making it through longer days on a charge.
