Despite a battery that for the top-of-the-range model has been reduced almost imperceptibly compared to last year, the iPhone 14 Pro Max in one of the very first tests revealed significantly higher autonomy than iPhone 13 Pro Max. Previously, the Chemtrec site allowed us to go beyond the usual little technical data communicated by Apple, taking note of the fact that the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 16.68 Wh battery instead of the 16.75 Wh of the 13 Pro Max.
A very small step back in terms of capacity that would not have repercussions on the pitch. During the first tests of tomsguide.com, the iPhone 14 Pro Max ensured on average 14 hours and 42 minutes of use compared to the 12 hours and 16 minutes of the iPhone 13 Pro Max in similar circumstances. The new top of the range of Apple thus placed itself in second place in the ranking of the portal on smartphones with the most abundant autonomy, behind ROG Phone 6 Pro by ASUS (15 hours and a half with a full charge).
AUTONOMY CONVINCES, RECHARGE AGAIN NO
To impress the slowness with which the residual percentage went down during the initial configuration and the first tests: in 5 hours of use, with app downloads, music playback, and photo and video tests, iPhone 14 Pro Max used only 30% of the battery, moreover with a starting percentage of less than 90%. On the contrary, the recharge has not convinced: Apple promises 50% autonomy in less than half an hour with the 20-watt charger (very few these days), but the first tests leave something to be desired:
By charging an empty iPhone 14 Pro Max, in half an hour we only got 42%. Apple says it can reach 50%, so we’ll do more tests and update this review. In comparison, Galaxy S22 Ultra reached 58% in 30 minutes with its 25W charger (and the battery has more capacity, ed) while the OnePlus 10 Pro reached 93% and 55% in 15 minutes, thanks to the 65W charging.
The greater autonomy of the iPhone 14 Pro Max compared to 13 Pro Max with the same or almost equal battery capacity would be explained by the greater efficiency of the new A16 Bionic chip (Apple during the presentation declared a + 20% compared to A15 Bionic) and with an OLED display once again at 120 Hz but which if necessary can adjust the refresh rate up to 1 Hz instead of the minimum 10 Hz of the predecessor.
In addition, there is a chip dedicated to the management of some display features, see the adjustment of the refresh rate (ProMotion), Dynamic Island, or the always-on, which lightens the A16 Bionic and therefore helps to mitigate consumption. There is no doubt that these impressions are to be confirmed or disproved with more accurate tests, but as a start, it’s not bad.