The iPhone 18 Pro Max battery upgrade now looks all but confirmed

A new certification listing reveals bigger battery numbers for the iPhone 18 Pro Max

By Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam Published July 5, 2026

Apple iPhone 17 Pro White — Samuel Angor / Unsplash

Apple is expected to launch three new iPhones this fall, including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the rumored foldable iPhone Ultra. The iPhone 18 Pro Max was recently tipped to get a major battery boost, with one leak claiming a 5,235mAh battery for the physical SIM model and a 5,425mAh battery for the eSIM-only version.

Now, China’s 3C certification database (via Digital Chat Station) appears to show the actual battery capacities for both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Interestingly, the Pro Max numbers listed there are even larger than the earlier leak suggested.

The Pro Max battery looks even bigger now

The 3C listing suggests the iPhone 18 Pro Max is getting a much larger battery than last year’s model. The physical SIM version is listed with a 5,391mAh battery, while the eSIM-only version goes up to 5,567mAh.

That is higher than the earlier reported 5,235mAh and 5,425mAh figures. It would also mark a notable jump over the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which reportedly uses a 4,823mAh battery in SIM models and a 5,088mAh cell in eSIM-only versions.

The smaller Pro may barely change

The iPhone 18 Pro looks much less dramatic. The SIM version is listed with a 4,056mAh battery, while the eSIM-only model is said to use a 4,288mAh cell. Compared with the iPhone 17 Pro, those increases are minor.

Apple does not usually publish raw battery capacities in its official spec sheets, so final confirmation will likely come from teardowns after launch. Still, a 3C listing is more concrete than a typical social media leak.

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If these numbers hold, the iPhone 18 Pro Max may get one of the clearest battery upgrades in years. It may need that extra capacity too, as Apple is pushing more on-device AI features with iOS 27. On the topic of AI, it was recently reported that the standard iPhone 18 could miss out on two major Siri AI features that debuted with iOS 27 due to hardware limitations.

Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam

Contributor

I’ve got about 4 years of experience, mostly covering gaming, PC hardware, and smartphones. In my free time, I like…

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